Conference napalm::guitar

    In the same news cast, they interviewed Joe Satriani, Kieth Richards
    and Mark Knophler.  They all had nothing but good stuff to say about
    Leo.

    This is a very sad day. We have lost one of the greatest influences on
    guitarists of the 20th century.  Who can say what the music world would
    be like with no Buddy Holly playing a strat or Hank Marvin ,Clapton,
    Hendrix and Knophler.
      Leo Fender's contribution to all of us is immeasureable. I guess 
    everyone has to die but it still seems a shame.
    
    				P.K.

    One of the folks we all learned everything we know about amplifiers...
    A sad lost.  Things cannot be the same.
    
    Jay Tashjian
    

    Between losing Stevie Ray Vaughn, Leo Fender, and what happened to
    Eric Clapton's son - this isn't shaping up to be a good year for
    Fender benders.  Bummer indeed ... thanks Leo.
    
    
    Scary

    re: .4 
    What happened to Clapton's son?

    Fell out of a window, 53 floors up in New York (I think). Apparently
    the cleaner of the apartment left the window open accidentally and the 5
    year old climbed out.
    
    Richard

    His son was 4� years old.  He fell something like 33 floors and landed
    on the roof of another building.  Both parents had to be *hospitalized*
    for shock ... I can imagine.
    
    Scary

    
    
       There really are few true pioneers left in the music business.
    It's truely amazing that years after Leo Fender designed his
    classic guitars that they are still very much sought after!!!
    Not to mention his work in amplification. Fender amps are far
    from Marshall busters, but still they hold a prominent place
    in music history.
       
    		R.I.P. Leo - your name will always be remembered!
    
    						=B()()M=

re: Claptons son..

As a father of two, (now at 11 and 12) I get pale when I hear
shit like this....

re: Leo Fender.

Leo Fender lived 81 years, and saw everything he worked for benifit the lives
of musicans for half a century.  What more could a fella ask for huh ?

RIP...

    The Strat must surely be a design classic.
    
    Those sensuous curves........virtually unchanged for over 40 years.
    
    I'm an acoustic man, but lurve to look at Strats!
    
    R I P Leo
    
    
    andy 

re: Pelkey and Clapton's son

Boy, do I know what you mean!  I've a 2 1/2 year old little girl.  If that 
happened to her, I might just follow her right out the window.  Hell, I don't 
know what I'd do?!

re: Leo

He really did accomplish a lot and lead a full life, and that's good.  I sure
like the gear.  In 1980 I played an SG and then my father gave me a beat up 
'72 Strat.  I sold the SG a couple years later because all it did was collect 
dust in its case.  I played them both through a Twin Reverb for 7 years until
I got my Boogie, really just a hot-rodded twin.  Take a look at the schematic
and you'll see.  I must just like Leo's sound.

Thanks for that sound, R.I.P. Mr. Fender

Will Collum

	Leo was still working on pickup and whammy designs - get a
	close look at the G&L Commanche... I think of Leo Fender as
	a monster industrialist. The bolt-on neck and pickguard-mounted
	electronics moved the guitar into a place where it could benefit
	from the economics of scale. The beauty of the Strat is that it's
	cheap to build and cheap to own.

	Marshalls were originally hotrodded Bassman amps....

	RIP Mr. Fender.

    
       It seems like all guitar manufacturers have ripped off the basic
    shape of Mr Fenders design.......including my RG570....There's nothin'
    better than good ole' american ingenuity! What he gave us will be
    remembered a very long time....and the sound will follow us to our
    resting place too!
    
                              R.B.

    
    
    	Leo, rest in peace.. your name has been a big part of my life...
    
    
    	Clapton's son... I almost can't even write about this witout
    getting teary.. When my daughter was 2� she fell out the window of the
    Eastland hotel in Portland Maine, while her mother (my first wife) and
    some other dink were right there in the room with her, doing God knows
    what!  Tracy was lucky... just scratches.. when I got to the ER I saw
    her sitting on a gurney, scratched up but OK, wearing (yer not going to
    believe it) a "I love my Daddy" t-shirt that I had bought her the
    previous week-end... see what I mean... dang...  Wish Eric's son had
    been as lucky!
    
    Greivin'

Off subbject, --- a little to the left..

RE: KIDS and ACCIDENTS.

It's gonna happen,, but when they're yours, it just breaks your heart.

Last March my son (10 at the time) went over his handle bars, hit
the road with his mouth.  Lost three teeth, busted up a forth, and
fracture his upper jaw bone (where the teeth were)..

Seeing him in the ER/Trauma center in the condition he was in, to
this day, kills me,,.  But, like the nurse said, 

	"teeth can be fixed, we can't put heads back together that easy"

Helped put things in perpspective.  Today, with the wonders of oral
surgery, cosmetic dentistry, and a few root canals you'd never know 
that 12 months ago, (right around this time) he was a mess..

but, death,, shees,. it's so permanent..

(pretty neat how I got right back to the topic huh ??? )

From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: clari.news.music,clari.tw.electronics
Subject: Electric guitar pioneer Leo Fender dead at 81
Date: 22 Mar 91 14:32:30 GMT
Priority: regular


	FULLERTON, Calif. (UPI) -- Clarence Leo Fender, the man responsible
for the Stratocaster guitar and a revolution in the sound of modern
music, has died at the age of 81, it was reported Friday.
	Fender was found unconscious in his home by his wife, Phyllis, at
about 10:15 a.m. Thursday. He was pronounced dead shortly later at a
nearby hospital.
	Introduced in 1954, the Stratocaster was not the first electric
guitar, but innovative in that it incorporated a combination of a solid
body, three high-quality sound pickups and a vibrato bar to give it a
unique sound that came to be favored by Buddy Holly, the Beatles, Jimi
Hendrix and Eric Clapton among others.
	Fender had been ill with Parkinson's disease and friends said his
health deteriorated over the course of the past two years as he suffered
several strokes.
	An inventor and tinkerer, Fender produced his first electric guitar
in 1950 and shortly thereafter began making sound amplifiers
incorporating vacuum tubes that also produced a unique sound and are
still highly prized by musicians and collectors.
	While the original Stratocaster sold for as little as $75 the year it
was introduced, some of the early, rare editions of the classic
affordable guitar today sell for $20,000.
	Born in Anaheim, Calif., on Aug. 10, 1909, Fender was described by
family and friends as a superb engineer who never learned to play the
instruments he manufactured. And while Fender guitars became the
signature instrument of many famous rock musicians, Fender himself
favored country music.
	His innovations in the field of amplified sound brought Fender
millions of dollars, saw a street in downtown Fullerton named for him
and got him inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock
Walk of Fame.
	When Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards was inducted into the
Rock Hall of Fame, he took time during his acceptance speech to ``Thank
God for Leo Fender, who makes these instruments for us to play.''
	In addition to his wife, Fender is survived by a sister, Wilda Gray
of Anaheim. Funeral arrangements were being handled by Fairhaven
Memorial Park in Santa Ana, Calif.

I was out last friday and haven't had the news on lately. I am quite sad
that Leo's gone. I am a devoted player of standard Fender instruments and
for my money very little has been accomplished since Leo designed the
his early guitars and amps. Minor refinements and incremental improvements
but that's about it. I think all electric guitarists owe him an enormous debt
of gratitude. I know that I do. And Les Paul's right up there too. I hope
to own a Les Paul someday. Hey, anybody heard from him regarding Leo's
demise?

I agree with the last reply about what has really changed since 1954...
Not much. The last innovations were the Humbucking Pickup - Gibson,
The Tun-o-matic Bridge - Gibson, the Mass Produced Guitar - The Tele and
Strat - Fender and the Electric Bass - Fender. It's really hard to innovate.
Everything that has come afterwards (not counting synths connected to
guitars as input devices) have been nothing more than refinements to the
existing designs. Leo must have been right about the Strat, as it is the
basis of 80% of the guitars produced for the R&R and C/W market. You don't
see many Fender Guitars being used by Jazz artists, but you see plenty of
Fender Amps used by all guitar players. I think he created a market by
making a mass-producable quality guitar. I'm not partial to the scale length
on a Fender Strat or Tele; I'm certainly in the minority.

Leo always tried to do the right thing. Until he was bought out by CBS,
he tried to solve as many peoples needs as possible. CBS was in it for the 
money, and basically tried to speed up the process and not maintain quality.
Leo made his own gear. Pickups were wound on converted sewing machines
with someone manually feeding the wire, and watching a counter that told them
how many turns had been applied. There was a write up many years ago in
Guitar Player magazine (when I still read it) that discussed his early
efforts. His success was probably the result of solving design issues, and
not that of a musician. As all of you guitar players can attest, we are
very particular about how things should be, and probably are not that good
at accepting suggestions about how to change our favorite ax to sell to
a different market. Leo tried to innovate, and of course screwed up from
time to time. His first sucesses are all around us. I'd have to say that
in just about every country of the world, anyone who has ever seen an
electric guitar (even if only in a picture) has seen either a Strat,
Telecaster or Fender Bass. Thats quite an accompilshment for anyone.

								Jens

    Re that press release a couple back....
    
    I stand to be corrected but I cannot remember ever seeing the Beatles 
    playing Fender guitars. 
    
    Gibson, Rickenbacker, Hofner, Gretsch, but never Fender.
    
    What say you?
    
    
    andy	

    .-1 Harrison played a fender as a Beatle at least once.

    Check out the insert to "Magical Mystery Tour" to see George with a
    Strat.  Also the insert to "Let It Be" to see him with a Fender Bass
    VI, also some shots of some Fender amps.
    
    Paul can be seen with a Tele on the insert to "McCartney" and a Jazz Bass
    on the poster that came with "Band On The Run".
    
    							Brian

    re last - that was the famous psychedelic Strat, wasn't it? Also, I
    seem to remember Harrison played a Tele somewhere along the line, maybe
    on the Let It Be film.
    
    Bob

    Yes, George played a Tele in the rooftop concert in Let It Be (check
    out that SCREAMING tone on "One After 909") ... and they used LOTS of 
    fender amps throughout their run of luck ;^).  I'd have to say, though,
    that they didn't exactly "favor" fender guitars like Jimi and Eric did.
    
    Also used Strats in the studio a few times, perhaps on "Baby It's You"
    and "Nowhere Man," but I could be wrong about one or both.
    
                                              

    There are photos in the book The Recording History of The Beatles
    that show the EMI studios littered (well maybe not LTTERED) with 
    Fender amps (Showmans and Deluxe Reverbs I think).
    
    Also a lot of shots showing Harrison with a Strat. These
    Pictures are, judging by the fab fours appearance, during the bads
    latter days.

    I was watching "The Compleat Beatles" on tape just last night and
    sho' nuff, Harrison was playing a Telecaster during "Let It Be".
    
    Edd

    Harrison also used a white Strat a lot after the Beatles split.
    
    Bob

    I think we forgot to mention Eddie Van Halen working with Floyd rose
    to develop a double locking trem.  Thats a DEFINATE innovation.
    
    jc

    -1
    
    But necessary?  I mean, there were those people (KK Downing, Joe Perry,
    Van Halen, etc.) who were mad strat/whammy abusers who knew how to 
    properly set up the units to keep them in tune.  Some people, like
    Malmsteen, prefer to use trems without the locking nut, quoting that
    the design does not help to keep the guitars in tune any better, as 
    strings are forever stretching, etc.

    Shows what Yingyang knows ... my strat is a hardtail now, because the
    Floyd on my ex-Ibanez spoiled me.  There is *quite* a difference ...
    
    S
    cary

>    Some people, like Malmsteen, prefer to use trems without the locking
>    nut, quoting that the design does not help to keep the guitars in tune
>    any better, as  strings are forever stretching, etc.             
    
    Well, I totally disagree with this statement (and yes, I know how to
    properly set up a guitar without a locking trem).  I've had both and I
    definately believe that the guitars with the locking trems stay in tune
    *much* better.
    
    However, they change the feel and sound of the guitar, many times for
    the worse.  I'd think this is what most people wouldn't like about
    them.
    
    While this could be considered an innovation, I would personally
    consider this an evolution of the plain old Fender rocking bridge. 
    Regardless, it still doesn't diminish in the least Leo Fenders amazing
    contribution to the field of amplified guitars and basses (the topic
    which was originally being discussed).
    
    Greg
         

    I checked the Beatles Recording Sessions book and found pictures 
    of Harrison playing a Strat and Showman, etc. amps during the 
    Revolver sessions, 1965, 1966. That's a lot further back than I had
    origanally thought.

    
    Just to add to topics raised earlier. Indeed Leo Fender was not 'into'
    rock and roll or any form of rock. The sole reason for the development
    of the tremelo arm was to try and emulate the Hawaian guitar sound that
    was commonly used then in Country Music.
    
    I don't know how well known Hank Marvin and the Shadows are in the US
    but outside the US the Shadows had enormous influence on the then
    budding pop musicians of the 60s and 70s. Furthermore Hanks 'trademark' 
    of a Red and White strat (Candy Apple Red, I believe) was acknowledged 
    by the Fender company as a tremendous boost for sales of the Strat. All 
    this is interesting (well mildly interesting) because...
    
    Mark Knopfler has said 'All I ever wanted as a kid was a red and white
    Strat like Hank Marvin'.
    
    Pete Townsend acknowledges that it was the Shadows that prompted him to
    pick up an electric guitar at first.
    
    Hank Marvin saw himself in the late 50s as a Buddy Holly 'clone' hence
    the trademark black framed specs he wore then and the Strat.
    
    So, Buddy Holly has probably more influence on the popularity of the
    Strat than is generally acknowledged.
    
    I have a red and white strat. I bought it more as a nostalgia trip than
    anything else. All I want now is a '59 Chevy Impala to go with it!
    
    Richard
    Reading, UK

	Small nit:

	Hank's Strat was "Fiesta Red".

	One of the first American Strats was painted Fiesta Red
	and given to Hank in recognition of his contribution.

	FWIW, this info comes from the Stratocaster Book.

    
    Where do you think I got all this trivia from!
    
    Hanks early Strats were a different red to the current ones. The
    current guitar's him and Bruce Welch have seem to be a kind of 'orangy
    red' whilst those of their heyday were more 'red red' if you see what I
    mean. Anyone know the colours I refer to? Which one's which?
    
    Richard
    

re:.-1

	Yeah, I noticed that the "Fiesta Red"   looks kinda orange . 
I just figured it was a lousy photo. Maybe "Fiesta Red" was different back then?

	I seem to remember that The Shadows didn't start with Fenders,
	but Burns guitars. At least I've seen a very old picture show-
	ing all of them, including the bassplayer, with Burns guitars,
	with the special 'violin' headstock...

	Poul

    Fender reds:
    
    Dakota Red - one of the earliest Fender custom colors (after black I
    think); kinda darkish.
    
    Candy Apple Red - darker even than Dakota, almost maroonish.  With the
    clear, see through candy apple coat.
    
    Fiesta Red - lightest of the three, a very bright vibrant color.  I
    believe this is what Hank Marvin's original Strat was.  While Fiesta
    is termed an "orange red", the original examples aren't obviously
    orangey.  However, when Fender re-issued vintage Strats in the 80's,
    the Fiesta had a distinct orange tint.  Perhaps recent photos of Hank
    show him with a re-issue Strat (my guess).
    
    /rick

    I have heard that Fender also had a color called Salmon Pink. although
    I'm not sure that it was just a particular phase of color mixing that
    Fiesta Red went through. I happen to love the orangy kinda Fiesta Reds.
    --rjb

    Salmon Pink is the color of Ry Cooder's guitar on the jacket of _Bop
    Til You Drop_.
    
    It is a wicked cool color.  

    I have re-spayed my 'ole strat many times...usually in the car colour
    Fiat red (sort of orangey-red), but have always lusted after the Salmon
    Pink.  Bob Biggs of Kingfisher Music Company in fleet UK, did a special
    mix based on the owners salmon pink Precision bass (under the scratch
    plate was used for the colour match).
    
    Any folks out there know of an exact mix formula to get this
    colour...or better still have any paint supply in this colour ??
    
    The re-issues Jap series does not look right to my eyes, but I may just
    be getting old....!!!!
    
    
    Dave Litten @SBP
    
    

    Sorry, but in my haste I forgot the note topic and my shock at reading
    it...there seems to have been little or no coverage here in the UK of
    Leo's death.
    
    Truly a great innovator, how could he have got the tele and strat 
    *so right* first time ??? What constantly amazes me is the attention to
    detail and the huge step he took away from similar designers at the
    time. I once said I would sell my wife to get a Fender amp...I still
    consider it the ultimate all-round tone for electric players.
    
    His designs were and are, so strong, I find myself locked into them and
    cannot conceive a better working instrument...only variants upon his
    theme.
    
    England has Kings and Palaces......the US had Leo....R.I.P.
    
    By the way, the Shadows used Fenders since the release of Apache, they
    did however change in the late sixties/early seventies to Burns, but
    changed back again in the eighties to Fenders. Burns was only a UK
    Fender rip-off although they were well made.
    
    Dave 
    
    
    

    
    I just bought Tom Wheeler's 1990 edition of "The American Guitar"
    subtitled "An Illustrated History". This book is worth the price
    ($25) as opposed to the other book of his that I have called "The
    Guitar Book" which I find pretty mediocre.

    Anyway, for anyone interested in the history of the Fender Electric
    Instrument Co. and C. L. Fender, this book has a great section on
    Leo, including an interview. The more you learn about this guy, the
    more amazing he seems. He had the right idea at the right time and
    he knew it and ran with it. He was the quintessential ENTREPRENEUR and
    a true legend. It's hard to believe that as recent as a few months ago
    you could probably walk into his office and shake his hand.

    The rest of the book is equally well done. Get it. I found it at
    WaldenBooks so it's not hard to find.
    

    
    
    The Leo Fender Memorial Jam Benefit for the Parkinson's Educational
    Program takes place Aug. 10 at 3 p.m. at the Bren Events Center, off
    Bridge Road on the UC Irvine Campus.  Tickets, priced at $50, $35, and
    $25, are available through the Bren Center box office, (714) 856-5000,
    or through Ticketmaster, (714) 740-2000.  There is a $5 discount for
    veterans and current military personnel if they buy at the box office.