photo by John Peden

During the mid-1940s, Leo Fender, owner of a small-town electronics/radio shop in Fullerton, California, saw the need for a decent, portable amplifier specifically designed for use with musical instruments. The success of this amp caught the eye of local country music groups, and Fender soon found himself manufacturing electronically amplified lap (steel) guitars, as well, in partnership with fellow entrepreneur “Doc” Kauffman. Marketed under the “K&F” name, these lap steel guitars established the Fender name in the music industry. It wasn’t long before Leo, while not a true musician by his own account, introduced the first mass-produced, solid-body electric Spanish-style guitar, the single-pickup Fender Esquire.

 By all standards at that time, the Esquire was a bare-bones model, and Leo decided to upgrade immediately with the addition of a neck-stiffening truss rod and a second pickup.

In the rush to get this guitar into production, Fender neglected to sufficiently research the new “Broadcaster” name (chosen to capitalize on the popularity of the radio and the new-fangled television). He soon was told by Gretsch Musical Instruments that they already had an instrument in production with that name — a drum set called the Broadkaster. Although the spelling was different, Leo chose to back down, and the guitar was soon re-released in 1951 as the Telecaster.

While other guitar manufacturers of the time had electrically amplified guitars on the market, they were basically just archtop acoustic guitars with pickups bolted in place. They proved to be very prone to feedback and thus were limited in volume. Fender’s solid-body guitar, however – while laughed at as a weird California creation totally devoid of the design and craftsmanship commonly found on previous hollowbody designs – was a simple, but pure, design that minimized feedback and maximized sustain. The “Tele,” as it is known in the trades, is still in production today.

This guitar was designed to be played, and to survive the hardships of life on the road. Where most guitars of the time had glued-in “set necks,” Leo elected to make his guitar a modular creation with a bolt-on neck, because guitars exposed to the rigors of baggage handlers and other forms of rough treatment often suffer broken necks or snapped heads. With a “set-neck” guitar, repairs require a trip to the luthier’s shop and at least a couple days without that guitar. With Leo’s bolt-on necks, a player simply bolted on a replacement neck and tuned-up the guitar again – a gig-saving 5-minute fix if you had a spare neck and a screwdriver on hand!

The Fender reputation continued to grow as Leo’s company introduced the first nationally-sold production bass guitar with a fretted neck: the Precision Bass. This new bass guitar was followed in 1954 with the introduction of the most popular and most copied guitar in the world . . . the Stratocaster.

Here was a guitar that was ridiculed by the purists, yet revered by the young at heart. The modernistic styling captured the attention of such revolutionary artists as Buddy Holly, the Beach Boys and Dick Dale — a.k.a. the “King of the Surf Guitar.” The contemporary yet well-balanced and comfortable-to-play guitar enjoyed a long run of popularity.

But the late 1960s found the California creation finally fading into obscurity until a young master of electronic rock whipped the Stratocaster back into the spotlight with flaming solos bellowing and screaming into the night. . . his name was Jimi Hendrix.

Today, the list of recording stars associated with Fender Musical Instruments includes such luminaries as Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bonnie Raitt, Leroy Pernell, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springstein, Jeff Beck, Beck and even blues great Buddy Guy. The Stratocaster was the guitar of the future, and there is little doubt that its popularity will continue well into the next century. The Stratocaster may be in its 45th year of production, but it’s far from growing old.

In fact, today’s Stratocaster can be ordered in more than 20 production models, and that’s without going into the rainbow of optional colors or the choice between rosewood or maple necks. Then there are the Custom Shop production models – designs that have proven so popular that many are now “team-built” in order to satisfy the demands of the buying public.

The “Relic” series is a good example of this trend. With vintage Strats (1965 and earlier) now valued in the four- to five-figure price range, it just isn’t economically sound to take such a rare, irreplaceable instrument on the road where it could be damaged or stolen. However, with one of the Custom Shop Relics, an artist can have an instrument that emulates all of the positive aspects of the true vintage guitar, while playing a production – and comparatively affordable – model that can be replaced with a simple trip to the local authorized Fender dealer.

While these radical departures from the norm set the standard for the world, there are those whose instruments must meet no standard except their own. For these discriminating artists, the only avenue is the Fender Custom Shop. While it might take as long as a year or more to finally take delivery of a Custom Shop creation, at least the new owner will know that the guitar has literally been in the hands of the craftsmen who give the kind of “hands on” attention to detail that makes each instrument a work of art.

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