2. Background
Type
Industry
Founded
:
:
:
Private
Musical Instrument
1938 as Fender’s Radio service
1946 as Fender Electrical
Instrument Manufacturing
Company
Founders
Headquarters
Area served
Key people
:
:
:
:
Clarence Leonidas Fender
Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S.
Global
CEO Larry Thomas
CFO James Broenen
3. History
Fender offered the first mass-produced solidbody Spanish-style electric guitar;
• The Telecaster (originally named the
'Broadcaster'; 'Esquire' is a single pickup
version)
6. History
• While Fender was not the first to manufacture electric guitars,
as other companies and luthiers had produced electric guitars
since the late 1920s, none was as commercially successful as
Fender's.
• Furthermore, while nearly all other electric guitars then were
either hollow-body guitars or more specialized instruments
such as Rickenbacker's solid-body Hawaiian guitars, Fender
had created versatile solid-body electric guitars. These guitars
were and still are popular for musicians in a variety of genres.
7. Origin
• The company began as Fender's Radio Service in late 1938 in
Fullerton, California.
• By the early 1940s he had partnered with local electronics
enthusiast Clayton Orr "Doc" Kauffman and together they
formed the company K & F Manufacturing Corp
• Kauffman however remained unconvinced and he and Fender
amicably parted ways by early 1946. At that point Leo
renamed the company the Fender Electric Instrument
Company.
• In early 1965, Leo Fender sold his companies to the Columbia
Broadcasting System, or CBS for $13 million.
8. Origin
• In 1985, in a campaign initiated by then CBS Musical
Instruments division president William Schultz (1926–2006),
the Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company
employees purchased the company from CBS and renamed it
the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.
9. Raw Materials Used
• Fender used ash for electric guitar
and bass bodies more or less
exclusively from 1950 to mid 1956.
• It’s a native North American hardwood,
which are found all over the eastern half
of the continent from Nova Scotia in the
north to Florida in the south, and as far
west as Minnesota down to east Texas.
10. Raw Materials Used
• Fender adopted alder for electric
instrument bodies in mid 1956
• It grows around the world throughout
the north temperate zone, which extends
from the Tropic of Cancer (about 23.5
degrees north latitude) to the Arctic Circle
(about 66.5 degrees north latitude);
a rather large area.
11. Machines
• Factory of Fender in Mexico, Ensenada, Baja California has
machines used mostly of Panasonic.
12. Some notable
Fender players
Jimi Hendrix
•
•
•
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes him
as "arguably the greatest instrumentalist in
the history of rock music.
Disc and Music Echo honored him with the
World Top Musician of 1969 and in 1970,
Guitar Player named him the Rock Guitarist
of the Year.
Are You Experienced (1967), Axis: Bold as Love (1967) & Electric Ladyland (1968)
are three albums with the band “The Jimi Hendrix
experience”.
13. Some notable
Fender players
John Mayer
• First two studio albums, Room for Squares (2001)
and Heavier Things (2003), did well commercially,
achieving multi-platinum status.
• In 2003, he won a Grammy Award for Best Male
Pop Vocal Performance for "Your Body Is a
Wonderland.“
• The John Mayer Trio is an American blues rock
band that formed in 2005.
• Try! is the first live album by the John Mayer Trio.
14. Some notable
Fender players
Brad Paisley
• His songs are frequently laced with
humor and pop culture references.
• Paisley was the 2008 CMA and ACM
Male Vocalist of the Year winner.
• Starting with the release of his 1999
album “Who Needs Pictures”.
15. Some notable
Fender players
Kurt Cobain
• Best known as the lead singer, guitarist
and primary songwriter of the grunge band
Nirvana.
• Debut album “Bleach”.
• Following the success of the second album,
“Never mind”, Nirvana was labeled "the flagship
band" of Generation X, and Cobain hailed as
"the spokesman of a generation"
16. Acquisition
• In January of 2008, FMIC also acquired Kaman Music
Corporation (KMC), the largest independent U.S. distributor of
musical instruments and accessories.
17. Brand Positioning
Statement
• Fender is designing a signature guitar with the quality you expect at a
price that appeals to the beginner, intermediate and professional guitarist.
BEGINNER
INTERMEDIATE
PROFESSIONAL
