Fender Guitars And Amps Have Taken Music A Long Way Through History

Leo Fender is one of the most well-known, iconic names in the guitar and music industry

. He's the man who successfully converted acoustic guitars to electric guitars and also made acoustic electric guitars along with a number of patents for amplifiers and tremolo systems. He was born in Southern California and developed an interest in tinkering with electronics after his uncle made a radio from spare parts.

Fender grew up during two world wars and a debilitating depression and through it all went to junior college studying to be an accountant. In his spare time, he always tinkered with electrical items and never took any kind of electronics course while in college. His electronics background was strictly self-taught which led him to create a number of noteworthy patents in the musical and guitar instrumentation fields.

There is not a rock and roll, country, or pop music group that does not use a Fender guitar or amp system. There isn't a guitar enthusiast who doesn't know the Fender name, which is synonymous with the acoustic electric guitar or amplifier for a great sound at concerts.

In the early days during World War II, Leo teamed up with an inventor and steel guitar musician, Clayton Orr "Doc" Kauffman, to form K&F Manufacturing Corporation. They designed and built amplified Hawaiian guitars and amplifiers. Through the years, they developed amplifiers for musicians, making rugged systems that travel and hard knocks.

Through his 82 years, Leo Fender was a workaholic and a tinkerer. He was so unassuming his coffee cup was a Styrofoam cup with "Leo" printed in felt marker. He worked seven days a week because he loved to work with electronics and develop more products to market in a growing and grateful industry. By 1964, CBS bought his company for $13 million and he signed a non-compete clause for 10 years that he honored.

By 1975, he was in business again with other partners to develop and build more guitar styles and amp systems. He continued to work despite several small strokes and Parkinson's Disease. He worked the day before he died on March 21, 1991.

This man, who singlehandedly changed the music industry and did more for the modern electric guitar and acoustic electric guitar, had taken piano lessons as a child and played saxophone in high school, but never learned how to play the guitar--ironic twist for a musical icon.

by: Art Gib

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