Fender, Leo

Leo Fender, in full Clarence Leo Fender, (born Aug. 10, 1909, Anaheim, Calif., U.S.—died March 21, 1991, Fullerton, Calif.), American inventor and manufacturer of electronic musical instruments.

Together with George Fullerton, Fender developed the first mass-produced solid-body electric guitar, in 1948. Called the Fender Broadcaster (renamed the Telecaster in 1950), it was produced under the auspices of the Fender Electric Instruments Company, which Fender had formed in 1946. In 1951 the Fender Precision Bass, the world’s first electric bass guitar, was unveiled, and in 1954 the Fender Stratocaster was put on the market. More stylish and technically improved than the Telecaster, the Stratocaster was the first guitar to feature three electric pickups (instead of two) and the tremolo arm used for vibrato effects. Its clean, sharp sound earned it a loyal following among guitarists, rivaled only by that of Gibson’s eponymous Les Paul, and it became the signature instrument of Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and others.

Fender, who never learned to play the instrument he revolutionized, sold his manufacturing and distribution companies to CBS Corporation in 1965, a concession to his failing health. When his physical condition improved a few years later, he returned to the company as a design consultant and continued to indulge his inventive and entrepreneurial inclinations well into the 1980s.