2. •Started by Leo Fender in the mid 40‟s.
•Mission was to mass produce
•Telecaster first introduced in 1951
•Precision Bass the same year
•First guitar maker to commercially mass produce
Spanish style electric solid bodies
•Stratocaster introduced in 1954.
•Offered a third pickup and a more comfortable body
style

3. •Leo Fender sold the company to CBS in 1965 due to
poor health
•Equipment quality suffered
•William Schultz became new president in 1981.
•CBS ordered quality improvement and marketplace
research
•Schultz and other investors bought Fender back in 1985
•Fender had to build back up from the ground
•Offshore production was frequent
•Opened the Custom Shop in 87 (open door policy)

4. •Schultz retired in 2005
•Bill Mendello took over as CEO (05)
•Was appointed Senior Vice President when CBS took over
•Career of 30+ years at Fender
•Was a key figure in the buying back of Fender from CBS

5. •Larry Thomas took over in 2010
•Former President of Guitar Center (started in „77)
•Also a player and fan of Fender
•Helped bring back Fender from ‟09 crash
•Separate HQ and factories
(Corona, Cali. to Scottsdale, AZ)
•Sent workers to experience the “magic” to build moral
in product
•Brought much need experience from building up
Guitar Center

6. •Commissioned a new Vision Center
•Fans and players can tour the Custom Shop and factory
•Mission to form closer bond between company and customer
•Expand Fender (bought biggest dist. KMC)
•Owns many companies (Charvel, Ovation, Jackson, ect..)
•Expanded R and D budget
•Released many new items to the market
•New series of instruments (American Vintage) for traditionalists
A new direction

7. •Plans to enter the EDM market
•USB equipped guitars
•Plans to utilize Cloud and live streaming
•New body styles in the works (newest is Dimension Bass)
•Personality Cards- match desired tones
Into the future

8. •Fender sells direct to customersNov. 2013
•Buyers used to be referred to online
and local dealers
•Good for customer- choose exact
parts
•Bad for store unless instrument is
ordered there
•Not many Fender dealers- extreme
order and inventory requirments