Short Answer:
Fender guitars originated from Fullerton, California in 1946, founded by inventor Leo Fender. Fender's original market, musical instrument amplifiers, eventually welcomed new, groundbreaking electric guitar models starting with the Precision Bass guitar and eventually the Telecaster and Stratocaster.
Long Answer:
The Fender story kicked off in the mid-1940s. America's Hawaiian music craze inspired business partners Leo Fender and Doc Kaufmann to produce new lines of lap steels and amplifiers. After a couple of years, the pair part ways, but Fender continues on to develop his own lines of amplifiers including the Princeton, Deluxe, and Professional. Fender entered the fruitful '50s and '60s with new lines of instruments like the Precision Bass, Telecaster, Stratocaster, Jaguar, Jazzmaster, and Jazz Bass.
Fender redefined many musical conventions with their instruments. The Precision Bass, for instance, reformatted the upright bass for an amplified audience, effectively inventing the proverbial "electric guitarist." Fender guitars proliferated throughout pop culture history with new players coming generation after generation.
