What do Buddy Holly, Waylon Jennings, Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, David Gilmour, Bootsie Collins, Flea, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Kurt Cobain, Buck Owens, Don Rich, Brad Paisley, Albert Collins, James Burton, Roger Waters, Tommy Shannon, Bruce Springsteen, Keith Richard, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Merle Haggard, Steve Cropper, Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn, Joe Strummer, Dee Dee Ramone, Sid Vicious, ‘Shifty’ Henry, John Paul Jones, Bob Dylan, Jaco Pastorius, Clarence White, Luther Perkins, Carl Perkins, Dick Dale, Duff McKagan, Dusty Hill, Jimmie Vaughan, Bonnie Raitt, Vince Gill, Rory Gallagher, Eldin Shamblin, Roy Buchanan, Robin Trower, Yngwie Malmsteen, Syd Barret, Noel Redding, Danny Gatton, Robbie Robertson, Tom Petty, Geddy Lee, Larry Carlton, Susan Tedeschi, Anson Funderburgh, Bill Wyman, and a host of other professional and amateur musicians have in common?
If you answered Fender Musical Instruments, you would be correct.
Quite possibly no other musical instrument manufacturer has had as far-reaching an impact in all genres of popular music, on all levels, as Leo Fender’s brainchild of the late forties and early fifties. In 1951, Fender Musical Instruments introduced what would become two of the most groundbreaking innovations in the mass market of musical instruments—the ‘Broadcaster’ Guitar (later named ‘Telecaster’) and the ‘Precision’ Bass. Coupled with his ‘Twin’ and ‘Bassman’ Amplifiers, these instruments made solid-body electric instruments and amplifiers available to the general public at very affordable prices. While Mr. Fender was not solely responsible for the invention of the solid-body electric guitar and bass (his original ‘Broadcaster’ was based heavily on a design by guitarist Merle Travis that was built by luthier Paul Bigsby), he was the first manufacturer to mass produce and distribute the instruments (the Telecaster was made available to the public shortly before the Gibson Les Paul made it into the market place).
With the increased availability of solid body electric instruments, ‘Big Band’ orchestration became unnecessary and smaller ensembles of three to four musicians became the norm. Musicians in genres stretching from country to jazz to blues began to use Fender’s instruments and amplifiers during the fifties and the Telecaster and Precision Bass (or ‘P-Bass’, as it is affectionately known) became mainstays in popular music. Since their introduction in 1951 the Tele and P-Bass have remained in constant production. In 1953, Leo fender introduced what would come to be regarded among musicians and guitar makers as the single-most influential and important innovation in electric guitars—the Stratocaster (also known as the ‘Strat’). With its ‘space-age’ double cut-away, contoured body and innovative tremolo bar and three pick-up system, the Strat is worthy of its own sub-genre in the field of electric guitars. The well known master luthier Paul Reed Smith has been quoted as saying: ‘When Leo Fender designed the Strat, he was in a state of grace.’
While largely over looked, Leo’s amplifiers are little marvels in their own right. The Princeton, Champ, Twin, Bassman, and Pro (among others) all became models for other amp makers throughout the years. Two of the most significant examples of this are the Marshall Company from Britain and the Mesa/Boogie Company from California. Jim Marshall designed all of his early amps based on a Bassman chassis, using the same basic wiring diagram and tube configuration. Likewise, the Champ and Princeton were used as the basic foundation by the Mesa/Boogie Company in their early days (in fact, the first Mesa/Boogie amps were really just ‘hot-rodded’ Fender Amps). To this day, many companies—from the specialized ‘boutique’ amps to more affordable mass produced companies like Peavey—base their designs on original Leo Fender amps. Leo’s wiring diagrams and construction are indisputably among the best designs in electric guitar amplifiers, producing rich, full tones and being virtually indestructible. (A friend of mine once accidentally spilled a full twelve ounce beer into his Bassman amplifier about two hours before a gig. They placed a box fan behind it and used a blow dryer to dry out the inside circuitry. He is still playing through the same amp today.)
Leo Fender sold his company in the late fifties for what was a financial landfall in those days and went on to form the Musicman and G&L Guitar Companies in the seventies and eighties respectively. While operating Musicman, Leo continued to develop groundbreaking technology for amps and guitars, but no one (including Leo himself) ever managed to duplicate what Fender Musical Instruments did in the early fifties. Leo’s G&L Guitars (a collaboration with long time partner George Fuller) were impeccable renditions of his old stand-bys, the Strat and Tele (with a few new ‘twists’), and became very popular during the eighties and nineties.
In all of this incredible man’s stellar career as a guitar and amp builder, there are many amazing and interesting facts, but there is one that I find most compelling; the man who almost single handedly revolutionized the way guitar and bass were played in every genre of popular music imaginable never learned to play a single note.
peace, wayf
