Leo Fender

Clarence Leonidas Fender (August 10, 1909 – March 21, 1991) was an American inventor and founder of the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.

First prototype of the Fender Esquire (1949)

Fender designed the company's iconic early instruments: the Fender Telecaster, the first mass-produced solid-body electric guitar; the Fender Stratocaster, among the most iconic electric guitars; and the Fender Precision Bass, which set the standard for electric basses. He also designed the Fender Bassman amplifier, which became the archetype for later amplifiers (notably by Marshall and Mesa Boogie) that dominated rock and roll music. Fender, who was not a guitarist himself, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

Quotes about Leo Fender

• Leo Fender was to modern musical instruments what Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison were to electrical engineering. As a true pioneer, he reimagined the electric guitar with models like the Telecaster, Stratocaster, and Precision Bass, created the Fender Rhodes electric piano, and put his name to some of the best guitar amplifiers ever invented.
  • Luke Mitchell of SlashGear (October 9, 2023) [1]