Leo Fender

Leo Fender and his early models in the Fender Guitar Factory Museum

Clarence Leonidas "Leo" Fender (born August 10, 1909 in Anaheim , California , † March 21, 1991 in Fullerton , California) was an American musical instrument maker. He founded the Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company, now known as Fender Musical Instruments Corporation , and later co-founded MusicMan and G&L Musical Instruments .

In the 1950s, Leo Fender was responsible for the development of electric guitar models such as Telecaster and Stratocaster , the electric bass model Precision Bass as well as guitar amplifiers and electric pianos . Some of the musical instruments developed by Fender are among the best known and most widespread of their kind and serve as models for numerous imitations and further developments. Through his inventions, his achievements in the field of industrial production of these instruments and their successful marketing, Leo Fender became one of the pioneers in the history of the electric guitar and bass.

Life

Leo Fender developed an interest in electrical engineering at a young age . As a hobby, he built and repaired radios while in high school . After graduating from high school in 1928, he graduated from Fullerton Junior College with a degree in accounting . In 1934 he married Esther Klotzky and worked as an accountant for the California Highway Department. In 1938 he opened a radio business in Fullerton, California. In this not only radios were sold, but also record changers as well as records , music and musical instruments and repairs were carried out. Furthermore, Leo Fender was already busy with various amplifier systems for speech, music and instruments and had built systems that he lent out at events.

In 1945 he founded the company K&F Manufacturing Corporation with partner Clayton Orr "Doc" Kauffman, which manufactured small numbers of Hawaiian guitars and amplifiers in the radio shop with mostly self-made tools and machines . The two had also developed a new pickup in which the guitar strings were fed through the coil of the pickup. A principle that is also used with the turntable needle. The company also held the patent on an improved record changer, which was also produced. In 1946, K&F was offered by the company Radio-Tel to take over the distribution on a large scale, which Leo Fender accepted. Kauffman thought this was too bold and he left the company. Fender opened the Fender Electrical Instrument Co. , which now produced on a larger scale in the new halls built near the radio shop . In the same year several guitar amplifiers were brought onto the market (Deluxe, Princeton, Professional).

In 1947 he sold his radio business to Dale Hyatt. Fender was annoyed that he could repair the electrics of the guitars , but not the guitar necks that were usually glued in at the time. So he thought about a new type of guitar with a bolt-on neck. This guitar should consist of individual, easily interchangeable components. In 1950 he and George Fullerton introduced the "Broadcaster", which was soon to be renamed Telecaster . 1951 followed with the Fender Precision Bass, an electric bass with four strings, which over the years not only displaced the double bass , but also shaped the sound of modern pop music . In 1954, the Stratocaster was followed by another electric guitar, which, like the Telecaster and Precision Bass, had a decisive influence on the sound of the following decades, but also on the appearance of electric guitars. At the same time, Fender heralded mass production in guitar construction, as all parts of his guitars could be manufactured individually and screwed together - a technique that was completely unusual at the time and was initially laughed at.

Leo Fender never wanted to learn to play guitar himself, but had played the saxophone in high school . He had good relationships with the Southern California music scene, which made it easier for him to spread his vision and did not rely on traditional addressing via a dealer network. At the same time, the way they were made made his guitars more affordable for most musicians than those of the competition (mainly Gibson ). Thanks to the innovative and very effective production concept, Leo Fender became in guitar construction in the 1950s what Henry Ford was in automobile construction in the 1920s. Fender's business was splendid and his instruments were well received by musicians. Other models such as the Jazz Bass , the Fender Jaguar and the Fender Jazzmaster guitars were added. In 1965 Leo Fender fell seriously ill and was no longer able to run the company, so he agreed to sell it to the media group CBS for $ 13 million. Only then did he find a doctor who could cure him. For the next few years he officially worked as a consultant at CBS, but did not enter the office provided for him and became increasingly angry about the way in which CBS produced and developed.

In 1971, Leo Fender founded the guitar and bass company Tri-Sonic with former employees Forrest White and Tom Walker, which was renamed Musitek, Inc. in 1973 and Music Man in 1974 . For the time being, only amplifiers were built, and in order to have a complete range in the program, Leo Fender's consulting firm CLF Research was contractually obliged to produce basses and guitars for MusicMan. Over the next few years, the famous Music Man StingRay electric bass, which is still successfully sold today , was created here . After Leo Fender had difficulties with the management of MusicMan, he stepped out in 1980 and in the same year founded G&L Musical Instruments (G&L stands for George and Leo) with George Fullerton and Dale Hyatt at the CLF Research facility on Fender Avenue in Fullerton . Up until his death, further innovations such as pickups , vibrato systems and neck constructions were created here . Leo Fender died on March 21, 1991 from the side effects of Parkinson's disease .

In February 2009 Leo Fender was posthumously awarded a Grammy for his special merit ("Special Merit Award"); in 1992 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame .

literature

• Phyllis Fender, Randall Bell: Leo Fender, the quiet giant heard around the world , Berkeley, 2018, ISBN 978-0-9967931-4-8
• George Fullerton : Guitars From George & Leo. Hal Leonard , ISBN 978-0-634-06922-2 .
• Tony Bacon, Paul Day: The Ultimate Guitar Book. Edited by Nigel Osborne, Dorling Kindersley, London / New York / Stuttgart 1991; Reprint 1993, ISBN 0-86318-640-8 , pp. 62-79.
• Richard R. Smith: Fender - A sound makes history . Nikol-Verl.-Ges., Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-937872-18-3

Web links

Commons : Leo Fender  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Interview with George Fullerton (English)
• Fender amp timeline (English)
• Official homepage of Fender

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Press release of the Recording Academy from December 22, 2008 ( Memento of the original from January 17, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF, 35 KiB) 
2. ↑ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame