Leo Fender

At 81 years old, Leo Fender physical status not available right now. We will update Leo Fender's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Clarence Leonidas "Leo" Fender (August 10, 1909 - March 21, 1991) was an American entrepreneur who founded Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company, or "Fender" for short.

He sold the firm to CBS in January 1965 and later founded Music Man and G&L Musical Instruments. He made guitars, bass guitars, and amplifiers from the 1940s to 1980s: the Fender Telecaster (1954) was the first mass-bodied electric guitar; the Fender Precision Bass (1951) set the tone for electric bass guitars; the Fender Stratocaster (1954) was one of the world's most popular electric guitars; and the Fender Bassman amplifier, which was popular enough in its own right, became the basis for later amplifiers, including Marshall and Mesa Boo

In 1992, Leo Fender was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an extraordinary feat considering that he never learned to play the instruments he was interested in making.

Early life

Clarence Leonidas Fender ("Leo") was born on August 10, 1909, to Clarence Monte Fender and Harriet Elvira Wood, the owners of a fruit grove in Anaheim and Fullerton, California, United States.

Leo suffered from an eye tumor in his left eye and had to be replaced with a glass eye, making him ineligible for the draft in World War II later in life.

When he was young, he played piano and then switched to saxophones. However, his saxophone obsession didn't last long as he became more focused on electronics.

Fender demonstrated an interest in electronics from a young age. When he was 13 years old, his uncle, who owned a car repair store, sent him a box filled with used car radio parts and a battery. Leo was fascinated by a radio his uncle built from spare parts and displayed in the front of the store the following year. Leo later said that the loud music emanating from his speaker made a lasting impression on him. Leo began repairing radios in a small store in his parents' house within hours.

Fender graduated from Fullerton Union High School in 1928 and began attending Fullerton Junior College as an accounting major. Although he was preparing to be an accountant, he continued to teach himself electronics and tinker with radios and other electrical components, but never took any sort of electronics class.

Fender started working as a delivery man for Consolidated Ice and Cold Storage Company in Anaheim, where he was later made the bookkeeper. Around this time, a local band leader approached him, asking if he could build a public address system (PA) for use by the band at dances in Hollywood. Fender was hired to produce six of these PA systems.

In 1933, Fender married Esther Klosky, and the pair married in 1934. About that time, he began working as an accountant for the California Highway Department in San Luis Obispo. His career was laid off in a government reorganization, and he took up work in a tire company's accounting department. Fender, a partner and the other accountants in the company, and others, have lost his position after being away for six months.

Leo and Esther returned to Fullerton, with a borrowed $600, and Leo Leo started his own radio repair shop, "Fender Radio Service." Soon, musician and band leaders began relying on him for public address systems, which he designed, rented, and sold. They also visited his store for amplification for the burgeoning acoustic guitars on the southern California music scene, as well as the electric "Hawaiian" or "lap steel" guitars that were becoming increasingly popular in country music.

Fender met Clayton Orr "Doc" Kauffman, an engineer and lap steel player who had been with Rickenbacker, which had been building and selling lap steel guitars for a decade. Kauffman had invented the "Vibrola" tail piece, which was a precursor to the later vibrato tailpiece, but not before Rickenbacker. Fender begged him that they should team up, and the "K&F Manufacturing Corporation" was founded to produce and build amplified Hawaiian guitars and amplifiers. With a motor pickup that Fender already had, Fender and Kauffman invented a lap steel guitar in 1944. They began selling the guitar in a K&F kit with an amplifier built in 1945. Doc Hollinger, a 1946 graduate of K&F and Fender, renamed it "Fender Manufacturing" and "Fender Electric Instrument Co" at the end of 1947, and Dale Hyatt handed over the reins of his radio shop to Dale Hyatt.

As the Big Bands fell out of favour with World War II, small bands playing boogie-woogie, rhythm and blues, western swing, and honky-tonk emerged throughout the United States. Many of these bands have adopted the electric guitar because it would give a few players the ability of a complete horn section. The guitars of choice in late 1940s dance bands were pick up-equipped archtops, but the increasing success of roadhouses and dance halls fueled a demand for louder, cheaper, and more durable instruments. To play "take-off lead guitar," players also needed 'faster' necks and better intonation. Solid-body electric guitars began to rise in popularity in the late 1940s, but they were still considered novelty items, with the Rickenbacker Spanish Electro guitar being the most commercially available solid-body guitar, and Les Paul's one-off home-made "Log" and the Bigsby Travis guitar made by Paul Bigsby for Merle Travis being the most clear early examples.

Fender realised the potential of an electric guitar that was easy to hold, tune, and play, but not that would not feed back at dance hall crowds as the typical archtop would. He built the prototype of a thin solid-body electric in 1948, and the first Broadcaster and then Telecaster were renamed first in 1950 (with a solid body and one pickup), then Telecaster and then Telecaster (with two pickups) the year after. The Telecaster was built with two single-coil pickups and widely used among country and western players, becoming one of the most popular electric guitars in history.

Fender decided to abandon the Telecaster as it was rather than rebuilding it, instead of designing a new, upscale solid-body guitar to sell alongside the basic Telecaster. Bill Carson, a Western swing guitarist, was one of the first to condemn the Telecaster's, insisting that the latest version should have manually adjustable bridge saddles, four or five pickups, a vibrato unit that could be used in either direction and return to proper tuning, as well as a contoured body for increased stability over the slab-body Telecaster's rugged edges. In late 1953, Fender, with the help of draftsman Freddie Tavares, began designing the Stratocaster. It contained a rounder, less "club-like" neck (at least for the first year of issue) and a double cutaway for quicker access to the upper registers.

The introduction of three pickups wired to three distinct voicings, two of which could be further customized by the player by changing the two tone controls. This was the first electric guitar on the market to have three pickups and a tremolo arm (which was actually used for vibrato, not tremolo), and guitarists were among the first guitarists to use tremolo armours. Using the "neck," "middle," or "bridge" pickups could be used to give the guitar different sounds and options. Although Leo Fender liked the sound of single pickups, guitarists discovered that guitarists could move the switch to remain in the detent position and fire two pickups at once. In late 1976, the five-way switch was finally introduced as a factory option, with detent combinations of neck+middle or bridge+middle that musicians had been using for years.

Early guitar builds

Fender met Clayton Orr "Doc" Kauffman, an inventor and lap steel player who had been with Rickenbacker, who had been building and selling lap steel guitars for a decade, during World War II. Kauffman had invented the "Vibrola" tailpiece, which was a precursor to the later vibrato tailpiece, although Rickenbacker had invented it. Fender convinced him that they should team up, and the "K&F Manufacturing Corporation" was founded to produce and build amplified Hawaiian guitars and amplifiers. With an electric pickup that had already been patent by Fender, Fender and Kauffman patented a lap steel guitar in 1944. They began selling the guitar in a K&F kit with an amplifier built in 1945. Doc Moore, a 1946 graduate of K&F and Fender, renamed it "Fender Manufacturing" and then "Fender Electric Instrument Co," before handing over the reins of his radio store to Dale Hyatt.

As the Big Bands faded out of favor after World War II, small groups playing boogie-woogie, rhythm and blues, western swing, and honky-tonk emerged throughout the United States. Many of these bands embraced the electric guitar because it could give a few players the ability of a complete horn section. The guitars of choice in the late 1940s were picked up by pick-equipped archtops, but the increasing success of roadhouses and dance halls fueled a growing desire for louder, cheaper, and more durable instruments. To play "take-off lead guitar," players also needed 'faster' necks and improved intonation. Solid-body electric guitars became more popular in the late 1940s, with the Rickenbacker Spanish Electro guitar being the most commercially available solid-body, and Les Paul's one-off home-made "Log" and the Merle Travis guitar being among the most notable early examples.

Fender recognized the potential for an electric guitar that was quick to hold, tune, and play, but that did not want to feed back at dance hall audiences as the average archtop would. He completed the prototype of a thin solid body electric in 1948; it was first introduced in 1950 as the Fender Esquire (with a solid body and one pickup), and then the first Broadcaster and Telecaster (with two pickups) the following year. The Telecaster was manufactured with two single-coil pickups and popular among country and western players, making it one of the most popular electric guitars in history.

Fender decided to abandon the Telecaster as it was and produce a new, expensive solid-body guitar to complement the basic Telecaster rather than upgrading it. Bill Carson, a Western swing guitarist, was one of the first Telecaster's most influential players, four or five pickups, a vibrato unit that could be used in either direction and return to proper tuning, and a contoured body for increased stability over the slab-body Telecaster's rough edges. In late 1953, Fender, assisted by draftsman Freddie Tavares, began designing the Stratocaster. It contained a rounder, less "club-like" neck (at least for the first year of the issue) and a double cutaway for faster access to the upper registers.

The Stratocaster's first innovation was the use of three pickups wired to produce three different voicings, two of which could be further tailored by the player by changing the two tone controls. This was the first electric guitar on the market to come up with three pickups and a tremolo arm (which was actually used for vibrato rather than tremolo), and guitarists began using the tremolo arm. The three pickups could be modified with the traditional three-way switch to give the guitar different sound and options by using the "neck," "middle," or "bridge" pickups. Despite Leo Fender's love for single pickups, guitarists discovered they could flip the switch to remain in the detent positions and launch two pickups at once. In late 1976, the five-way switch was finally introduced as a factory option, adding the detent combinations of neck+middle or bridge+middle that musicians had been using for years.

Source