Art on Guitar

Arts are expressive, even on the surface of a guitar..

Interesting Places in California

Coastline at Big Sur.





Mount Whitney, the highest point in the Contiguous United States 

Calaveras Big Trees State Park

Californian Cuisine

The cuisine of California is the local cuisine of the U.S. state of California.



Shrimp tostadas made with locally grown ingredients as served at Tacos Sinaloa in Oakland, California.



Local ingredients

Restaurant cuisine may make greater use of ingredients less common outside of California. Some locally grown produce products that are less common in other parts of the country include:

• Avocados
• Asparagus
• Artichokes
• Garlic
• Fresh figs
• Fresh dates
• Persimmons
• Sprouts

A Mediterranean climate and popular health-conscious diets and lifestyles in California promote the production, use and consumption of fresh fruits, vegetables and organic foods. Use of fresh, local ingredients which are often acquired daily at farmers markets is very common in California. Battered and fried foods are not as common in California as they may be in other states, however exceptions include fish tacos, tempura and french fries.

California's Central Valley region agricultural success and diversity provides fresh produce throughout the state and on less than 1 percent of the total farmland in the United States, the Central Valley produces 8 percent of the nation's agricultural output by value.

Sandwiches, burgers, and fast food

An In-N-Out "Double-Double" cheeseburger with french fries in a cardboard box for consumption inside an automobile.

California is the original home of fast-food chains such as McDonald's, In-N-Out, Del Taco, Original Tommy's and Fatburger.

Southern California's legendary car culture and the population's reliance on automobiles for transportation throughout California's massive cities, has widely contributed to the popularity of the classic and modern drive-thru restaurant. Restaurant chains such Jack in the Box,In-N-Out Burger, Carl's Jr., and Big Boy were all established in Southern California and are cultural institutions.

Regional fast food menus differ, generally depending on the ethnic composition of an area. In Southern California, smaller chains like Jim's, The Hat, Baker's, Tom's, Tam's, Tommy's, and Rick's feature hamburgers, Mexican food, chili fries, pastrami, and occasionally, teriyaki or fried chicken. In Northern California, chains like Happi House and Mr. Chau's feature Asian foods such as teriyaki, tempura, noodles, and rice bowls.

While gastropubs are not unique to California, the concept of the gourmet burger is very popular.

Latin influences

Due to California's colonial Spanish roots, Mexican territorial history, and its original population consisting of Meso-Americans, Spanish colonizers and Mexican ranchers, Mexican and Spanish-origin cuisine is very influential and popular in California, particularly Southern California.

Commercial, quick "taco shop-style" Mexican fast-food, consisting of offerings such as burritos, refried beans, tortas, tacos, nachos,quesadillas and carne asada fries is widely popular. Countless Taco shops can be found throughout California.

Traditional Mexican food, while not as common as commercial food, is still widely prepared and abundant in the ethnic Mexican Americanborder communities of San Diego, the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and in Mexican American enclaves throughout Southern California. Examples of these foods include tamales, tortillas, tostadas, mole, menudo, pozole, sopes, chile relleno and enchiladas.

In addition to Mexican food, California restaurants serve up Honduran, Oaxacan and nearly every other variation of Central American food there is. For example, pupuserías are common in areas with a large population of Salvadorans (pupusas are stuffed tortillas from El Salvador).

More recently, "Fresh Mex" or "Baja-style" Mexican food, which places an emphasis on fresh ingredients and sometimes seafood, inspired by Baja California fare, is highly popular. El Pollo Loco, a fast food chain that originated in Northern Mexico, is a common sight. Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill, Baja Fresh,Wahoo's Fish Taco, Chipotle, Qdoba and La Salsa are examples of the Baja-style Mexican American food trend.

Shellfish and seafood

Dungeness crab ready to eat at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.

In Northern California and the Central Coastal region, Dungeness crabs, salmon, striped bass, and oysters are abundant in season.

Asian and Oceanian influences

As one of the U.S. states nearest Asia and Oceania, and with long-standing Asian American and Oceanian American populations, the state tends to adopt foods from those national styles. The American sushi craze no doubt began in California; the term 'California roll' is used to describe sushi with avocado as a primary ingredient. These days, items like mochi ice cream and boba are popular.

Fusion cuisine

Fusion cuisine is quite popular in California. The emphasis of California Cuisine is on the use of fresh, local ingredients which are often acquired daily at farmers markets. Menus are changed to accommodate the availability of ingredients in season. Some restaurants create a new menu daily.

Californian chef Wolfgang Puck is known as one of the pioneers of fusion cuisine, popularizing such dishes as Chinese chicken salad at the restaurant Ma Maison in Los Angeles. His restaurant "Chinois" in Santa Monica was named after the term attributed to Richard Wing, who in the 1960s combined French and Chinese cooking at the former Imperial Dynasty restaurant in Hanford, California.

Barbecue

Barbecue has been a part of California cuisine since the Mexicans cooked beef in pit barbecues on ranches in the 1840s. Santa Maria is famous for the Tri-tip, a special kind of beef cut that can be grilled, baked, braised, or roasted. California's barbecue style is also influenced by the regional Southwestern American styles of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. Chicken, beef ribs, sausages, and steaks are also routinely grilled or smoked in a pit. The barbecue sauce used in this state is tomato-based, as with all other western states. Pork baby back ribs are popular for barbecue in the Western region in comparison to the popular use of spare ribs in the Southern United States.

..talking about all these foods makes me feel so hungry right now.. ^_^

Fender: Place of Birth.

As mentioned in the earlier entry, Clarence Leonidas Fender was born in the state of California. Here are some information that we should know on the birth place of Fender.

California is the most populous state in the United States and the third-largest by land area, after Alaska and Texas. California is also the most populous sub-national entity in North America. It is located on the U.S. West Coast, bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the west and by the states of Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, Baja California, Mexico, to the south.

Its 5 largest cities are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, and Long Beach, with Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Jose each having at least 1 million residents. Like many populous states, California's capital, Sacramento is smaller than the state's largest city, Los Angeles. The state is home to the nation's 2nd- and 6th-largest census statistical areas and 8 of the nation's 50 most populous cities. California has a varied climate and geography and a multi-cultural population.

California's geography ranges from the Pacific Coast to the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the east, to the Mojave Desert areas in the southeast and the Redwood–Douglas fir forests of the northwest. The center of the state is dominated by the Central Valley, one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world. California is the most geographically diverse state in the nation, and contains the highest (Mount Whitney) and lowest (Death Valley) points in the contiguous United States. Almost 40% of California is forested, a high amount for a relatively arid state.

The name California once referred to a large area of North America, including much of the southwestern United States and the Baja California peninsula. Beginning in the late 18th century, the area known as Alta California (Upper California) (roughly speaking, what is now the southwestern USA west of the prairie) was colonized by the Spanish Empire, being part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. In 1821, Mexico, including Alta California, became the First Mexican Empire, beginning as a monarchy, before shifting to a republic. In 1846 a group of American settlers in Sonoma declared the independence of a California Republic in Alta California. As a result of the Mexican-American War, Mexico ceded Alta California to the United States. Western areas of Alta California became the state of California, the 31st state admitted to the union on September 9, 1850, while eastern areas were assigned to various U.S. territories.

In the 19th century, the California Gold Rush broughtabout dramatic social, economic, and demographic change in California, with a large influx of people and an economic boom that caused San Francisco to grow from a hamlet of tents to a world-renowned boomtown. Key developments in the early 20th century included the emergence of Los Angeles as center of the American entertainment industry, and the growth of a large, state-wide tourism sector. In addition to California's prosperous agricultural industry, other important contributors to the economy include aerospace, petroleum, and information technology. If California were a country, it would rank among the ten largest economies in the world, with a GDP similar to that of Italy. It would be the 35th most populous country.



California State Flag



Culture

The culture of California is a Western culture and most clearly has its modern roots in the culture of the United States, but also, historically, many Hispanic influences. As a border and coastal state, Californian culture has been greatly influenced by several large immigrant populations, especially those from Latin America. California is a true melting pot as well as an international crossroad to the U.S.

California has long been a subject of interest in the public mind and has often been promoted by its boosters as a kind of paradise. In the early 20th Century, fueled by the efforts of state and local boosters, many Americans saw the Golden State as an ideal resort destination, sunny and dry all year round with easy access to the ocean and mountains. In the 1960s, popular music groups such as the Beach Boys promoted the image of Californians as laid-back, tanned beach-goers.

In terms of socio-cultural mores and national politics, Californians are perceived as more liberal than other Americans, especially those who live in the inland states. In some ways, California is the quintessential Blue State-- accepting of alternative lifestyles, not uniformly religious, and preoccupied with environmental issues.

The gold rush of the 1850s is still seen as a symbol of California's economic style, which tends to generate technology, social, entertainment, and economic fads and booms and related busts.

Cities, towns and counties

The state's local government is divided into 58 counties and 481 incorporated cities and towns; of which 459 are cities and 22 are towns. Under California law, the terms "city" and "town" are explicitly interchangeable; the name of an incorporated municipality in the state can either be "City of (Name)" or "Town of (Name)".

Sacramento became California's first incorporated city on February 27, 1850. San Jose, San Diego and Benicia tied for California's second incorporated city, each receiving incorporation on March 27, 1850. East vale became the state's most recent and 481st incorporated municipality on October 1, 2010.

The majority of these cities and towns are within one of five metropolitan areas. Sixty-eight percent of California's population lives in its three largest metropolitan areas, Greater Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the Riverside-San Bernardino Area (Inland Empire). Although smaller, the other two large population centers are the San Diego and the Sacramento metro areas.

The state recognizes two kinds of cities: charter and general law. General law cities owe their existence to state law and are consequentially governed by it; charter cities are governed by their own city charters. Cities incorporated in the 19th century tend to be charter cities. All ten of the state's most populous cities are charter cities.

Fender's Guitars User

Here are some of the famous name who are fond with Fender's Guitars.

A. Albert Hammond

Albert Hammond

Before Alex Turner, the newest kid on the indie block playing a white Strat worn way up high was one half of The Strokes’ lean, skinny-tied guitar assault.

More often than not, Hammond is the rock solid rhythm guy in The Strokes, but Last Nite alone proves that he’s more than capable of ripping out a great solo on his 1985 Japanese '70s reissue Strat strung with .012s.

While the whole band have tried their hand at side projects, Hammond’s debut solo LP Yours to Keep in 2006 is something of an underappreciated gem. Some in the MusicRadar office would argue it's the best thing that any of The Strokes have put their name to since Is This It.

B. Yngwie

Yngwie

The neo-classical virtuoso may sometimes border on a caricature of his bad-self, but few guitarists have been so loyal to one model than Yngwie to the Stratocaster.

Even a short-lived 1986 Schecter signature model was decidedly one-dimensional in terms of its inspiration.

Yngwie signed an Artist Series contract with Fender in ‘87, which yielded the scalloped-fretboard, DiMarzio-loaded Yngwie Malmsteen Signature Stratocaster:

“That’s like a fine-tuned Ferrari”, explains Malmsteen, “That’s just sick. That’s just a monster of a guitar.” Nearly two decades later, Fender would lovingly recreate the original ‘Play Loud’ guitar based on the 1971 olympic white model that he’s played since his teenage years.

C. Kamikaze

Squier introduces its Sham Kamikaze Signature Stratocaster guitar model, named for and designed with the help of Malaysia’s top guitarist. The guitars puts Kamikaze’s own personal touch on a Squier Classic Vibe series instrument, not the least of which is its distinctive and non-traditional reverse headstock design and reverse string arrangement, which lends a certain subtle, loose feel to the guitar’s comfortable playability.

Features also include an alder body finished in Black or Vintage White, gloss maple neck, Kamikaze’s signature on the front of the headstock and a Sigma logo on the back, vintage-style single-ply white pickguard, three custom vintage-style single-coil pickups (reverse-angled bridge pickup) with reverse staggered alnico III magnets, vintage-style tuning machines and tremolo, and aged plastic parts.

And other artists include..

Jimmi Hendrix

Paul Mc Cartney





Type of guitar design by “Leo fender”

A. Esquire

Don Randall, who managed Fender's distributor, the Radio & Television Equipment Company, recognized the commercial possibilities of the new design and made plans to introduce the instrument as "The Esquire Model". Fender supported the Esquire name, saying that it "sounded regal and implied a certain distinction above other guitars."



In April 1950, Radio-Tel started promoting the Esquire—the first Fender 6-string officially introduced to the public. The company prepared its Catalog No. 2, picturing a black single-pickup Esquire with a tweed form-fit case. Another picture showed Jimmy Wyble of Spade Cooley's band holding a blond Esquire. These debut models, with a planned retail price of $154.95, exhibited the shape of thousands of Fender guitars to come.

Randall's primary marketing ploy was to establish the Esquire in music instruction studios, reasoning that the affordable, practical guitar would be a hot commodity in those circles. In addition, a healthy response for the one-pickup version would prime the market for the more expensive two-pickup model that Fender already had in mind.

B. Broadcaster

The factory went into full production in late 1950, initially producing only dual-pickup Esquires. Fender's decision compromised Radio-Tel's earlier marketing strategy, forcing Randall to hold orders for the single-pickup Esquire and come up with a new name for the two-pickup model, eventually naming it the Broadcaster. Dealers who insisted on Esquires had to wait until the single-pickup guitars went into full production in January 1951 and were delivered the following month.
Musical Merchandise magazine carried the first announcement for the Broadcaster in February 1951 with a full-page insert that described it in detail. The guitar was described as having a "modern cut-away body", a "modern styled head", and an "adjustable solo-lead pickup" that was "completely adjustable for tone-balance by means of three elevating screws"

"Broadcaster" becomes "Telecaster"

Fender sold 87 Broadcasters on the guitar's initial release in January 1951. Many people took note—including Gretsch, who claimed the Broadcaster name infringed on the company's trademark "Broadkaster", which was the name of a model lineup of drums. Reacting to this, Randall informed his salespeople on February 21 that Radio-Tel was abandoning the Broadcaster name and requesting suggestions for a new name. On February 24 he announced that the Broadcaster had been renamed the "Telecaster".
The Broadcaster-to-Telecaster name change cost Radio-Tel hundreds of dollars, and derailed the initial marketing effort. Brochures and envelope inserts were destroyed, and the word "Broadcaster" was clipped from hundreds of headstock decals. For several months, the new twin-pickup guitars were marked only with the word "Fender." These early-to-mid-'51 guitars would eventually be referred to as "No-casters" by guitar collectors.

C. Stratocaster

Leo Fender regularly sought feedback from his customers, and, in preparation for redesigning the Telecaster he asked his customers what new features they would want on the Telecaster. The large number of replies, along with the continued popularity of the Telecaster, caused him to leave the Telecaster as it was and to design a new, upscale solid body guitar to be sold alongside the basic Telecaster instead. Western swing guitarist Bill Carson was one of the chief critics of the Telecaster, stating that the new design should have individually adjustable bridge saddles, four or five pickups, a vibrato unit that could be used in either direction and return to proper tuning, and a contoured body for enhanced comfort over the slab-body Telecaster's harsh edges.

Fender, assisted by draughtsman Freddie Tavares, began designing the new guitar in late 1953, which would address most of Carson's ideas and would also include a rounder, less "club-like" neck (at least for the first year of issue) and a double cutaway for easier reach to the upper registers. Released in 1954, the Stratocaster (or "Strat") has been in continuous production ever since.

D. Other guitars

Other significant developments of this period include the Jazzmaster and Jaguar, significant departures from the Strat and Tele in their introduction of complex pickup selection switches and volume controls. Although unsuccessful at their introduction, both would become popular with Surf Rock musicians (example: The Ventures and Dick Dale) due to their clean, bright, and warm tone. They became popular again, (to a much larger extent), in the early 90's due to their use by alternative rock artists such as Dinosaur Jr.'s and Sonic Youth's famous hoard of vintage Jazzmasters and Kurt Cobain's (of Nirvana) use of a heavily modified 1965 Jaguar.

E. Electric bass guitar

During this time, Fender also conceived an instrument that would prove to be essential to the evolution of popular music. Up until this time, bassists had been left to playing acoustically resonating double basses, also known as "upright basses". As the size of bands and orchestras grew, bassists found themselves increasingly fighting for volume and presence in the sound spectrum.

Apart from their sonic disadvantages, double basses were also large, bulky, and difficult to transport. With the Precision Bass (or "P-Bass"), released in 1951, Leo Fender addressed both of these issues. Unlike double basses, the Telecaster-based Precision Bass was small and portable, and its solid body construction and four magnet, single coil electronic pickup allowed it to be amplified at higher volumes without the feedback issues normally associated with acoustic instruments.

Along with the Precision Bass (so named because its fretted neck allowed bassists to play with 'precision'), Fender introduced a bass amplifier, the Fender Bassman; a 45 watt amplifier with four 10" speakers. Neither were firsts; Audiovox had begun advertising an "electric bass fiddle" in mid 1930s catalogs, and Ampeg had introduced a 12 watt "Bassamp" in 1949, but the P-Bass and its accompanying amplifier were the first widely produced of their kind, and the P-bass was the first bass to be fretted like a guitar. The P-Bass remains one of the most popular basses in music today.

1960 saw the release of the Jazz Bass, a sleeker, updated bass with a slimmer neck, and offset waist body and two single coil pickups (as opposed to the Precision Bass and its split-humbucking pickup that had been introduced in 1957). Like its predecessor, the Jazz Bass (or simply "J-Bass") was an instant hit and has remained popular to this day, and early models are highly sought after by collectors.

1970 - Music Man and G&L

Some of Fender's most widely known and loved contributions to music were developed in the 1970s, after his sale to CBS of his eponymous brand in 1965.: he designed guitars, basses and amplifiers for the Music Man corporation, and in 1976 designed and released another innovative instrument, the StingRay. Though the body design borrowed heavily from the Precision Bass, the StingRay is largely considered to be the first production bass with active electronics.

The StingRay's 2-band active equalizer, high output humbucking pickup and smooth satin finished neck went on to become a favorite of many influential bassists, including Louis Johnson, John Deacon and Flea. Later on a 3-band active equalizer was introduced. In 1979 he and old friends George Fullerton and Dale Hyatt started a new company called G&L (George & Leo) Musical Products. G&L guitar designs tended to lean heavily upon the looks of Fender's original guitars such as the Stratocaster and Telecaster, but incorporated innovations such as enhanced tremolo systems and electronics. Despite suffering several minor strokes, Leo Fender continued to produce guitars and basses. While he continued to refine the fundamental designs he had created decades earlier, he also earned many new patents for innovative designs in magnetic pickups, vibrato systems, neck construction, and other areas. Nevertheless, he never learned how to play the guitar.

A friendly, modest and unassuming man (his "coffee mug" was a Styrofoam cup with the word "Leo" inked on it), he had the lifelong admiration and devotion of his employees, many of whom have remarked that the best working years of their lives were spent under Leo Fender. An example of frugal living, Fender was once asked why he brought his lunch (egg salad sandwiches) to work every day instead of buying lunch from the local lunch truck. Fender replied, "With the money I save eating these sandwiches, I can buy a handful of resistors." He died in 1991 from complications of Parkinson's disease. His pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. The company which bears his name, Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, is now one of the largest musical instrument conglomerates in the world.

Early Guitar Making

During WWII, Leo met Clayton Orr "Doc" Kauffman, an inventor and lap steel player, who had worked for Rickenbacker Guitars, a company that had been building and selling lap steel guitars for a decade. While with Rickenbacker, Kauffman had invented the "Vibrola Tailpiece"...the precursor to the later vibrato or "tremolo" tailpiece. Leo convinced Doc that they should team up, and they started the "K & F Manufacturing Corporation", to design and build amplified Hawaiian guitars and amplifiers. In 1944, Leo and Doc patented a lap steel guitar that had an electric pickup already patented by Fender. In 1945, they began selling the guitar, in a kit with an amplifier designed by Leo.

Fender and development of electric guitar..

As the Big Bands fell out of vogue toward the end of World War II, small combos playing boogie-woogie, rhythm and blues, western swing, and honky-tonk formed throughout the United States. Many of these outfits embraced the electric guitar because it could give a few players the power of an entire horn section. Pickup-equipped archtops were the guitars of choice in the dance bands of the late-'40s , but the increasing popularity of roadhouses and dance halls created a growing need for louder, cheaper, and more durable instruments. Players also needed faster necks and better intonation to play what the country players called "take-off lead guitar". Custom-made solidbodies such as Les Paul's home-made "Log" and the Bigsby Travis guitar made by Paul Bigsby for Merle Travis evolved from this need, but these were beyond the means of the average player.

Fender recognized the potential for an electric guitar that was easy to hold, easy to tune, and easy to play. He also recognized that players needed guitars that would not feed back at dance hall volumes as the typical arch top would. In addition, Fender sought a tone that would command attention on the bandstand and cut through the noise in a bar. By 1949, he had begun working in earnest on what would become the first Telecaster (originally called the Broadcaster) at the Fender factory in Fullerton, California.

Although he never admitted it, Fender seemed to base his practical design on the Rickenbacker Bakelite. One of the Rickenbacker's strong points—a detachable neck that made it easy to make and service—was not lost on Fender, who was a master at improving already established designs. Not surprisingly, his first prototype was a single-pickup guitar with a detachable hard rock maple neck and a pine body painted white.

Leo Fender : the Biography

Clarence Leonidas Fender (August 10, 1909 – March 21, 1991), also known as Leo Fender, was an American inventor who founded Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company, now known as Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, and later founded MusicMan and G&L Musical Products (G&L Guitars).

His guitar, bass, and amplifier designs from the 1940s continue to dominate popular music more than half a century later. Marshall, Mesa Boogie, most boutique amplifier companies and many other guitar amplifier production companies have used Fender instruments as the foundation of their products.

Leo Fender is regarded as one of the most influential figures in the development of electric instruments in the 20th century.

Fender's vast success as an inventor and businessman belies his modest beginnings. He was born in his family's barn in 1909, and, as most children of farmers do, he helped out on the family farm. More interested in the tools and machinery than the actual farming, Fender began his long career in musical-instrument design when he built an acoustic guitar at the age of 16. Although he worked as a bookkeeper through junior college and as an accountant for several years thereafter, he began repairing electric guitars as a sideline in the early 1930s. Responding to customer complaints about their instruments, he decided to design his own.

In 1945 Fender used the proceeds from a record-changer patent to start producing instruments with Doc Kauffman. Worried about the additional investments the resultant company would need, Kauffman sold his share to Fender the following year. The company, Fender Electric Instruments, had its first major success when it introduced the Broadcaster, Fender's design for a mass-produced solidbody guitar. Soon renamed the Telecaster, the guitar, with its characteristic twang and durability, became a mainstay of country and blues musicians, including James Burton, Albert Lee, and Roy Buchanan.

In 1951 Fender introduced the Precision Bass, the first electric bass ever made. His invention significantly changed popular music by allowing the bassist to move up to the mike to sing. Perhaps even more influential than the electric bass, though, was Fender's Stratocaster, used by such rock and roll greats as Buddy Holly, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix. According to Tom Wheeler of Guitar Player, "Rock and rollers liked the Stratocaster because compared to traditional 'guit-boxes' it was curvacious and sensual, its vibrato was cool and functional, and the sound was hot and jangly; plus it had three pickups and looked like it came from Mars." Singer-songwriter-guitarist Lou Reed concurred, explaining in People, "Contemporary music would be unthinkable without a Stratocaster. Every musician's inner ear has been shaped by the genius of Leo Fender's instruments."

The lab methods Fender developed early on would serve him throughout his career; he depended on himself rather than technology, using his ear, for example, rather than relying on a spectrum analyzer. He also kept no comprehensive written record of his experiments, trusting in his memory most of the time.

Fender also invented new and better designs for a variety of music electronics. In addition to his innovations for the guitar, such as his multi-spring vibrato, he developed amplifier designs. His tube amplifier, for instance, sold extremely well and set standards that are still followed by the industry. He also developed piggy-back amps, the forerunners of the stack. Guitar Player's Wheeler testified to the enduring nature of Fender's amplifiers, reporting, "To this day, even metal-head Marshall [amp] maniacs rave about the tonal hugeness of a small Fender amp cranked to tube meltdown."

Fender's design abilities extended even to the equipment used to manufacture his company's products. Don Randall, president of Fender sales for years, told Wheeler, "Leo designed all the equipment, and he was a genius for figuring out the manufacturing process." Combined with his ability to develop better musical instruments, Fender's manufacturing savvy helped make Fender Electric Instruments one of the most prosperous manufacturers in the industry.

The success of Fender's company induced CBS to buy it in 1965 when a ten-year fight with strep throat forced Fender to retire. Fender's retirement lasted about two months; once his health improved, he was unable to give up his work. He started his own design company, CLF research, and also returned to his old company as a design consultant. Still, without Fender at the helm, Fender Electric Instruments lost its sterling reputation. Hartley Peavey, owner of another guitar manufacturing business, explained to the Los Angeles Times, "[Fender] cared about his product, his employees and his dealers, and when he left, the company was still there but the catalyst who made it work was gone.... The corporate guys got it, and they ran it into the ground."

Fender's contract with CBS expired in 1970, but before he left he counted among his new patents a 12-string bridge, an acoustic guitar bridge, and a vibrato tailpiece for acoustic-electrics. In 1972 Fender became a silent partner and major stockholder in Music Man, founded by two former Fender employees. Fender's designs for Music Man forged a new path, particularly in his pickup and preamp blueprints. The Sting Ray and the Sabre, two novel guitar designs, sported unusual features but were only modestly received because they lacked a vibrato. But the Sabre bass, with its two humbucking pickups, die-cast bridge, and standard active electronics, was very popular.

In 1980 Fender created G & L and G & L Music Sales to handle a new line of guitars and basses too extensive to fit into Music Man's marketing strategy. Fender radically changed his pickup designs, abandoning his successful nonadjustable Alnico polepieces for fully adjustable soft-iron polepieces and improving the output of the coils. The tone spectrum, now remarkably wide and flexible, is what Fender said he had been trying to achieve for years.

Fender continued to produce archetypal designs throughout the 1980s, including his non-vibrato bridge, finely tunable vibratos, and new neck designs. At the time of his death, in 1991 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease, he held roughly 75 patents. More significantly, Fender's innovations had forever transformed the sound, look, and character of American music.

His biography in brief..

• Born Clarence Leo Fender, August 10, 1909, in Buena Park, CA;
• Died after a lengthy battle with Parkinson's disease, March 21, 1991, in Fullerton, CA;
• Married in 1934; attended junior college.
• Worked as bookkeeper and accountant, late 1920s, and as guitar repairman, early 1930s;
• Obtained patent on record-changing device, 1945;
• Founded Fender Electric Instruments Inc., 1946;
• Invented first mass-produced solidbody electric guitar, 1948;
• Produced first solid body bass guitar, 1951;
• Introduced Stratocaster, 1954;
• Sold Fender Electric Instruments to CBS, 1965, remained as consultant, 1965-70;
• Founded CLF Research, 1965;
• Designer and silent partner, Music Man, beginning in 1972;
• Founded G & L Musical Products and G & L Music Sales, 1980.