an introduction to fender guitars...

     There aren't many people who haven't had any exposure to a fender guitar in their life. In fact, you probably heard the sound of one of their guitars as you were listening to the radio on the way to work today, or when you were listening to your iPod on the bus. There's no denying that Fender guitars play a big part in the songwriting industry, and their sound has helped shape countless albums and live shows. In this blog I will be providing an interesting account of the conception and development of the world's biggest guitar manufacturer - Fender.

This video is a great example of a Fender Stratocaster. Have a listen and read below to learn how it all started...

Early history...

      The Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company was founded in 1946. It was the creation of Leo Fender who started the company in Fullerton, California. The company is now known as the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.
      Electric guitars had been around before, but Fender were the first to make them a commercial success on a large scale. The guitar which did this for them was the Esquire, which later evolved into the Telecaster, whose design remains the same today as it did back in the 50's. Sales of the Esquire can be traced back as far as 1950. Fender later designed and introduced the Stratocaster in 1954, which was centered around usability and practicality, as well as producing a unique sound.
     It wasn't just 6 stringed instruments that Fender became famous for. They also produced the first Electric Bass, called the Precision Bass (or P-Bass). Much like the Telecaster and Strat', the recipe for the P-bass hasn't changed much. The Jazz Bass was later introduced to the production line and remains one of the most popular bass guitars today.
   
    The big four - Stratocaster, Telecaster, Precision Bass and Jazz Bass have inspired countless musicians and still remain Fenders biggest sellers...

The Telecaster

      The Telecaster (originally coined "Broadcaster") was the first electric guitar to be mass produced. It was more radical than any guitar the world had seen before. The telecaster looked and sounded so much more unusual than the classical guitars people were used to, and it represented rebellion against the norm.
      This commercial for Pepsi really sums up the guitars appeal. It shows a young Jimi Hendrix choosing Pepsi over Coca-Cola, and this inspires him to choose the much cooler electric guitar over the traditional accordion. It's hilarious!

the big players...

We could be here all day listing the musical icons who have played fenders, but here's a shortlist:
Eric Clapton
Jeff Beck
Jimi Hendrix
The Edge
David Gilmour
John Frusciante
George Harrison
Buddy Holly
Kurt Cobain
Ronnie Wood
Stevie Ray Vaughan

People like this inspired generations of young people to play the electric guitar, and a Fender was what they wanted. The Stratocaster and Telecaster guitars are as much of an icon today as they were 40 years ago, with countless modern bands continuing Fender's legacy.

Fender guitars are as much about style as they are about sound. Their iconic look has become built into the landscape of Rock & Roll and the Stratocaster is a shape that everyone recognises.

Fender Precision Bass

     Fender played a huge part in the evolution of the 6-stringed electric guitar, but it was nothing compared to what they have done for the bass guitar. Before 1951, if you wanted to play a four stringed instrument that produced low bass notes, your only real option was to play a double bass. Then Fender brought out the Precision Bass - a radical looking instrument which you could plug into an amplifier and rumble the picture frames off your walls with.

     Similarly to the Telecaster, the recipe for the P-Bass hasn't much changed over the years. From 1951 to 1957, all Precision Bass guitars came with one single coil pickup. After this, Fender started fitting them with a split humbucking pickup. The basic shape hasn't changed a bit, apart from a few minor cutaways to the body to make it more comfortable to hold. These days you can have one with a maple fretboard, an extra pickup or even a switch on the headstock that down-tunes the lowest string by one step. There are over 20 different versions of the P-Bass, and thats before you consider the plethora of different colours that are available.

     To say that the Precision Bass has had an big impact on modern music would be somewhat of an understatement. If you ever watch coverage of a music festival, I guarantee you that at least one acts you see on stage will be using a Precision Bass. It has a unique sound that has been featured on countless records during its lifetime.

Fender Jazz Bass

    In 1960, Fender launched their second electric bass guitar. Originally introduced as a "Deluxe Model", it featured a thinner neck and two single coil pickups. The company felt that these features would appeal to jazz musicians, and so spawned the name "Jazz Bass". The guitar was designed to encourage players of upright basses to switch to the electric bass. Fender's other intention with the Jazz was to create a bass which competed with the Rickenbacker, which had a bright, high-treble sound.
    The Jazz is often regarded to be a more versatile bass than the Precision Bass, due to it's brighter tone and use of independent volume controls for each pickup. It also features a more contoured body which some players prefer.

60's Jazz Bass - a stylish alternative to the Precision Bass

    You can spend anywhere between £400 and £1600 on a new Fender Jazz - this is all down to the type you go for. The cheaper models have Alder bodies and are made in Mexico. Further up the range, the guitars are made in the USA and feature upgraded pickups and bridges. At the top of the tree there is the artist series - a range of Jazz Bass guitars built to the exact specifications of famous bass players including Geddy Lee, Jaco Pastorius and Mark Hoppus. These guitars are often made from exquisite woods such as mahogany and maple, include upgraded electronics and are available in special edition colours.

Some of the less well known Fender guitars...

    There are a number of interesting Fender models which carry less fame than the Stratocaster and Telecaster. Here are a few guitars you may not have seen before...

The Jaguar. Also available as as bass, this guitar includes a number of extra tone / pickup volume controls which give the user plenty of scope to create a unique sound. The appeal of this guitar increased dramatically when it became popular with grunge bands such as Sonic Youth, Nirvana and The Pixies.

The Mustang. Despite no longer being in production, the Mustang remains a popular choice for people who prefer a slightly smaller bodied guitar. These can often fetch a large amount on the second hand market due to their rarity.

Fender Jagstang. As the title suggests, this rare model was designed as a cross between the Jaguar and Mustang. It was originally made for Kurt Cobain who was a keen player of both these guitars. Cobain is alleged to have come up with the original sketched design for the Jagstang.

The Toronado. Straying from the usual fender design features, this guitar has a modern feel accompanied by a modern sound thanks to it's twin hum-bucking pickups. Toronado's aren't often seen, having only been produced between 1998 and 2006 - a small amount of time compared to the Stratocaster's 50+ year old heritage.

~ To many, the appeal of the less well known fender guitars is that it provides an alternative to the much more popular models.

CBS Takeover

      In 1965, Fender was sold to a large company called CBS  (Columbia Broadcasting System). Leo Fender sold Fender Guitars and it's sub-companies for thirteen million dollars. The value of the Fender brand becomes clear when you take into consideration that this figure is two million more than what CBS paid for the New York Yankees Baseball Team. Initially, the takeover was seen as a good thing, as CBS were able to bring in capital and staff to increase sales. Despite this, It is the opinion of most that the sale of the company resulted in a decline in quality, as CBS implemented a cost-cutting regime.
    After their takeover of Fender, CBS introduced some new features to the guitars, including larger headstock shapes and bold black Fender logos. A new semi-hollow guitar was introduced, called the Starcaster, which was designed to go up against Gibson's popular ES-355.

Fender Starcaster

You sometimes see used Fender guitars for sale with the description "Pre-CBS". This signifies a guitar that was made before CBS took over and started cutting corners with Fender products. Pre-CBS guitars are incredibly sought-after in the used guitar market.

Survey

    As part of my research into Fender guitars, I have conducted a small survey to find out a bit more about peoples' opinion on their products. I collected my answers from various networking sites and forums.
I first asked what peoples' favourite Fender product was...

As was to be expected, the Stratocaster and Tele' came out on top with 27 and 18 votes respectively.
The Jazz Bass received 13 votes - one more than the Precision bass. The Fender Jaguar scored 8 and the Mustang received just 2 votes.






I also wanted to know how popular Fender were in comparison to their main rival Gibson Guitars. For this question I received 56 votes. To get a truly accurate rating of peoples' opinion I would need to ask a much larger group.

Interestingly, the results of this survey were very close.
Fender: 31
Gibson: 25

If I had asked another set of people, the results could easily have gone the other way...

In conclusion...

     In researching this historic company, I have discovered that whilst the product becomes more modern, the brand always stays true to it's routes. The design of a Fender model does not change over the years, instead it receives small changes here and there to keep it up to date. From what I have seen from the people who play them, I don't think people would want it to change to much either. The Stratocaster is seen by some to be too common, however most would agree that it is an icon, and has set the benchmark for most electric guitars to follow.

Fender is a rock solid brand. After all, what other product has been around for 60 years without changing, that still continues to out-perform and out-sell it's rivals?