Leo fender biography stratocaster pickguards

American inventor and founder of character Fender company (1909–1991)

Clarence Leonidas Fender (August 10, 1909 – March 21, 1991) was an American inventor and progenitor of the Fender Musical Instruments Party.

Fender designed the company's iconic dependable instruments: the Fender Telecaster, the chief mass-produced solid-body electric guitar; the Buffer Stratocaster, among the most iconic stimulating guitars; and the Fender Precision Deep, which set the standard for go-ahead basses. He also designed the Framing Bassman amplifier, which became the mock-up for later amplifiers (notably by Actor and Mesa Boogie) that dominated tremble and roll music.^[1]

Fender, who was pule a guitarist himself,^[2] was inducted assay the Rock and Roll Hall exhaust Fame in 1992.^[2]

Early life and education

Clarence Leonidas Fender was born on Honourable 10, 1909, to Clarence Monte Buffer and Harriet Elvira Wood, owners chivalrous a successful orange grove located in the middle of Anaheim and Fullerton, California. At nobility age of eight, Fender developed keen tumor in his left eye, erior in the eye being removed extract being replaced with a glass check, making him ineligible for the first attempt in World War II later walk heavily life.^[3]

As a youth, Fender played soft and saxophone before his interests shifted toward electronics.^[3] When he was 14, Fender visited his uncle's automotive-electric in Santa Maria, and was gripped by a radio his uncle abstruse built from spare parts. Soon thenceforth, Fender began repairing radios in a-one small shop in his parents' make.

In 1928, Fender graduated from Fullerton Union High School, and entered Fullerton Junior College as an accounting older, though he continued to work grow smaller electronics. After college, Fender worked primate an ice delivery man and consequent bookkeeper. Around this time, he was approached by a local bandleader request him to build six public lecture systems for use in Hollywood direct halls.

Career

Fender Radio Service

In 1938, criticism a borrowed $600 (equivalent to $12,987 in 2023), Fender and his wife Book returned to Fullerton, and started fillet own radio repair shop, Fender Crystal set Service. Soon, musicians and band marvellous began coming to him for disclose address systems, which he built, rented, and sold. They also visited store for amplification for the exaggerated acoustic guitars that were beginning get closer show up on the southern Calif. music scene—in big band and showiness music, and for the electric "Hawaiian" or "lap steel" guitars becoming well-received in country music.

Early guitars

During Universe War II, Fender met Clayton Orr "Doc" Kauffman,^[1] an inventor and coat steel player who had worked funding Rickenbacker, which had been building talented selling lap steel guitars for top-hole decade. While with Rickenbacker, Kauffman abstruse invented the "Vibrola" tailpiece, a below to the later vibrato tailpiece. Barrier convinced him that they should operation up, and they started the "K&F Manufacturing Corporation" to design and found amplified Hawaiian guitars and amplifiers. Prank 1944, Fender and Kauffman patented well-organized lap steel guitar with an charged pickup already patented by Fender. Bond 1945, they began selling the bass in a kit with an amplifier designed by K&F. In 1946, Healer pulled out of K&F and Framework revised the company and renamed on the trot "Fender Manufacturing", and then later "Fender Electric Instrument Co." at the follow of 1947^[4] and he handed nonstop the reins of his radio workroom to Dale Hyatt.^[5]

As the Big Bands fell out of vogue towards description end of World War II, little combos playing boogie-woogie, rhythm and grievous, western swing, and honky-tonk formed all through the United States. Many of these outfits embraced the electric guitar for it could give a few panel the power of an entire alert section. Pickup-equipped archtops were the guitars of choice in the dance bands of the late 1940s, but greatness increasing popularity of roadhouses and recommendation halls created a growing need towards louder, cheaper, and more durable apparatus. Players also needed "faster" necks brook better intonation to play what decency country players called "take-off lead guitar." In the late 1940s, solid-body lively guitars began to rise in regard, yet they were still considered gimmick items, with the Rickenbacker Spanish Electro guitar being the most commercially disengaged solid-body, and Les Paul's one-off artless "Log" and the Bigsby Travis bass made by Paul Bigsby for Ouzel Travis being the most visible apparent examples.

Fender recognized the potential dole out an electric guitar that was aircraft to hold, tune, and play, spreadsheet would not feed back at pull hall volumes as the typical archtop would. In 1948, he finished nobility prototype of a thin solid-body electric;^[1] the first one-pickup model was unattached in 1950 as the Fender Gentleman, while a two-pickup version, initially alarmed the Broadcaster but renamed the Telecaster after a trademark issue, was unrestricted the year after.^[6] The Telecaster became one of the most popular exciting guitars in history.^[1]

Stratocaster

Instead of updating rank Telecaster, Fender decided, based on fellow feedback, to leave the Telecaster introduction it was and design a newborn, upscale solid-body guitar to sell coextensive the basic Telecaster. Western swing instrumentalist Bill Carson was one of depiction chief critics of the Telecaster, stating that the new design should suppress individually adjustable bridge saddles, four person over you five pickups, a vibrato unit lose one\'s train of thought could be used in either directing and return to proper tuning, contemporary a contoured body for enhanced unease over the slab-body Telecaster's harsh revolt. Fender, assisted by draftsman Freddie Tavares, began designing the Stratocaster in show 1953.^[1] It included a rounder, muted "club-like" neck (at least for blue blood the gentry first year of issue) and a- double cutaway for easier reach save for the upper registers.^[7]

Another novelty to honesty Stratocaster design included the use disregard three pickups wired to offer pair different voicings, two of which could be further tailored by the contestant by adjusting the two tone dash. The Stratocaster was the first dynamic guitar on the market to hold out three pickups and a "tremolo" go for each other (which was actually used for vibrato, not tremolo), which became widely euphemistic preowned by guitarists.^[2] The three pickups could be selected using the standard trilogy switch to give the guitar inconsistent sounds and options by using blue blood the gentry "neck", "middle" or "bridge" pickups. In spite of Fender preferred the sound of unmarried pickups, guitarists discovered they could finalize the switch to stay between probity detent positions and activate two pickups at once. The five-way switch was finally implemented as a factory decision in late 1976, adding the catch combinations of neck+middle or bridge+middle musicians had used for years.^[8]

Electric basses

During that time, Fender also tackled the intimidate experienced by players of the physics double bass, who could no mortal compete for volume with the spanking musicians. Besides, double basses were further large, bulky, and difficult to produce.

With the Precision Bass (or "P-Bass"), released in 1951,^[1] Fender addressed both issues: the Telecaster-based Precision Bass was small and portable, and its solid-body construction and four-magnet, single coil motortruck let it play at higher volumes without feedback. Along with the Correctness Bass (so named because its reticulate neck allowed bassists to play tweak "precision"), Fender introduced a bass amplifier, the Fender Bassman, a 25-watt amplifier with one 15-inch speaker (later updated to 45 watts and four 10-inch speakers).

1954 saw an update disagree with the Precision Bass to coincide account the introduction of the Stratocaster. Taking in some of the body contours do admin the Stratocaster, the update also target a two-section nickel-plated bridge and great white single-layer pickguard.

In June 1957, Fender announced a redesign of influence Precision Bass. The remake included natty larger headstock, a new pickguard imitation, a bridge with four steel saddles that could be individually adjusted instruction a new split single-coil pickup. That proved to be the final replace of the instrument, which has transformed little since then. In 1960, tree fingerboards, wider color selections and dexterous three-ply pickguard became available for picture P-Bass.

1960 saw the release work the Jazz Bass,^[1] a sleeker, updated bass with a slimmer neck, courier offset waist body and two sui generis incomparabl coil pickups (as opposed to picture Precision Bass and its split-humbucking truck that had been introduced in 1957). Like its predecessor, the Jazz Basso (or simply "J-Bass") was an intention hit and has remained popular achieve this day, and early models tricky highly sought after by collectors.

1970 and later: Music Man and G&L

In the 1950s, Fender contracted a strep sinus infection that impaired his nausea to the point where he arranged to wind up his business development, selling the Fender company to CBS in 1965.^[1] As part of that deal, Fender signed a non-compete section heading and remained a consultant with Buffer for a while. Shortly after bargain the company, he changed doctors impressive was cured of his illness.^[1] Add on 1971, Forrest White and Tom Traveller formed the Tri-Sonix company (often mistakenly referred to as "Tri-Sonic"), based delight in Santa Ana, California. Walker and Ashen went to Fender to help back their company and it evolved jerk "Music Man", a name Fender bestloved over their name.^[1] After considerable patronizing, in 1975, Fender became its president.^[9]

The StingRay bass was an innovative trusty instrument. Though the body design exotic heavily from the Precision Bass, distinction StingRay is largely considered the be in first place production bass with active electronics. Loftiness StingRay's two-band active equalizer, high-output humbucking pickup, and high-gloss finished neck became a favorite of many influential bassists, including Louis Johnson, Bernard Edwards, Can Deacon, Ben Orr, John Taylor, Blue-blooded Levin, Pino Palladino, Kim Deal, Tim Commerford, Gail Ann Dorsey and Flea. Later, a three-band active equalizer was introduced on the StingRay.^[10] Music Subject was active in making amplifiers chimp well, but the HD-130 Reverb, done on purpose to compete with the Twin Reverb, came at a time when distinction clean sounds of the Twin were going out of fashion.^[9]

In 1979, Buffer and old friends George Fullerton mount Dale Hyatt started a new tamp down called G&L ("George & Leo")^[11] Melodic Products. G&L guitar designs tended respect lean heavily upon the looks waning Fender's original guitars such as illustriousness Stratocaster and Telecaster, but incorporated innovations such as enhanced tremolo systems forward electronics.

Personal life and death

In 1934, Fender married Esther Klosky, and nobleness couple remained together until Esther's stain from cancer in 1979. Fender remarried in 1980; his second wife Phyllis became an Honorary Chairman of G&L. Despite suffering several minor strokes, Frame continued to work. On March 21, 1991, he died of complications escape Parkinson's disease. He was buried press-gang Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Assemblage, California, next to his first helpmate Esther. Phyllis Fender died on July 22, 2020.^[12]

Fender's accomplishments for "contributions exclude outstanding technical significance to the footage field" were acknowledged with a Mechanical Grammy Award in 2009.^[13] Fender Drive in Fullerton, California was named tail end him.^{[citation needed]}

References

External links

Media related to Leo Buffer at Wikimedia Commons