Clarence Leonidas Fender (August 10, 1909 - March 21, 1991), also known as Leo Fender, was an American inventor who founded Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company, now known as Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, and later founded G&L Musical Products (G&L Guitars). Events 612 BC - Killing of Sinsharishkun, King of Assyrian Empire Year 1909 ( MCMIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Events 630 - Byzantine emperor Heraclius restores the True Cross to Jerusalem. Year 1991 ( MCMXCI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation of Quincy Illinois is a manufacturer of stringed instruments such as solid-body Electric guitars including the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation of Quincy Illinois is a manufacturer of stringed instruments such as solid-body Electric guitars including the G&L is a Guitar design and production company founded by Leo Fender, George Fullerton and Dale Hyatt in the late 1970s His guitar, bass, and amplifier designs from the 1950s continue to dominate popular music more than half a century later. Marshall and many other amplifier companies have used Fender instruments as the foundation of their products. Marshall Amplification is a British company which designs and manufactures music amplifiers. Fender and inventor Les Paul are often cited as the two most influential figures in the development of electric instruments in the 20th century. Les Paul (born Lester William Polsfuss on June 9 1915) is an American Jazz guitarist and Inventor.

Contents 1 1950 to 1965: the Golden Age 1.1 Guitar 1.1.1 Esquire 1.1.2 Broadcaster 1.1.3 Legal problems - "Broadcaster" becomes "Telecaster" 1.1.4 Stratocaster 1.1.5 Other guitars 1.2 Bass guitar 2 1970 - Music Man and G&L 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

1950 to 1965: the Golden Age

As the Big Bands fell out of vogue toward the end of World War II, small combos playing boogie-woogie, rhythm and blues, western swing, and honky-tonk formed throughout the United States. A big band is a type of Musical ensemble associated with playing jazz music and which became popular during the Swing Era from the early 1930s until the late World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Boogie-woogie is a style of Piano -based Blues that became very popular in the late 1930s and early 1940s but originated much earlier and was extended from piano This article is about the Musical genre. For the popular western swing Steel guitar tuning see E9 tuning. A honky tonk (also called a honkatonk, honkey-tonk, or tonk) is a type of bar with musical entertainment that is common in the Southwestern Many of these outfits embraced the electric guitar because it could give a few players the power of an entire horn section. Pickup-equipped archtops were the guitars of choice in the dance bands of the late-'40s , but the increasing popularity of roadhouses and dance halls created a growing need for louder, cheaper, and more durable instruments. An archtop guitar is a steel-stringed acoustic or semi-acoustic Guitar with a full body and a distinctive arched top whose sound is particularly Players also needed faster necks and better intonation to play what the country boys called "take-off lead guitar". Custom-made solidbodies such as Les Paul's home-made "Log" and the Bigsby Travis guitar made by Paul Bigsby for Merle Travis evolved from this need, but these were beyond the means of the average player. Les Paul (born Lester William Polsfuss on June 9 1915) is an American Jazz guitarist and Inventor. Paul Adelburt Bigsby (1899&ndash1968 was the designer of the Bigsby vibrato tailpiece (also known as a Tremolo arm) and proprietor of Bigsby Guitars Merle Robert Travis ( November 29, 1917 – October 20, 1983) was an American Country and western singer songwriter

Guitar

Fender recognized the potential for an electric guitar that was easy to hold, easy to tune, and easy to play. He also recognized that players needed guitars that would not feed back at dance hall volumes as the typical archtop would. In addition, Fender sought a tone that would command attention on the bandstand and cut through the noise in a bar. By 1949, he had begun working in earnest on what would become the first Telecaster (which was called the Broadcaster in its earlier years) at the Fender factory in Fullerton, California. The Fender Telecaster, also known as the Tele (pronounced Telly is typically a dual-pickup solid-body Electric guitar made by Fender. Fullerton is a City located in northern Orange County, California, United States.

Although he never admitted it, Fender seemed to base his practical design on the Rickenbacker Bakelite. For the American WWI fighter pilot see Eddie Rickenbacker. For the airport see Rickenbacker International Airport. (Smith, Richard (May). History of the Fender Telecaster.  ) One of the Rickenbacker's strong points -- a detachable neck that made it easy to make and service -- was not lost on Fender, who was a master at improving already established designs. Not surprisingly, his first prototype was a single-pickup guitar with a detachable hard rock maple neck and a pine body painted white. (Smith, Richard (May). History of the Fender Telecaster.  )

Esquire

Don Randall, who managed Fender's distributor, the Radio & Television Equipment Company, recognized the commercial possibilities of the new design and made plans to introduce the instrument as "The Esquire Model". Donald James Randall (born 2 May, 1953) Australian politician is a Liberal member of the Australian House Fender supported the Esquire name, saying that it "sounded regal and implied a certain distinction above other guitars. "

In April 1950, Radio-Tel started promoting the Esquire -- the first Fender 6-string officially introduced to the public. The company prepared its Catalog No. 2, picturing a black single-pickup Esquire with a tweed form-fit case. Another picture showed Jimmy Wyble of Spade Cooley's band holding a blond Esquire. Jimmy Wyble (b Jan 25 1922 Port Arthur Texas) is an American guitarist noted for his contributions to both Jazz and Western swing. These debut models, with a planned retail price of $154. 95, exhibited the shape of thousands of Fender guitars to come.

Randall's primary marketing ploy was to establish the Esquire in music instruction studios, reasoning that the affordable, practical guitar would be a hot commodity in those circles. In addition, a healthy response for the one-pickup version would prime the market for the more expensive two-pickup model that Fender already had in mind.

Broadcaster

The factory went into full production in late 1950, initially producing only dual-pickup Esquires. Fender's decision compromised Radio-Tel's earlier marketing strategy, forcing Randall to hold orders for the single-pickup Esquire and come up with a new name for the two-pickup model, eventually naming it the Broadcaster. Dealers who insisted on Esquires had to wait until the single-pickup guitars went into full production in January 1951 and were delivered the following month.

Musical Merchandise magazine carried the first announcement for the Broadcaster in February 1951 with a full-page insert that described it in detail. The guitar was described as having a "modern cut-away body", a "modern styled head", and an "adjustable solo-lead pickup" that was "completely adjustable for tone-balance by means of three elevating screws".

Legal problems - "Broadcaster" becomes "Telecaster"

Fender sold 87 Broadcasters on the guitar's initial release in January 1951. Many people took note -- including Gretsch, who claimed the Broadcaster name infringed on the company's trademark "Broadkaster". Reacting to this, Randall informed his salespeople on February 21 that Radio-Tel was abandoning the Broadcaster name and requesting suggestions for a new name. On February 24 he announced that the Broadcaster had been renamed the "Telecaster".

The Broadcaster-to-Telecaster name change cost Radio-Tel hundreds of dollars, and derailed the initial marketing effort. Brochures and envelope inserts were destroyed, and the word "Broadcaster" was clipped from hundreds of headstock decals. For several months, the new twin-pickup guitars were marked only with the word "Fender. " These early-to-mid-'51 guitars would eventually be referred to as "No-casters" by guitar collectors.

Stratocaster

Leo Fender regularly sought feedback from his customers, and, in preparation for redesigning the Telecaster he asked his customers what new features they would want on the Telecaster. The large number of replies, along with the continued popularity of the Telecaster, caused him to leave the Telecaster as it was and to design a new, upscale solid body guitar to be sold alongside the basic Telecaster instead. Western swing guitarist Bill Carson was one of the chief critics of the Telecaster, stating that the new design should have individually adjustable bridge saddles, four or five pickups, a vibrato unit that could be used in either direction and return to proper tuning, and a contoured body for enhanced comfort over the slab-body Telecaster's harsh edges. Bill Carson ( July 8, 1926 - February 15, 2007) Born in Meridian Oklahoma Carson was a California Western swing Fender and draughtsman Freddy Tavares began designing the new guitar in late 1953, which would address most of Carson's ideas and would also include a rounder, less "club-like" neck (at least for the first year of issue) and a double cutaway for easier reach to the upper registers. ^[1]

Released in 1954, Fender named his new creation the Stratocaster to invoke images of the high flying, supersonic jets filling America's skies in the 1950's. The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as the Strat, is a model of Electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton and Freddie Tavares The Stratocaster (or "Strat") has been in continuous production ever since.

Other guitars

Other significant developments of this period include the Jazzmaster and Jaguar, significant departures from the Strat and Tele in their introduction of complex pickup selection switches and volume controls. The Fender Jazzmaster is an Electric guitar that was first introduced at the 1958 NAMM Show and was designed as a more upmarket instrument than the The Fender Jaguar is an Electric guitar which was introduced in 1962 Although unsuccessful at their introduction, both would become popular with Surf Rock musicians due to their clean, bright, and warm tone. Surf rock is a style of music that originated in the USA that mixes elements of Surf music and Rock music, and partially due to the number of Mexican They became popular again, (to a much larger extent), in the early 90's due to their use by alternative rock artists such as Sonic Youth's famous horde of vintage Jazzmasters and Kurt Cobain's (of Nirvana) use of a heavily modified 1965 Jaguar

Bass guitar

During this time, Fender also conceived an instrument that would prove to be essential to the evolution of popular music. Alternative rock (also called alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative; known primarily in the UK as indie) is a genre of Sonic Youth is an American Alternative rock band formed in New York City in 1981 Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20 1967 – c April 5 1994 was an American musician who served as lead singer, Guitarist, and songwriter for the Seattle Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen Washington. Up until this time, bassists had been left to playing acoustically resonating double basses, also known as "upright basses". The double bass is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed String instrument used in the modern symphony orchestra. As the size of bands and orchestras grew, bassists found themselves increasingly fighting for volume and presence in the sound spectrum. Apart from their sonic disadvantages, double basses were also large, bulky, and difficult to transport. With the Precision Bass (or "P-Bass"), released in 1951, Leo Fender addressed both of these issues. The Fender Precision Bass (sometimes shortened to the " P Bass " is an electric bass guitar, and was the first widely-available model of the instrument Unlike double basses, the Telecaster-based Precision Bass was small and portable, and its solid body construction and four magnet, single coil electronic pickup allowed it to be amplified at higher volumes without the feedback issues normally associated with acoustic instruments. Along with the Precision Bass (so named because its fretted neck allowed bassists to play with precise intonation), Fender introduced a bass amplifier, the Fender Bassman; a 45 watt amplifier with four 10" speakers. The Fender Bassman was a bass amplifier made by Fender in 1952 Neither were firsts; Audiovox had begun advertising an "electric bass fiddle" in mid 1930s catalogs, and Ampeg had introduced a 12 watt "Bassamp" in 1949, but the P-Bass and its accompanying amplifier were the first widely-produced of their kind, and arguably, the P-Bass remains one of the most popular basses in music today. Audiovox Corporation ( established in 1965 Audiovox continues to operate and expand under its chairman and founder John J Ampeg is a musical instrument amplifier manufacturer headquartered in Woodinville, Washington.

1960 saw the release of the Jazz Bass, a sleeker, updated bass with a slimmer neck, and offset waist body and two single coil pickups (as opposed to the Precision Bass and its split-humbucking pickup that had been introduced in 1957). The Jazz Bass (or J Bass) was the second model of electric bass guitar created by Leo Fender. A conventional humbucker (or Humbucking pickup) is a type of Electric guitar pickup that uses two coils both generating string signal Like its predecessor, the Jazz Bass (or simply "J-Bass") was an instant hit and has remained popular to this day, and early models are highly sought after by collectors.

1970 - Music Man and G&L

Some of Fender's most widely known and loved contributions to music were developed in the 1970s, designed guitars, basses and amplifiers for the Music Man corporation, and in 1976 designed and released another innovative instrument, the StingRay. Music Man is an American Guitar, and Bass guitar manufacturer Music Man StingRay is an electric bass guitar by Music Man, introduced in 1976 Though the body design borrowed heavily from the Precision Bass, the StingRay is largely considered to be the first production bass with active electronics. The StingRay's 2-band active equalizer, high output humbucking pickup and smooth satin finished neck went on to become a favorite of many influential bassists, including John Deacon and Tim Commerford. John Richard Deacon (born 19 August 1951 is a retired English musician best known as the Bass guitarist for the rock band Queen. Tim Robert Commerford (born February 26, 1968 in Irvine California) also known by his various monikers/stage names ( Timmy C Later on a 3-band active equalizer was introduced. In 1979 he and old friends George Fullerton and Dale Hyatt started a new company called G&L (George & Leo, later Guitars by Leo) Musical Products. George Murray Fullerton (8 December 1922 in Kensington South Africa – 19 November 2002 in Rondebosch Cape Town) was a South African Cricketer G&L is a Guitar design and production company founded by Leo Fender, George Fullerton and Dale Hyatt in the late 1970s G&L guitar designs tended to lean heavily upon the looks of Fender's original guitars such as the Stratocaster and Telecaster, but incorporated innovations such as enhaced tremolo systems and electronics. Despite suffering several minor strokes, Leo Fender continued to produce guitars and basses. A stroke is the rapidly developing loss of brain functions due to a disturbance in the blood vessels supplying blood to the brain While he continued to refine the fundamental designs he had created decades earlier, he also earned many new patents for innovative designs in magnetic pickups, vibrato systems, neck construction, and other areas. A pickup device acts as a Transducer that captures mechanical vibrations (usually from suitably equipped Stringed instruments such as the Electric guitar Nevertheless, he never learned how to play the guitar.

A friendly, modest and unassuming man (his "coffee mug" was a styrofoam cup with the word "Leo" inked on it), he had the lifelong admiration and devotion of his employees, many of whom have remarked that the best working years of their lives were spent under Leo Fender. He died in 1991 from complications of Parkinson's disease. Year 1991 ( MCMXCI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar. Parkinson's disease (also known as Parkinson disease or PD) is a degenerative disorder of the Central nervous system that often impairs the sufferer's His pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. The Rockabilly Hall of Fame was established on March 21, 1997 to present early Rock and roll history and information relative to the artists and personalities The company which bears his name, Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, is now one of the largest musical instrument conglomerates in the world. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation of Quincy Illinois is a manufacturer of stringed instruments such as solid-body Electric guitars including the

See also

• Fender Musical Instruments Corporation
• G&L Musical Instruments
• Fender Stratocaster
• Fender Telecaster
• Fender Precision Bass
• Fender Jazz Bass
• Music Man StingRay
• K&F Manufacturing Corporation
• Gibson Guitar Corporation

References

External links

• Fender Musical Instruments website
• G&L Guitars website

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