Leo Fender and "Doc" Kauffman are credited for the creation of the first, highly successful electronic musical instruments and could be said to have been the leaders of a musical revolution. Prior to their work with solid-body electric guitars, electronic pick-ups were placed on Spanish guitars which had hollow bodies and a sound box designed to amplify the vibrations of the strings without electrical amplification. A problem arose with that design in that the pick-ups gathered not only the strings vibrations to amplify electronically, but also the out-of-phase vibrations from the hollow-body's sound box. What resulted was unwanted feedback that totally distorted the sound the musician wanted. Fender's solid body guitars were able to pick up the sounds from the strings making amplified signals pure and clean, even at high volume.
K & F Manufacturing Corporation was founded in the early 1940's to design, manufacture and sell electric instruments and amplifiers, specifically, Hawaiian lap steel guitars. In 1945 Kauffman and Fender began production using their patented electronic pick-ups on the guitars and sold the whole set, guitar and amplifier, as a set. Doc Kauffman and Leo Fender parted ways on friendly terms in early 1946. The Fender Electric Instrument Company was born.
The Esquire was Fender Musical Instrument Company's first unique product. While Leo Fender would argue its originality, it did resemble Rickenbacker's Bakelite guitar. Like the Rickenbacker, the Esquire had a separate neck piece which made it much easier to make and fix. The Broadcaster also came out in 1951, but was quickly renamed the Telecaster to avoid further legal action from the Gretch Musical Instrument Company because of the similar name to their trademarked drum kit, named "Broadkaster". Innovations continued that year with the Precision Bass, the first vintage electric bass guitar. Bass players were delighted to have volume and tone control at their fingertips as well as a more durable, much more compact instrument than the traditional stand-up bass.
A few years after the Telecaster obtained its famous reputation, Fender released its hallmark vintage electric guitar, the Stratocaster. Being a market leader began taking its toll on Leo Fender and due to declining health, sold the Fender Musical Instrument Company to CBS (the Columbia Broadcasting System). From 1965 to 1985, the brand languished because of the apparent lack of interest the parent company had for music, musicians and the reputation of Fender. Many felt CBS failed to maintain innovation and the high quality standards set by Leo Fender during their two decade ownership. As a result, loyal business partners, company employees and investors wanting to return to original standards bought the company back and reinstated Leo's original premise of making excellent musical instruments.
Although the present Fender company has come back to make extremely high quality musical instruments, the most prized Fender vintage guitars are those made up until January, 1965. Guitars made before January 5, 1965 were the original Fender masterpieces and those from that date until 1985 were a production of CBS. Master musicians and serious vintage electric guitar collectors highly desire Esquires, Telecasters and Stratocasters sporting Fender serial numbers from 1951 through 1964. Additional models like the Mustang introduced in 1964, the JazzMaster in 1958, the Jaguar, a new version of the JazzMaster introduced in 1962 are all rare finds and highly prized. In fact, the so-called "student" guitars like the Mustang, the MusicMaster and the DuoSonic of pre-1965 command high values because of their year of make and who made them.
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. - 15275
K & F Manufacturing Corporation was founded in the early 1940's to design, manufacture and sell electric instruments and amplifiers, specifically, Hawaiian lap steel guitars. In 1945 Kauffman and Fender began production using their patented electronic pick-ups on the guitars and sold the whole set, guitar and amplifier, as a set. Doc Kauffman and Leo Fender parted ways on friendly terms in early 1946. The Fender Electric Instrument Company was born.
The Esquire was Fender Musical Instrument Company's first unique product. While Leo Fender would argue its originality, it did resemble Rickenbacker's Bakelite guitar. Like the Rickenbacker, the Esquire had a separate neck piece which made it much easier to make and fix. The Broadcaster also came out in 1951, but was quickly renamed the Telecaster to avoid further legal action from the Gretch Musical Instrument Company because of the similar name to their trademarked drum kit, named "Broadkaster". Innovations continued that year with the Precision Bass, the first vintage electric bass guitar. Bass players were delighted to have volume and tone control at their fingertips as well as a more durable, much more compact instrument than the traditional stand-up bass.
A few years after the Telecaster obtained its famous reputation, Fender released its hallmark vintage electric guitar, the Stratocaster. Being a market leader began taking its toll on Leo Fender and due to declining health, sold the Fender Musical Instrument Company to CBS (the Columbia Broadcasting System). From 1965 to 1985, the brand languished because of the apparent lack of interest the parent company had for music, musicians and the reputation of Fender. Many felt CBS failed to maintain innovation and the high quality standards set by Leo Fender during their two decade ownership. As a result, loyal business partners, company employees and investors wanting to return to original standards bought the company back and reinstated Leo's original premise of making excellent musical instruments.
Although the present Fender company has come back to make extremely high quality musical instruments, the most prized Fender vintage guitars are those made up until January, 1965. Guitars made before January 5, 1965 were the original Fender masterpieces and those from that date until 1985 were a production of CBS. Master musicians and serious vintage electric guitar collectors highly desire Esquires, Telecasters and Stratocasters sporting Fender serial numbers from 1951 through 1964. Additional models like the Mustang introduced in 1964, the JazzMaster in 1958, the Jaguar, a new version of the JazzMaster introduced in 1962 are all rare finds and highly prized. In fact, the so-called "student" guitars like the Mustang, the MusicMaster and the DuoSonic of pre-1965 command high values because of their year of make and who made them.
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. - 15275
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