Leo Fender
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Leo Fender |
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  ROCKHAPPENZ Public Collection |
Clarence Leonidas Fender — Father of Fender guitars and musical instruments ..... |
 Fender Telecaster '60 |
 Fender Stratocaster '57 |
 Fender Stratocaster '62 |
More than 70 years ago, Leo founded Fender Musical Instruments and subsequently changed the face of music, as it was then known, with countless inventions and innovations. His parents grew vegetables, melons and oranges and sold their produce from a truck in Long Beach. Leo did not play guitar, but he did play saxophone, and dabbled in the piano. Legend says he didn't know how to tune a guitar, but this obviously didn't deter him from ultimately creating the world's most popular electric guitars. He wasn't, however, entirely unaccomplished with playing musical instruments, becoming interested in music during grammar school and taking piano lessons, before switching to the saxophone. That interest didn't last long, though, as his affinity for radio and electronics took precedence. |
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Leo's uncle, John West ran an auto shop in Santa Maria and helped direct Leo's interest towards electronics, mailing Leo a package of discarded electric automobile parts for Christmas one year. Leo visited his uncle's shop a year later, and was fascinated by a homemade radio he saw there. This was a defining moment for Leo, and one that propelled his fervent curiosity for radio and sound. Leo's left eye was replaced by a glass eye when he developed a tumor at just 8 years old, and because of this, he was not eligible for conscription for World War II, unlike the man who would eventually become his peer and a powerful sales and marketing force for Fender, Don Randall. Had Leo been drafted, he might not have had much time to tinker with electronics and much worse, the world might have missed out on some of the greatest musical innovations of all time (like the Broadcaster, the Telecaster and the Stratocaster). |
 Click here for a Vintage Stratocaster Wiring Diagram |
Contrary to popular belief, Leo had no formal training in electrical engineering, he actually majored in accounting at Fullerton Junior College and worked as a bookkeeper for an ice company, the California Highway Department, and a tire company. His heart always stayed true to electronics, and after losing his job at the tire company, he set up Fender's Radio Service in Fullerton, which is where the real magic began. Leo married his first wife Esther in 1934, and they remained together until she died of cancer in 1979. He married his second wife Phyllis in 1980 and they remained together until his death in 1991. Leo had no children from either marriage. It is reported that he loved pictures, but loved the camera itself even more. According to his wife Phyllis, Leo was a horrible photographer, whilst she would take pictures of of sunsets and flowers, Leo would take pictures of gears and motors. He also loved boats, owning at least three. He cruised in boats almost every weekend in Catalina Island, California with longtime friend and business partner, George Fullerton. |