Fender Guitars

FENDER

Fender acoustic and electric guitars, folk instruments, amps and accessories are among the most recognizable instruments in the world, and Tom Lee Music is proud to carry them. As one of the most innovative makers in the guitar industry, Fender stays true to its pioneering roots that helped it become a cultural icon. Shop online or through our retail stores in Vancouver, Richmond, Coquitlam, Langley and Victoria.



About Fender

Fender Electric GuitarsFender Musical Instruments Corporation is the world’s foremost manufacturer of guitars, basses, amplifiers, and related equipment. Their Telecaster and Stratocaster guitars and Precision and Jazz bass guitars are universally acclaimed as design classics. The company strives to create dream instruments making Fender both an iconic music industry name and cultural icon. Acclaimed artists in musical genres like jazz, rock ‘n’ roll, rhythm & blues, country, and many others are often seen opting for different Fender guitar models in performances. Finishes like sunburst, white-on-white, all-black, candy apple red are popularly seen and offered alongside a wide variety of colours/shades. Compliment your guitar with accessories and gear like cases, guitar straps, picks, merchandise, and more products available in Canada.

HISTORY

In the 1940s, southern California inventor Leo Fender realized that he could improve on the amplified hollow-body instruments of the day by using an innovative and rather simple solid-body electric guitar design. Further, he realized that he could streamline the process of building them. In 1951, he introduced a prototype solid-body instrument that would eventually be called the Telecaster® guitar. The Tele®, as it was often called then and still is today, was the first solid-body Spanish-style electric guitar to be commercially mass-produced. That same year, Fender introduced an invention—the Precision Bass guitar. It was played like a guitar and had frets so that it could be played with “precision,” and it could be amplified, thus liberating bassists from unwieldy and increasingly difficult-to-hear acoustic basses. These two historic instruments laid the foundation for a new kind of group and a revolution in popular music—what we know today as the modern rock combo. As opposed to the “big bands” of the era, electric Fender instruments made it possible for smaller groups of musicians to get together and be heard.

THE FENDER STRATOCASTER

The Stratocaster first appeared in 1954, incorporating many design innovations based on feedback from professional musicians, Fender staff, and Leo Fender himself. Its third single-coil pickup offered more tonal possibilities, its sleekly contoured body made it more comfortable, and its double cutaway design made access to upper registers much easier. Most important, however, was the addition of the new Fender vibrato or tremolo bridge, an innovation originally intended to let guitarists bend strings, thus achieving the pedal steel-like sound so popular among country music artists of the day. Essentially unchanged since its 1954 debut, it is the most popular and influential electric guitar ever. Leo Fender himself remained an immensely creative force over the next decade, introducing many classic instruments and amplifier designs, including the Jazz Bass guitar, the Jaguar and Jazzmaster guitars, and the Twin Reverb amplifier.

FENDER’S GROWTH

In 1965, Leo Fender sold the company to CBS. Fender Musical Instruments experienced tremendous growth over the next 20 years. A group of employees and investors led by Schultz then bought Fender from CBS in 1985. The sale put the Fender name back into the hands of a small group of dedicated people committed to creating the world’s best guitars and amps. Supported by a core group of loyal employees, dealers, and suppliers, some of whom had been with the company since Leo Fender founded it, Schultz and his colleagues set out. The move toward greater quality control soon led to the establishment in 1985 of Fender’s flagship U.S. factory in Corona, Calif. A second modern manufacturing facility opened in 1987 in Ensenada, Mexico.

FENDER CUSTOM SHOP

In 1987, the renowned Fender Custom Shop opened at the Corona facility, creating electric, acoustic, and classical guitars for professionals and guitar enthusiasts. Fender had always recognized the importance of an open-door policy for professional musicians, accommodating their requests for specific features on an individual basis. The Fender Shop has since become known worldwide and industry-wide as the pinnacle of craftsmanship and sheer instrumental artistry.



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