Fender — the name that changed our perception about guitars

 

There is hardly a person in the world who listens to music and in some way or at some point in his life hasn’t heard the word ‘Fender’. In this article, we will return to a period when the guitar icon first appeared. We will follow its evolution, the changes it has undergone and the styles that left a bright memory in ourselves, played with this enigmatic instrument. The love for this brand will take us back in time to today’s music, where the sound of this instrument is preferred by every generation and finds expression in every new style.

 

The development of Fender guitars was founded in the United States, California in 1946 by Clarence Leonidas “Leo” Fender. This man was a qualified technician of electronic devices such as radios, vacuum tube amplifiers, etc. He became interested in musical amplifiers and especially in the flaws of the available design. Later, he decided to build his own design. By 1945 he entered in a partnership with another company and first came to light his Lap steel guitar. At that exact moment, he decided to change his business from repairs to the more profitable manufacturing. In 1946 his partner withdrew and the company renamed its name to “Fender Electric Instrument Company”.

 

His experimentation with the guitar design was already underway for a few years, and at last, in 1950 under the name of Broadcaster, later changed to  Telecaster, was born. The bolt on neck gave the possibility for the guitars to be worked separately with the body which in turn contributed to cheaper and faster production. This guitar was welcomed with quite a success with its bright and warm tone and brought melodies to the world from s number of the notable guitarists such as Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, Bruce Springsteen, Muddy Waters, and George Harrison to the modern ones – Graham Coxon from Blur and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead. 

 

Four years later in 1954, Leo revealed to the world a new model  of Fender guitar called Stratocaster. It turned out this is the most reproduced and the most recognisable guitar ever created. Probably the most successful one. The body was made mostly of alder or ash wood while the neck was made of maple. Further in the years diverse materials were added and today we can choose among all kinds of exotic woods. The voice comes out from this guitar through its three pickups and the tremolo bridge that’s made it so unique, distinctive and popular. It’s worth mentioning that in addition to the different woods, Stratocasters had many changes over the years such as varying amounts of contouring on the bodies, the shapes of headstock, pickguards etc. Starting with the mesmerizing music of the legendary Jimmy Hendrix, surf with Dick Dale, walking through the experimental rock of David Gilmour, the everlasting guitar riffs of Ritchie Blackmore, the incredible melodies of Mark Knopfler, the unique vibrato of Jeff Beck, the unforgettable technique of Steve Ray Vaughan, the neoclassical shredding of Yngwie Malmsteen until modern artists like Cory Wong known for his clean funk ‘lead rhythm’ guitar style, these are just some of the musicians who made the Strat model so desirable.

 

We move forward in time and only a few years later in 1959 Fender released the model Jazzmaster. Totally different design from any of  the previous guitars, this one had an offset body and innovative electronics.The tremolo lock, and a new uniquely designed bridge. As its name suggests, it was made to cover the Jazz guitar scene but somehow it found a field among Surf rock guitarists. Overall this guitar body was bigger than any previous guitar but the construction was designed to comfort seated players. The influential music of Elvis Costello, Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins, Robert Smith of The Cure, and the duo Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth were part of the movement which made the model famous.

 

Leo didn’t stop with just that offset body and in 1962 introduced Fender Jaguar. Similar to the previous one but with an unusual switching system with two separate circuits for lead and rhythm, and a short-scale 24″ neck, the Jaguar took its place among the Surf music scene until it was taken out of production in 1975. Years later, styles like Punk and Alternative rocks, Indie or Shoegazing preferred its tone for their music. The brilliance of this guitar comes mainly in the 90’s when the famous guitarists in the world as Kurt Cobain, Kevin Shields, Brian Molko, Rowland S. Howard, John Frusciante, Will Sergeant and many more play it because of the bridge construction. The sonic resonance caused by the length  of the strings between the bridge and the tailpiece  gave the artists more chiming sound.

 

We could write a great amount of stories regarding every single guitar as well as point out more artists who play Fenders because there’s no end to it. It is their authentic tone, durability , and the perfect vision that fits the same old and modern days puts Fender’s heritage on a higher level where expressing your feelings through music is easy and enjoyable and makes you want to create new music that will probably be the next masterpiece that someone else will write about in time….