Guitars and Basses Category

History of Fender® Musical Instruments Corporation

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation is the world’s foremost manufacturer of guitars, basses, amplifiers and related equipment.

With an illustrious history dating back to 1946, Fender has touched and transformed music worldwide and in nearly every genre: rock ‘n’ roll, country and western, jazz, rhythm and blues and many others. Everyone from beginners and hobbyists to the world’s most acclaimed artists and performers have used Fender instruments and amps, and legendary Fender instruments such as the Telecaster® and Stratocaster® guitars and Precision® and Jazz® bass guitars are universally acclaimed as design classics.

In the 1940s, southern California inventor Leo Fender realized that he could improve on the amplified hollow-body instruments of the day by using an innovative and rather simple solid-body electric guitar design. Further, he realized that he could streamline the process of building them.

In 1951 he introduced a prototype solid-body instrument that would eventually be called the Telecaster® guitar. The Tele®, as it was often called then and still is today, was the first solid-body Spanish-style electric guitar to be commercially mass-produced.

That same year, Fender introduced a revolutionary new invention—the Precision Bass guitar. It was played like a guitar and had frets so that it could be played with “precision,” and it could be amplified, thus liberating bassists from unwieldy and increasingly difficult-to-hear acoustic basses. read more

Electric Fender guitars

         Broadcaster

The Fender Telecaster (aka 'Tele') is a dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender. Its simple, yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in the fields of electric guitar manufacture and popular music. Introduced for national distribution as the Broadcaster in the fall of 1950, it was the first guitar of its kind to be produced on a substantial scale. Its commercial production can be traced as far back as the spring of 1950, when the single- and dual-pickup Esquire models were first sold. From that time to the present, the Telecaster has been in continuous production in one form or another, making it the world's senior solid-body electric guitar (Duchossoir, 1991, 11-15).

        Bronco

The Fender Bronco was an electric guitar model produced by the Fender company from mid 1967 until 1981. It used the body and neck from the Fender Mustang, but had only one pickup and a different tremolo arm mechanism. Unlike the other Mustang variants, it was offered only with a 24" scale length.

        Custom

The Fender Custom (or Maverick) was a short-lived model released by the CBS-owned Fender in 1969. It was essentially an attempt to sell off unused factory stock instead of simply writing it off. It featured more prominently in sales material than its companion, the Swinger, but wasn't taken seriously (and was hardly expected to compete with the Stratocaster and Telecaster).

        Cyclone

The Fender Cyclone is an electric guitar made by Fender. Introduced in late 1997, the Cyclone body is similarly styled to the Mustang but with a significantly different specification.

        Duo-Sonic

The Fender Duo-Sonic guitar was introduced by Fender in 1956 as a “student” model guitar. Like the Musicmaster introduced a few months earlier, it featured crude but effective construction and a 22.5 inch scale length (standard Fender guitars feature a 25.5 inch scale). The “Duo-Sonic” features two pick-ups and a vertical (as opposed to Fender's standard blade-style) selector switch on the lower horn of the body.

        Electric XII

The Fender Electric XII was a purpose-built 12-string electric guitar, designed for folk rockers. Instead of using a Stratocaster-body style, it used one with a Jaguar/Jazzmaster body style. It was also a departure from the typical "Stratocaster"-style headstock, instead featuring a long headstock nicknamed the "hockey-stick" headstock. The Electric XII featured two split single-coil pickups (similar to the ones used on the P-bass) and fairly simple electronics. It used the traditional Fender string-through-body shape to help sustain.

        Jag-Stang

The Jag-Stang is a hybrid of two Fender electric guitars: a Jaguar and a Mustang. Kurt Cobain, of the grunge band, Nirvana, put his idea for an instrument with combined aspects of both instruments into Fender's hands, resulting in two left-handed prototypes, only one of which was ever played by Kurt himself. It has been said that the instrument needed much tweaking before Kurt was satisfied with it, and it was shipped back to Fender for repairs before Cobain brought it with him on the European leg of Nirvana's In Utero tour in 1994. The guitar was seldom played live. Many believe that Kurt was ultimately unhappy with the result and hence never completed revisions for the instrument before his death in April 1994.

        Jaguar

 The Fender Jaguar guitar was introduced in 1962. The Jaguar was originally marketed and seen as a surf guitar, along with its sister guitar, the Fender Jazzmaster both of which became popular among surf rock groups in the early to mid 1960s. It became popular again in the 1990s when it was used by a number of alternative rock players; a fact which remains to this day.

        Jazzmaster

The Fender Jazzmaster electric guitar was first introduced at the 1958 NAMM show and was designed as a more upmarket instrument than the Fender Stratocaster, which itself was introduced in 1954 as a higher-priced product than the company's Telecaster series.

        Katana

The Fender Katana designed by marketing director Dan Smith in 1986 the Katana is by far the least Orthodox guitar ever made by Fender. The Katana was designed to compete with the wild shaped guitars of era and satisfy Fender dealers who were feeling the pinch by them. Sadly, the Katana was discontinued the same year.

        Contemporary Stratocaster Japan

The Fender Contemporary Stratocaster electric guitars were produced by Fender Japan. Manufactured from 1984 to 1987 by Fender Japan these Stratocasters were designed to be Superstrats Super Strat with a Floyd Rose like bridge designed by Schaller with some models featuring humbucking pickups. When CBS sold Fender to it's current owners in 1984 there was a transitional period from 1985 to 1987 where mostly Fender Japan Stratocasters and leftover stock were being sold and Fender USA production was limited.

        Lead Series

Fender Lead Series electric guitars were produced by Fender and included the Lead I, Lead II and Lead III models.

        Musicmaster

The Fender Musicmaster is an electric guitar by Fender, and was the first of their 3/4 scale guitars. With a single pickup and no tremolo arm, it was a basic but functional instrument.

        Mastang

The Fender Mustang is an electric guitar by the Fender Musical Instruments Company, introduced in 1964 as the basis of a major redesign of Fender's student models then consisting of the Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic. It was produced until 1982 and reissued in 1990.

        Performer

The Fender Performer was designed for high-performance guitarist in the mid 1980s. The Performer was only made for one year (1986), and was assembled in Japan. It was introduced in the middle business crisis at CBS and was discontinued after only one year, however, in recent years it's reputation as a fine, versatile rock instrument has risen. The Performer was also made as an electric bass.


        Shomaster

The Fender Showmaster is an electric guitar. During the 1980s, many hard and stadium rock guitarists modified their Fender Stratocaster guitars in order to let their athletic music styles be played on their guitars. Modifications included new pickup configurations with added humbuckers in addition to single-coils; deeper cutaways; 7-string capacity; heavy-duty locking tremolo arms (such as the "Floyd Rose" series); droopy, pointed headstocks (sometimes reversed, Firebird style) and active electronics. Such guitars became known as 'SuperStrats' due to their origin in the Stratocaster. Soon, many guitar manufacturers began producing instruments with these modifications straight out of the box.

        Starcaster

The Fender Starcaster was an attempt by the Fender company to enter the semi-hollowbody electric guitar market, which was (and still is) dominated by Gibson's ES-335 and similar designs. It had a unique headstock design, with a painted bottom curve matching the color of the guitar body, that no other Fender guitar has had before or since. It was also unusual for a semi-hollow guitar in having an asymmetrical ("offset") body, a maple fretboard, a bolt-on neck, and Fender's traditional six-on-a-side tuning pegs.

        Stratocaster

The Stratocaster, often called the 'Strat', is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender in the early 1950s, and manufactured continuously to the present. The Stratocaster has been used by many leading guitarists and on many historic recordings: Along with the Gibson Les Paul and the Strat's older cousin, the Fender Telecaster, it is one of the most enduring and common models of electric guitar in the world.

        Stratocaster XII

The Fender Stratocaster XII was the 12 string version of the Stratocaster.

        Super Strat

Superstrat or Super Strat is a name for a design of electric guitars.
With an emerging revolution of heavy metal music in early 1980s, the guitar industry found itself in need of more advanced guitars, both in terms of looks (more aggressive designs) and playability (ease of playing and fatter tone that sounds good with hi-gain amplification). A whole new generation of guitar virtuosos emerged that employed super-fast and ultra-complex techniques that demanded thinner and more versatile guitar necks and stable bridges. The answers from the industry were superstrats: buffed up custom versions of the original Stratocaster design. Due to huge marketing success, most companies started manufacturing superstrats in mass production. read more

        Telecaster

The Fender Telecaster (aka 'Tele') is a dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender. Its simple, yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in the fields of electric guitar manufacture and popular music. Introduced for national distribution as the Broadcaster in the fall of 1950, it was the first guitar of its kind to be produced on a substantial scale. Its commercial production can be traced as far back as the spring of 1950, when the single- and dual-pickup Esquire models were first sold. From that time to the present, the Telecaster has been in continuous production in one form or another, making it the world's senior solid-body electric guitar (Duchossoir, 1991, 11-15).

        Toronado

The Toronado is the name of an electric guitar made by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. Introduced at NAMM in 1998, it is a part of the "Deluxe Series" Fenders which are produced in Mexico, generally to higher specs than most "Standard" models. The Toronado features two humbucking pickups, rosewood fretboard, and popular design includes a tortoise-shell pickguard and four chrome knobs (x2 volume, x2 tone). The headstock features the famous Fender "spaghetti" logo, and sports vintage style "kluson" tuners. The body shape shadows the older jazzmaster and jaguar guitars. 24 3/4" scale length.

Electric Fender basses

         Jazz

The Jazz Bass was the second model of electric bass guitar created by Leo Fender.

        Jaguar

The Fender Jaguar Bass is more or less a combination of the Fender Jazz Bass electric bass guitar and the Fender Jaguar electric guitar. Essentially, it a Jazz Bass with a Jaguar body and switching options loosely styled after that of the Jaguar.

        Mastang

The Fender Mustang Bass is an electric bass guitar model produced by Fender. Two variants, the Musicmaster Bass and the Bronco Bass, have also been produced from time to time using the Mustang Bass body and neck.

        Precision

The Fender Precision Bass, known as "P-bass" for short, is an early model of the electric bass designed by Clarence Leonidas Fender on the electronics and his team crafting the body and neck, and brought to market in 1951.

        Performer

The Fender Performer bass was based on its guitar cousin and was released in 1985. It was assembled in the Far East. Sadly the Performer bass and guitar were discontinued the same year, but today its reputation as a great rock bass lives on.

        Bass VI

The Fender Bass VI, originally known as the Fender VI, is a six-string electric bass by Fender.

        Zone

The Fender Zone is a fretted electric bass, introduced in 2001.

        Bass V

The originial Fender Bass V was a quirky and unusual electric bass guitar model produced by Fender between 1965 and 1970. It was the world's first five string bass guitar, a popular concept today that, like many of Leo Fender's ideas, was well ahead of its time.

        Bronco

The Fender Mustang Bass is an electric bass guitar model produced by Fender. Two variants, the Musicmaster Bass and the Bronco Bass, have also been produced from time to time using the Mustang Bass body and neck.

    







 

The tool that will make you love to learn guitar.

Learning to play guitar can be hard, but the Fender G-DEC Guitar Digital Entertainment Center makes it easy and fun. As simple to learn as a new video game, the G-DEC has lots to offer for brand-newbies, guit-athletes, and songwriter-types alike. You can quickly plug in and solo over backing tracks and practice with a full-band arrangement to develop your chops in nearly any style.

At the heart of the G-DEC is a 15W amp and 8" speaker combo with the familiar Fender look and feel. But that's just for starters. This one-of-a-kind combo adds a digital LCD screen; lots of guitar tones; selectable drum beats, bass lines, and other instruments; reverb, echo, and other effects; a tuner; a phrase sampler with line in and slow down; an internal synth with MIDI; and a shoulder strap for easy transport. So you've got the ultimate practice partner, rhythm section, and song-inspiration platform all wrapped up in an easy-to-use combo amp.

The G-DEC is loaded with 50 Performance Presets that each include a drum loop, bass line, guitar amp tone, and effects. There are 50 user presets, tons of guitar tones, drum loops, a metronome, and backing tracks in nearly every style so you can build your own backing tracks. You can edit, move around, and store all the Performance Presets. Each preset includes a guitar tone (built from the following ingredients: Amp Type, EQ, Compressor, Timbre, Noise Gate, and Effects) and a drum/backing loop including rhythm instruments.

 

A special Strat© to honor Fender's first 60 years.

Celebrate Fender's anniversary with this special version of the Standard Strat. It has most of the Standard Series features while incorporating several key features not normally found in the Standard Strat©: overwound high-output Tex Mex Strat pickups (the same as on the Jimmy Vaughan Strat), a distinctive Blizzard Pearl finish, engraved 60th Anniversary neck plate, and a special anniversary gig bag.