More about Fender
All About Fender Guitars
Across seven decades and counting, the Fender name consistently finds a home with players of all stripes. Whatever genre or style, there’s a Fender instrument to fit. Fender produces an extensive line of guitars, basses, amplifiers, and everything in between to inspire players and help them on their own musical journeys. Their philosophy behind making quality instruments has made them a household name for good reason.
Fender instruments carry musicality and playability as central to their design philosophy. Originating from America’s sunny west coast, Fender’s designs hearken to the bold colors, shapes, and sounds of mid-century design – sports cars, the Space Age, surf culture. This heritage can be found across the Fender line to this day as the original ‘50s forms have shaped themselves to fit the needs of players across generations. Wherever you go – and whenever you go – you'll find Fender.
The Fender sound is a distinctly American one. This is no huge surprise as, if you sent yourself back to Fender’s earliest days, you’d likely hear plenty of American musical forms all around you – country, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll. Fender’s designs always fit the musical modes of the times as they enabled musicians to play their best and truly innovate. Founder Leo Fender said that artists were angels, and it was his job, “to give them wings to fly.” From his days of bebop and rockabilly to our most modern moment, Fender’s philosophy remains the same.
The History of Fender Guitars
Let’s set our clocks back to mid-1940s Fullerton, California. Radio repairman and inventor Leo Fender makes a name for himself working with local musician Doc Kaufmann producing new lines of amplifiers and lap steels during the height of America’s Hawaiian music craze. The two part ways after a few years, but Fender continues on, ultimately developing his own Princeton, Deluxe, and Professional series amplifiers in 1946. From there, Fender goes on into the ‘50s and ‘60s to develop guitars that would change the world – the Precision Bass, Telecaster, Stratocaster, Jaguar, Jazzmaster, and Jazz Bass.
Innovating in not only styles of music but how those styles were played, for instance, Fender guitars recontextualized the upright bass in the form of the electric bass guitar – at once inventing new modes of musicality along with the proverbial “electric guitarist.” Flash forward through Buddy Holly on The Ed Sullivan Show, Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock, and “I Want My MTV” and Fender guitars and amplifiers are among the most popular and influential musical instruments in history – but the story doesn’t stop there.
In 1985, Fender opened their flagship factory and headquarters in Corona, California. The same year, the Fender Custom Shop opened its doors to craft their most elite and innovative instruments yet. Moving into the 21st century, Fender went global with operations in England, France, Australia, Germany, Mexico, Sweden, and Japan. These international connections coincided with a focus toward digital technology with new innovations in musical instruments, breathing new life into Fender’s time-tested guitar and amplifier designs.
What Fender Is Known For
The Fender name is synonymous with quality instrument design. Across its full line of instruments, Fender showcases fine sounds and designs on every level of play. No matter your level of experience or style of music, there is a quality Fender instrument waiting for you.
Fender electric guitars and basses come outfitted with iconic sounds from across history. The winning formulas that first won the world over still exist in good measure in today’s Fender instruments. Particularly, classic single-coil pickup tones come standard in their Telecaster, Stratocaster, Precision Bass and Jazz Bass models – as they have consistently since each instrument’s debut. This consistency in design and sound also comes to life in their amplifier designs with their Princeton and Reverb series amps delivering exceptional clarity and kick – when you play a Fender instrument, you’re playing with the same greatness carried across generations.
Fender Guitars Today
Fender may have found their own touch of magic, but they have far from rested on their laurels. Today’s Fender instruments are produced in two major factories, one in Corona, California, the other in Ensenada, Mexico, where major innovations are still cooked up to continually reinvent the Fender experience while staying true to its roots.
Moves toward innovation in digital spaces have occupied Fender in recent years. Working to make the musical experience more streamlined and achievable than ever before, Fender introduced such digital innovations as Fender Play, an app-based learning platform for kickstarting musicians new and experienced. Fender Play played a major role in Fender’s digital ecosystem of products meant to bring the universal experience of learning and performing into the twenty-first century.
Fender’s aims toward the digital frontier also brought them to the creation of their Tone Master series of amplifiers. Taking original Fender designs back to the drawing board, the Tone Master series brings authentic physical amplifier tones into digitally enabled amps to make such sounds even more achievable and extend their legacy. Fender’s Acoustasonic series of acoustic-electric instruments also implements cutting-edge digital technology to expand on the most fundamental musical ideas and realize new directions.
Fender Custom Shop
In 1985, Fender established a new branch to continue crafting new and exciting instruments. Today, the Fender Custom Shop is a premier outlet for some of the world’s finest guitar makers to flex their creative muscle and share their craft with Fender fans across the globe. These select few luthiers operate exclusively out of the Fender Custom Shop’s prestigious Corona, California factory. Each piece created from the Fender Custom Shop is a true one-of-a-kind instrument all its own – always unique and never duplicated.
Fender Custom Shop instruments use the finest of materials and electronics, a very common characteristic of them is their status as showcases of hand-picked woods and hand-wired electronics. The selections of materials and electronics put on display the consideration of Fender Custom Shop luthiers in their building processes – each specification on a Fender Custom Shop guitar is intentional and musically motivated to fulfill a creative vision. Notably, these unique instruments frequently feature Relic-style finish treatments that simulate years of close use and care with tasteful finish scrapes, chips, and dents. These finish treatments contribute to the quality of Fender Custom Shop pieces being unable to be replicated, making each a treasure unto itself.
The Best Fender Guitars
Fender Stratocaster Electric Guitar
A bona fide classic. The iconic Fender Stratocaster delivers a timeless experience with a smooth maple neck, a synchronized tremolo bridge, and a set of three sparkly single-coil pickups.
Fender Precision Bass Guitar
A true game changer. The original Precision Bass in 1951 flipped the upright bass experience on its head with a slick maple neck, a stable four-string bridge, and a lone split single-coil pickup.
Fender Telecaster Electric Guitar
A jack of all trades. The Fender Telecaster has truly been everywhere from rock, blues, jazz, indie – we mean everywhere. It has a maple neck, saddle bridge, and twangy single-coil pickup combo to take on any musical mountain.
Fender Jazzmaster Electric Guitar
A classically stylish alternative. Originally designed for – you guessed it – the Fender Jazzmaster earned its stripes alongside country acts and left-of-the-dial rock bands from the ‘60s to the ‘90s. Its angular, offset body shape, tremolo bridge, and single-coil pickups make it an icon.
Fender Jazz Bass Guitar
A picture of versatility. The Fender Jazz Bass really pushed ahead on the groundwork laid by the Precision Bass. Its offset body shape, four-string bridge, and dual single-coil pickups make it a versatile and effortless pick.
Like what you see? Not sure which Fender electric guitar is for you? Curious about if we carry your favorite Fender model? Drop us a line and let us lend a hand – our crew is always ready to help.
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