FENDER

Fender instruments such as the Telecaster®, Stratocaster®, Precision Bass® and Jazz Bass® are well-known throughout the world as guitars and basses that not only changed the face of modern music, but are still prized by today's musicians and collectors.

Fender's rich history began in the 1940s, when California inventor Leo Fender realized he could improve the sound of hollow-back instruments by creating an innovative yet simple solid-body guitar. In addition, he realized that he could simplify the process of their creation.

In 1951, he presented a prototype instrument with a single body, which was destined to become famous under the name Telecaster. The Fender Telecaster was the world's first mass-produced solid-body instrument.

In the same year, Leo Fender introduced another innovation to the world – the Precision Bass bass guitar. Built on the principle of the Telecaster, the world's first bass had frets and allowed playing with a precision that was difficult to achieve when playing the double bass, the only stringed instrument in popular music at the time that allowed playing in bass registers In addition, the Fender Precision Bass could be connected to an amplifier, making it sound quite loud, freeing bass players from bulky and quiet acoustic instruments.

The next step was the Stratocaster, released in 1954. This instrument incorporated all the comments and wishes of professional musicians, Fender factory workers and Leo Fender himself. The added third pickup gave musicians a greater choice of timbres, and the body, with cutouts under the elbow and belly and simplified access to the upper frets, made playing the Stratocaster as comfortable as possible.

But the most important thing in the Stratocaster was the appearance of the tremolo system, which made it possible to extract from the guitar the table-guitar sounds popular among country artists of that time.

For the next decade, Leo Fender remained a major creative and inspirational force in the company. Thanks to his talent as an inventor, such classic instruments as the Jazz Bass, Jaguar and Jazzmaster and the Twin Reverb amplifier were born.

In 1965, due to poor health, Leo Fender was forced to sell Fender to CBS. Fender Musical Instruments experienced tremendous growth over the next 20 years, but gradually a lack of interest and real understanding of music and musicians at CBS became apparent.

In order to give Fender a second lease of life, CBS hired new management in 1981. William Schultz became the president of the company, and William Mendello became his assistant. Their 5-year business plan was focused on increasing Fender's market share by significantly improving the quality of the instruments and paying due attention to research and development of new products.

When CBS began to lose its manufacturing business in the 1980s, a group of employees and investors led by William Schultz bought Fender in 1985. This deal put the Fender name back in the hands of a small group of people dedicated to creating the world's finest guitars and amplifiers. The new company, called Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC), had to start from scratch - under the terms of the agreement, no production facilities were transferred to the ownership of the new owners. Intellectual property and the remains of unfinished tools and components are all that FMIC got. With the support of a group of loyal employees, dealers and suppliers (some of whom have been with the company since its inception), William Schultz and his colleagues began to rebuild the American Legend.

Initially, the plan was to make the guitars in third-party factories, but the movement towards high quality and control led to the opening in 1985 of an American factory in California. It was followed in 1987 by a factory in Ensenada, Mexico. In addition, in the same 1987, the Fender Custom Shop division was opened on the basis of the factory in Korona. The goal of this division was to create dream instruments for professional musicians and guitar enthusiasts. Fender has always understood the importance of an open door policy for professional musicians, accepting their requests to create instruments with specific features. Since then, the Fender Custom Shop has been known around the world as the standard for quality and craftsmanship in hand-built instruments.

Today, FMIC is home to such brands as Fender®, Squier®, Guild®, Gretsch®, Jackson®, Charvel®, EVH®, SWR® and Groove Tubes®. In addition, the company produces professional audio equipment under the Fender brand and a wide line of accessories.