Fender Guitars

Fender guitars have been making waves in music for more than four decades. Their electric guitars and amplifiers have had a tremendous influence on the way the world composes, plays and listens to music. While guitarists in the early part of this century played country, folk or blues on acoustic guitars, in the 1930's, jazz musicians experimented with amplifying traditional hollow-body guitars so they could play with other instruments at the same sound level. One problem was that the speakers and pickups tended to generate feedback when played at a high level.

In the 1940's, a California inventor named Leo Fender had made some custom guitars and amplifiers in his radio shop. Eventually, Leo would create the world's very first instrument amplifiers with built-in tone controls. More importantly, though, was Leo's vision of better fender guitars. With his knowledge of existing technologies, he knew he could improve on contemporary amplified hollow-body instruments . . . and improve upon them, he did. In 1951, he introduced the Broadcaster, the prototype solid-body guitar that would eventually become the legendary Telecaster®. The Tele®, as it became affectionately known, was the first solid-body electric Spanish-style guitar ever to go into commercial production. Soon to follow the Tele were the revolutionary Precision Bass® guitar in 1951, and the Stratocaster® in 1954.

In 1965, because of poor health, Leo Fender sold his company to corporate giant CBS. Over the next two decades, Fender guitars experienced some tremendous growth. But as time wore on, CBS's lack of commitment and real understanding of music and musicians was becoming apparent.

In 1981, CBS recruited a new management team to "re-invent" Fender. William Schultz was soon named President, and was supported by associates William Mendello and Kurt Hemrich. They had developed a five-year business plan based on the idea of increasing Fender's presence in the marketplace by dramatically improving quality and making a significant commitment to research and development. This association continued until CBS decided to divest itself from the non-broadcast media business.

So, in 1985, a group of employees and investors led by William Schultz purchased the company from CBS. This sale put Fender in the hands of a small group of musically dedicated people who have committed their lives to creating the world's best guitars and amplifiers.

Recognizing that country music and acoustic guitars were increasing in popularity, Fender expanded upon its acoustic guitar line. In addition to working with respected manufacturers in Japan, Korea and China to produce quality acoustic guitars,