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| Leo Fender ~ 1909 to 1991 |
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| Leo at 14 years old |
In 1928, Fender graduated from Fullerton Union High School, and entered Fullerton Junior College as an accounting major, though he continued to work with electronics.
After college, Fender dabbled in odd jobs.
However, he gained a reputation for his ability to build radios and amplification systems.
He was approached by a local bandleader asking him to build six public address systems for use in Hollywood dance halls. This was a brilliant opportunity for him to be paid for doing something he loved.
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| Fender Radio Shop 1949 |
He also had created guitar pickups, the magnetic bars that could transfer metal guitar string vibrations into electronic signals.
Fender was ineligible to participate in the armed forces due to his blindness. In the 1940's he met a fellow, Clayton Kaufman with similar interests. Kaufman had recently discharged from the armed services.
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| Clayton "Doc" Kaufman |
Doc Kauffman and Leo Fender would enter a business partnership, forming the K&F company in 1945.
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| K&F Amplifier |
As the 1950’s approached Big Band Music was winding down. Country Music, and Western Swing was in vogue, particularly in California where many southern workers had flocked to take up jobs in the factories.
Leo Fender became familiar with many of the guitar players in the area. He learned that the players were looking for more durable road-worthy guitars with “faster" necks and better intonation to play what the country players called "take-off lead guitar."
Companies such as Rickenbacker, Gibson, Mosrite, and Paul Bigsby had offered instruments with solid or semi-solid bodies to accommodate these players. Leo believed that he could build a better and less expensive guitar that would maintain tonality, and not ‘feedback’ (as some electric acoustic guitars did).
Using the same features found on his lap steel guitars Fender made a prototype of a “Spanish” style six string guitar with a single pickup.
By 1950 he offered the Fender Esquire, and shortly afterward a two pickup model that he called The Broadcaster. Both instruments were easy to hold, play, and produce.
Due to the word "Broadcaster" being trademarked by the Gretsch Drum Company, he changed the name of this instrument to the Fender Telecaster.
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| 1953 Precision Bass |
In 1951 Fender had recognized the need for a bass instrument that was more compact and louder than the traditional upright bass viol used by dance bands. He offered an instrument that he called The Precision Bass.
Unlike the curved finger board on an upright bass, Leo Fender’s design included frets so the players would know ‘precisely’ what note they were playing. This was easy to play, louder, and much less bulky than a string bass.
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| 1960 Precision Bass |
This slab bodied bass instrument went though changes through the years. It was not long when it became an industry standard for session players.
Mr. Fender assembled a team of designers and salespeople. He hired workers for his factory in Fullerton, California who learned woodworking and electronics.
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| Early sales ad for the Broadcaster |
In 1951 Leo Fender's single pickup Esquire model was improved with the addition of a pickup below the guitars neck, and a truss rod that was channeled through the back of the neck. These improvements mellowed the instruments tone and added stability. Don Randall came up with the name; Telecaster.
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| 1954 Fender Stratocaster |
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| Eldon Shamblin of Bob Wills Texas Playboys |
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| 1945 K&F Amp and Lap Steel |
These amps include the Princeton, the Deluxe and the Professional. The Princeton was a small six watt amp with an 8" Jensen field-coil speaker. This amp had no controls as it was designed for the guitar to solely control the volume and was simply turned on by plugging/unplugging into the wall plug.
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| 1946 Deluxe Woody |
The rarest of all the original 'woodie' series was the Professional. It was the largest of the trio featuring Jensen 15” field-coil speaker and 6 tubes delivering 25 watts of power.
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| 1957 Twin and Deluxe Amps |
These amps made were a considerable improvement for Fender based on their sound and their circuitry.
In 1959 Fender made quite a change in amplifier design with its Brownface series. The control panel was moved to the front of the amplifier instead of being on top.
Many came with an extra channel. The covering was made of a material called Tolex. At first this was brown and cream colored.
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| 1965 Fender Deluxe Reverb |
By 1963 the material was black tolex. These amps had much different circuitry from previous models, and some included bright switches to boost the treble sounds.
As part of this deal, Fender signed a non-compete clause and remained a consultant with Fender for a while. Shortly after selling the company, he changed doctors and was cured of his illness.
In 1971 former Fender Electronic associates Forrest White and Tom Walker formed the Tri-Sonix company. Forest White went to his former boss, Leo Fender to help finance their company. The company evolved into "Music Man". After considerable financing, in 1975, when the non-compete clause ended, Leo Fender became the company president of Music Man. Once again, he began designing and building amplifiers and guitars.
For Leo’s part he operated as a consultant under the corporate name CLF Research. This was a separate entity from Music Man. Fender made the guitars and basses, while White and Walker's company made the amplifiers and sold accessories.
Because Music Man did not pay CLF Research until the instrument finishes were deemed acceptable a rift developed between CLF (Leo Fender) and Music Man (White and Walker) over payment.
G&L guitar designs tended to lean heavily upon the looks of Fender's original guitars such as the Stratocaster and Telecaster, but incorporated innovations such as enhanced tremolo systems and electronics.
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| Music Man |
The guitars and basses were designed and made by Fender/ CLF and then shipped to the Music Man warehouse, where each instrument was inspected and tested. Problems developed with the finish which caused Music Man's inspectors to reject a high percentage of the instruments, returning them to CLF for refinishing.
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| Leo Fender at Music Man |
Because Music Man did not pay CLF Research until the instrument finishes were deemed acceptable a rift developed between CLF (Leo Fender) and Music Man (White and Walker) over payment.
In November 1979, ties were cut with Leo Fender. Fender then formed another company, partnering with former Fender company designer George Fullerton to form G&L Musical Instruments. (George and Leo)
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| G&L Guitars |
Despite suffering several minor strokes, Fender continued to work. On March 21, 1991, he died of complications from Parkinson's disease.
©UniqueGuitar Publications (text only) 2025
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