One person who did more to create a musical revolution in the early days of electrical musical instruments was Clarence Leonidas Fender, or rather, Leo Fender. He and C. O. (Doc) Kauffman worked together to make and market a guitar and amplification system that had a clean, clear sound without feedback at higher volume. Before their successful solid body guitar, the electronic pick-ups would get vibrations from the guitar's sound box as well as from the strings. By eliminating the sound box found on classical, Spanish-style guitars, they were able to control the feedback caused by secondary signals to the pick-ups. Amplifiers were then able to just get the vibrations from the strings which were clean and defined. That pure sound was then able to be amplified by the vintage guitar amplifiers.
Leo found another electronics enthusiast in C. O. (Doc) Kauffman and formed a company to design, manufacture and sell Hawaiian lap steel guitars and their amplifiers in the early 1940's, named the K & F Manufacturing Company. K & F began making lap steel guitars in 1945 using their innovation of wound electronic pick-ups to gather the sound from the strings to feed it to the amplifier. The next generation of the company evolved to be the Fender Electric Instrument Company after Doc Kauffman left Leo Fender in 1946.
The first electric guitar Fender made was the Esquire, styled after the Rickenbacker Bakelite with a detachable neck. In 1951, Fender invented and marketed the Broadcaster, a new solid-body guitar with Spanish styling, the first to go into commercial production. The Broadcaster was later renamed the Telecaster to avoid legal problems with Gretch and their trademarked "Broadkaster" drum kit. Bass players were soon delighted to a Fender electric bass also in 1951, allowing them to have the freedom and flexibility of sound volume and tone control at their fingertips.
The famous Stratocaster came about a few years later and became the hallmark of vintage electric guitars. Unfortunately, Leo Fender's health was declining during his highlight years of making electric guitars and he sold the company to CBS in 1965. The years CBS owned the Fender guitar company were "less than stellar" because musicians soon found the parent company had little interest in them or making excellent musical instruments. In 1985, employees, loyal distributors and guitar aficionados bought back the company to return to the original goal set by Leo Fender, that is to make a superior musical instrument demanded by the best musicians in the world.
The present Fender name has returned to the original roots by making guitars worthy of the Fender name, however, the most prized Fender vintage guitars are those made prior to the January 5, 1965 purchase by CBS for $13 million. Vintage Fender guitars made prior to 1965 all have a special place in collectors of fine vintage musical instruments as well as master musicians. Models like the 1964 Mustang, a model designed for the advanced student of guitar, the JazzMaster, introduced in 1958, the MusicMaster and DuoSonic in 1958. (The MusicMaster II, the DuoSonic II and the Mustang have the same shape and were considered student guitars. The Fender Jaguar is a follow-up to the original JazzMaster and was first introduced in 1962). Of course, early model Esquires, Broadcasters, Telecasters and Stratocaster vintage guitars with Fender serial numbers of the early years to 1965 are extremely prized.
After selling Fender Electric Musical Instruments Company to CBS, Leo Fender sat only briefly and started MusicMan Instruments and G & L Corporation. Neither company were financially successful like the original Fender company, but each has a who's who list of famous musicians playing the vintage instruments. Leo Fender died March 21, 1991 from complications of Parkinson's at the age of 81. While the end of his instrument making career were extremely stressful on him, he was and still is one of the top masters of the music revolution based upon vintage electric guitars.
Leo found another electronics enthusiast in C. O. (Doc) Kauffman and formed a company to design, manufacture and sell Hawaiian lap steel guitars and their amplifiers in the early 1940's, named the K & F Manufacturing Company. K & F began making lap steel guitars in 1945 using their innovation of wound electronic pick-ups to gather the sound from the strings to feed it to the amplifier. The next generation of the company evolved to be the Fender Electric Instrument Company after Doc Kauffman left Leo Fender in 1946.
The first electric guitar Fender made was the Esquire, styled after the Rickenbacker Bakelite with a detachable neck. In 1951, Fender invented and marketed the Broadcaster, a new solid-body guitar with Spanish styling, the first to go into commercial production. The Broadcaster was later renamed the Telecaster to avoid legal problems with Gretch and their trademarked "Broadkaster" drum kit. Bass players were soon delighted to a Fender electric bass also in 1951, allowing them to have the freedom and flexibility of sound volume and tone control at their fingertips.
The famous Stratocaster came about a few years later and became the hallmark of vintage electric guitars. Unfortunately, Leo Fender's health was declining during his highlight years of making electric guitars and he sold the company to CBS in 1965. The years CBS owned the Fender guitar company were "less than stellar" because musicians soon found the parent company had little interest in them or making excellent musical instruments. In 1985, employees, loyal distributors and guitar aficionados bought back the company to return to the original goal set by Leo Fender, that is to make a superior musical instrument demanded by the best musicians in the world.
The present Fender name has returned to the original roots by making guitars worthy of the Fender name, however, the most prized Fender vintage guitars are those made prior to the January 5, 1965 purchase by CBS for $13 million. Vintage Fender guitars made prior to 1965 all have a special place in collectors of fine vintage musical instruments as well as master musicians. Models like the 1964 Mustang, a model designed for the advanced student of guitar, the JazzMaster, introduced in 1958, the MusicMaster and DuoSonic in 1958. (The MusicMaster II, the DuoSonic II and the Mustang have the same shape and were considered student guitars. The Fender Jaguar is a follow-up to the original JazzMaster and was first introduced in 1962). Of course, early model Esquires, Broadcasters, Telecasters and Stratocaster vintage guitars with Fender serial numbers of the early years to 1965 are extremely prized.
After selling Fender Electric Musical Instruments Company to CBS, Leo Fender sat only briefly and started MusicMan Instruments and G & L Corporation. Neither company were financially successful like the original Fender company, but each has a who's who list of famous musicians playing the vintage instruments. Leo Fender died March 21, 1991 from complications of Parkinson's at the age of 81. While the end of his instrument making career were extremely stressful on him, he was and still is one of the top masters of the music revolution based upon vintage electric guitars.
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Vintage guitars are a great investment in this wayward and slippery economy. Add value to your investments with a vintage guitar.
