Fender Guitars are as popular now as they ever have been; the fact that they have been around for decades now has only added to their trust factor. When it comes to guitar manufacturers, very few of them offer the variety of wood, and hardware options as Fender.
Introduction to Fender Guitars
You really don’t have to be a guitar fanatic to know about this brand, they have been around since the dawn of rock music, and are endorsed by some of the biggest guitar legends, such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, John Lennon, & many more, for the unique sound and tone it creates.
Any musician, be it some of the famous guitar players playing to huge audiences, or singer-songwriters playing in smaller venues, or teenagers starting their own music band, they all want their music to sound unique, and want musical instruments that can express the essence of their songs. They all want a sound that will grab the audience’s attention and make the listeners remember the musicians name/band.
Fender guitars have been doing that for the past several decades.
Fender are renowned for their electric guitars, they have a wide range of electric guitars, solid body electric guitars, bass guitars, classical guitars, resonator guitars, acoustic bass guitars, acoustic guitars, acoustic electric guitars, semi hollowbody guitars.
Fender guitars have one of the best sustain and hot pickups, and produce amazing sounds which makes them quite attractive considering the money it cost. Some of their guitars demonstrate what humans find attractive — and that is smooth curves, a slender neck and beautiful sounds.
Lot of artists feel refer to Fender as the “sound of America” and prefer these both in the studio and out on the road.
The Popular Fender guitars include the Fender Standard Stratocaster, Fender Standard Telecaster, Fender American Strat HSS, Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster, Fender Eric Clapton Signature Stratocaster, Yngwie Malmsteen Strat, Fender ’52 Telecaster, Fender ’62 Jazzmaster, Fender 72 Telecaster Deluxe, Fender American Deluxe Fat Strat, Fender Rory Gallagher Signature Stratocaster, and many more.
Fender guitars continue to touch the hearts of guitar players and collectors all over the world. Fender has always been a respected brand for producing excellent guitars (and to some extent these are reasonably priced as well). No matter what your budget is, you’ll definitely find a suitable Fender guitar. From beginner guitars to professional guitars, inexpensive to the pricey ones, fender is known to produce high quality guitars for all levels. Their fans include both – the rich & the famous musicians, and the not so famous (yet) guitarists.
If you’re really serious about playing the guitar, irrespective of the genre you like – rock, country, blues or jazz, you’ll most likely own a fender someday. No matter what your level of skills are, you’ll definitely find a fender guitar that meets your requirements.
Fender Electric Guitars
Fender is among the most popular and one of the oldest manufacturers of electric guitars, and as such understand the technology involved quite well. Fender is known best for their electric guitar models such as the Stratocaster and Telecaster.
Fender Electric Guitars: Various Series
Fender electric guitars are further categorized under the following types:
- Stratocaster: Semi-hollowbody electric guitar
- Telecaster: Solid-body electric guitar
- Squier: More affordable, lower priced guitars.
- Duo-Sonic: Compact sized, student guitars (for amateur musicians). Some also refer to it as “3/4 size” Fender guitar. Features two single-coil pickups and a vertical switch on the lower horn of the body.
- JazzMaster: Aimed at jazz guitarists, its appearance is similar to the Jaguar (lots of tonal and physical differences).
- Mustang: Solid body electric guitar with two single-coil pickups.
- Jaguar: Made initially to lure players from Gibson, the expensive Jaguar guitars were taken out of production in 1975. Since then Fender have been releasing certain models. Original vintage Jaguars sell for many times their original price.
Fender electric guitars are available in various body shapes – Stratocaster, Telecaster, Jaguar, Jazzmaster, Mustang, Esquire, Jagmaster, and other shapes. The Stratocaster & the Telecaster being the more popular ones.
Fender Stratocaster vs Telecaster
Both Stratocaster and Telecaster are top quality, fender electric guitars. No wonder lot of guitar players want to know the differences between the two and which one is better.
While there are a few technical differences between the two, the difference is minimal and probably doesn’t affect most players.
Some may feel there’s a tone difference, but some may hardly find any difference. Some users feel the design of the body of the Tele makes it a bit difficult for them to fret the highest notes. However, other guitar players notice no difference at all (they fell access to the higher registers is exactly the same on both the guitars).
Like most guitarists you may eventually get comfortable with one of these, but the fact is that most players end up buying multiple Fender guitars. Professional players own a few of each type – Stratocaster and the Telecaster.
Setting Up Your Fender
To get the great Fender guitar sound, and to put your guitar in excellent playing shape, it’s recommended to pay attention / make adjustments to the following.
- Changing strings
- Setting intonations (Roughing it out)
- Truss rod adjustment
- Setting string height
- Setting pickup height
Best Fender Electric Guitars
No matter what your skills are, there is a Fender electric guitar for you. At one point of time, Fender used to compete with some of the priciest guitars from Gibson (and they still do), but Fender has increased their range and now makes more affordable guitars as well.
While Stratocaster and Telecaster still continue to make the bulk of their sales, and in the case of bass guitars, its the the Fender Precision or Jazz bass, over the years, Fender has added several other guitars/series to their collection.
Fender guitars are made for the more serious guitar players who are looking for top quality construction as well as a great sound to match. For years now, Fender have been making stunning guitars that transcend music cultures & geographical boundaries.
However, if you’re really looking for a cheap electric guitar (below a couple of hundred dollars), then you better check out some other brand.
The better ones from Fender are in the range $300 to $400, which come with several outstanding features and a great overall tonal quality. Some of the popular models include the Fender Standard Stratocaster, Fender Stratocaster JR, Fender Standard Telecaster, Fender Standard Left-handed Tele, and Fender Standard Strat Satin/ Rosewood.
The more expensive Fender Guitars include the Fender ’51 Nocaster Relic, Fender ’63 Tele Closet Classic, Fender J5 Bigsby, Fender ’69 Strat Relic Maple Neck, Fender ’69 Strat Relic Rosewood, Fender ’63 Telecaster Relic, Fender Rory Gallagher Signature Stratocaster, Fender Ritchie Blackmore Strat, Fender Ritchie Blackmore Roland Ready, and Fender Merle Haggard Tribute Tele.
Irrespective of what you buy, modern or traditional Fender, Whether you’re looking for a Standard Strat/Tele, a Deluxe Strat/Tele or a Select Strat/Tele, do check them online for the most competitive prices.
Squier by Fender Bullet Strat with Tremolo
The Bullet Strat with tremolo is a practical guitar designed for the beginner student. Its a perfect choice for a first guitar, no matter what style of music you want to learn. And you get to own a ‘Fender’,
Squier by Fender Stop Dreaming Start Playing Set
This is another great beginner set that gives you everything you need to get started on the electric guitar. The bundle includes a Squier SE Special guitar with three single-coil pickups, 10-watt Squier SP-10 amp with headphone jack, an instructional DVD, an electronic tuner, guitar strap, gig bag, guitar cable and picks, all for under 200 bucks.
Fender Standard Stratocaster Electric Guitar
Maple fretboard, parchment pickguard and control knobs, ’70s-style logo, vintage appeal.
Modern C-shape neck profile, three classic standard single-coil Strat pickups and five-way selector, synchronized tremolo bridge with groovy whammy bar.
Built for the advanced guitar players, the Standard Stratocaster guitar offers the classic Fender tone, it features three single-coil pickups, synchronized tremolo with high-mass bridge block, tinted neck, shielded body cavities, medium jumbo frets, parchment pickguard and ’70s-style headstock logo. Now you can bring the legendary tone and style to your next gig.
Fender Deluxe Players Stratocaster Electric Guitar
The powerful and super-versatile Deluxe Players Strat guitar has a beautiful finish and features modern neck with a 12″-radius maple or rosewood fingerboard, Noiseless pickups, standard five-way pickup switch paired with push/push mini-switch offering an even greater variety of pickup combinations, brown shell pickguard and gold-plated vintage hardware.
Fender Standard Telecaster Electric Guitar
Modern C-shaped maple neck, 6-saddle string-thru-body bridge, 2 single-coil pickups controlled by a 3-position blade selector, master volume and master tone knobs, a bolt-on 1-piece truss-rodded maple neck ( 25.5-inch scale length), a maple fretboard (9.5-inch radius), 21 frets, Chrome hardware, and a 3-ply parchment style pickguard.
Fender Starcaster Strat Electric Guitar Bundle
Another good all-in-one bundle for beginners, the Fender Starcaster Strat Packs includes a 3-tone sunburst Stratocaster guitar, strings, picks, a strap, Squier SP-10 amp, a 10-foot cable, a tuner, a gig bag, guitar stand, and an instructional DVD. This guitar is suited for all styles of music.
Fender Amps
Fender also makes a wide range of amps that are great for beginners or for home practice. Experienced players looking for the classic styles amps can choose from a selection of tube amps to get that authentic Fender electric guitar sound.
Their range of amplifiers include vintage as well as modern amps including the Mustang I, Mustang II and Mustang III, Fender valve amps such as deluxe reverb and vintage modified.
In fact, the Fender’s new range of Mustang amps are quite revolutionary. These amps can be controlled from the computer. Just save the settings/sounds and share them around with your fellow Mustang users. You can download other musician’s patches and use them to control your Mustang amplifier.
Fender Acoustic Guitars
While Fender is known for its electric guitars, the company makes a wide range of instruments, including traditional acoustic guitars as well. You will find quality acoustic guitars for beginners, amateurs, and connoisseurs, and over the years, Fender Acoustic Guitars has also developed a good reputation in the music community. So try one out to know why Fender is liked by so many musicians.
Doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or a pro, you can choose from a wide range of Dreadnought, Concert, Classical and Folk guitars. Beginners can find several options in the sub $300 price range. usually, in that price range, people go for brands such as Yamaha and Takamine, but now you also have the option of owning a Fender, probably for a few bucks more.
Some of the budget ones are made in China but that shouldn’t be a cause for any worry, because the quality remains in tact, and most brands are now taking this business approach (of outsourcing to cost-effective locations).
Even though some of these models are cheap, the look great and play play great. Just play then for a few months and you’ll realize that these are worth every penny.
There are several experienced players who use a fender acoustic guitar, as their second guitar. Though they may not use it for gigging, its a nice option for practicing, for jamming with friends, and also to take along when traveling (take it along and play it on a beach), and since Experienced players are fussy about the brand, the fender name suits them well.
Above all, these that classical look, which many find hard to resist.
You always have the option of getting the action lowered (in case you find the factory action higher). Changing the strings to your preferred one also makes a lot of difference — ease of playing and better sound.
Recommended Fender Acoustic Guitars:
- Fender Paramount PM-1 Standard Dreadnought: See PRICE on Amazon
- Fender CF-140S Folk Acoustic Guitar: See PRICE on Amazon
- Fender FA-135CE Dreadnought Acoustic-Electric Guitar: See PRICE on Amazon
- Fender CD-60SCE Acoustic-Electric Guitar: See PRICE on Amazon
- Fender Kingman ASCE Dreadnought Cutaway Acoustic-Electric Guitar
Best Fender Acoustic Guitars
Fender CF-140S Folk Acoustic Guitar
Even though small in size, this guitar produces excellent sound, and looks stunning as well. The wide spaced strings makes it easier to play.
Fender Kingman ASCE Dreadnought Cutaway Acoustic-Electric Guitar
This is a premium guitar, suited for the professionals. It comes with solid spruce top, solid mahogany back and sides. The Fishman electronics provide superb amplified tone, and comes with black Stratocaster headstock.
Fender CD-60 Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar
The Fender CD-60 Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar produces a sweet mellow tone, besides being a beautiful looking guitar. Available in black, sunburst or natural finish.
You also get a hard case along with the guitar, lets you travel everywhere without worrying about your guitar getting damaged.
- Top, sides and back are made of mahogany, scalloped X-Bracing. Mahogany neck and 20-Fret Rosewood Fingerboard. Bridge made of rosewood. Features dual-action truss rod, die-cast tuners, and mother-of-pearl acrylic rosette design
- Buy Fender CD-60 on zZounds
Fender T-Bucket 300CE Dreadnought Acoustic-Electric Guitar
The the Fender T-Bucket 300-CE is a flashy acoustic-electric guitar available for a great price, it is a real looker onstage! Thanks to Fishman electronics, when plugged in, this dreadnought has a big sound. Suitable for any kind/style of music, this one is available in a wide variety of tinewoods and finishes. The set up and intonation, fit and finish are spot on, you can use it for practicing, performance and also for traveling. For just under three hundred dollars, there’s hardly any flaw with this axe.
Though not a jumbo “dreadnought” size body, this is big enough, so that is something to bear in mind for medium/small sized hands. Its not a big issue though; besides the body size ensures you get a very good sound and volume (even when unplugged).
The built-in electronics works flawlessly and is quite useful. The Fishman preamp includes a volume control, bass, mid & treble controls. It also includes a built in tuner.
Most buyers like the cool flame maple top, the pinstrip on the head, and the smooth rich sound. Most were also pleased to have the built-in tuner and also the fact that this one has an electric option.”
Great Deals on Fender Music Gear here…
Fender Guitars & Accessories
Their range of products now covers everything from electrics, amps, acoustics to bass guitars.
Even if you consider just one type of guitar, their selection of guitars is huge, and you’ll need to have some knowledge of guitars, and also be clear about your needs, to narrow down the choices when looking for a guitar.
Some of Fender’s popular guitars include:
- Electric guitars such as Stratocaster and Telecaster
- Bass guitars such as Precision Bass and Jazz Bass
- Acoustic / Folk guitars such as the Alkaline Trio Malibu and the Rustler six-string banjo.
If you are a beginner, the best thing you can do is research and read about guitars. Also, ask as many people as you can who have knowledge about guitars as they can give you sound advice.
Fender even make every imaginable guitar accessory, from picks to pickups.
Fender History
Leo Fender, the man behind one of the most famous guitar brand was the ultimate guitar innovator and; even today his guitars are the go-to instrument for any serious guitarist. Here we take a look at how he came up with the design of his most famous creation Stratocaster guitar.
- The Fender company was founded by ‘Leo Fender’.
- The first Fender solid body guitar (the Telecaster) was produced in 1951.
- This was followed by the Precision Bass and the Stratocaster in 1954.
- The Fender Custom shop was established in 1987.
- Since 1985, Fender has been producing a vast array of musical products, from strings to mixing boards.
Going back to the 1980s, Leo Fender, when asked how he got the idea for the Stratocaster guitar said, “Twenty-four hours a day, I sat at home and thought about it. A lot of times a musician would make a casual remark about how he wished he had this or he wished he had that. That’s how the guitar developed. I would [do things like] go through thousands and thousands of pickups hunting for the best possible way to make one.”
As you can see, he just didn’t get the idea all of a sudden; it was the result of Fender’s hard-work ethic and insatiable curiosity that led to the creation of the fender guitars, that still are the the go-to instrument for any serious guitarist.
Before Fender came up with his guitars, guitarists had to make do with the big hollow-bodied jazz guitars. The problem with those guitars was that they were fine for playing solo but never really worked with other instruments in a band setting; they’d just feedback too much. However, Fenders guitars were solid and simple, essentially just two planks of wood stuck together; his Stratocaster guitars stayed in tune and were loud without distorting too much.
Now here’s an interesting fact about Leo Fender.
Leo Fender was born on August 10, 1909, near Fullerton, Orange County, California. Although he learnt to play piano and saxophone, he never had the time to learn to play the guitar.
Even when he opened the Fender Radio and Record Shop in Fullerton, his focus was amplifiers. Although it was a repair shop, Leo would prefer to amend than to repair, and soon he started making his own designs.
Fender’s new box amps were easily fixed, sounded better, and weren’t as big and cumbersome to lug around the place. You could turn up at a venue and the whole band could almost plug into a Fender bass amp and do a gig without running into any sort of difficulty.
Read: Fender Guitar Amps
In the mid-1940s, Fender built a solid-body electric guitar and, over the years, amended until, in 1950, he introduced what would eventually be called the Telecaster.
“The Stratocaster is probably the most popular one. It’s been copied the most, It’s considered more versatile but the Telecaster is a working man’s guitar.”
The initial struggle
Fender guitars are huge today but back then, Fender’s guitars were not immediately appreciated. Many (especially music shop owners) ridiculed the Telecaster’s simplicity and apparent lack of artistry. Fender and his team responded by taking the guitars to the town’s best music clubs and asking the skilled musicians to use the new guitars, and they were obviously awed by its chunky sound and power.
Orders would be placed on the night of a gig, and the next day salesmen would return to the local music shop offering the rights to sell something every musician now wanted. Soon it was impossible to own a music shop without Fenders, and the Tele quickly became a country music staple. As the Telecaster began to take off, Fender was ready to introduce another game changer.
An even bigger deal was when he brought out the Precision bass in ’51’ because, up to then, all bass players were playing double bass, standing up and lugging this huge instrument around the place. The Precision bass gave bass players a bigger sound too. It was a complete revolution.
Adding frets to the bass made it easier to play and more people started playing the bass guitar. The lightweight not only made the guitar more transportable, bassists were more mobile on stage. Simply put, they looked better. Legendary producer Quincy Jones said: “Without the Fender bass, there’d be no rock ’n’ roll or no Motown. The electric guitar had been waiting round for a nice partner to come along. It became an electric rhythm section, and that changed everything.”
Beginning of the STRAT ERA
In 1954, Fender’s now iconic Strat was introduced. But it didn’t become popular overnight. Only after musicians like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Rory Gallagher exploited its potential and versatility, did it become a gold standard among musicians (in the 1960s).
Gallagher once told a reporter in the early 1990s, “I’ve been playing [this] Fender since 1963. I can’t endorse it more than that. Fender was a great innovator, there’s no two ways about it. He lived to be a legend in his lifetime, which says it all.”
Fender sold his company to CBS in 1965 for $13m. For obvious reasons, Pre-CBS has become a revered term among guitar collectors, and the instruments from that time command high prices.
Leo Fender later founded G&L, and though he himself thought the guitars made under this name were superior, it was the Fender brand that everyone wanted to talk about. Leo Fender died on March 21, 1991.
Checkout this video of the Fender factory tour.
Back in those days no CNC machines were used and everything was done by hand. I guess it was the best time for being a guitar and wood craftsmen, but then you also had to be really skillful as making a guitar was really a craft.
You had no CNC’s, computers or any other machines. No wonder then that every guitar made that year is now worth a small fortune.
Fender manufactured Stratocasters and Telecasters sporting 1 piece maple necks/fingerboards until mid 1959. The transition to rosewood boards happened somewhere between March/April of that year. From 1958 onwards ALL Fender guitars sported a 3TSB finish as standard.
Read the debate on Fender vs Gibson Guitars
Fender Buying Guide
Fender vs Other Guitars
It is all about the tone, and so if someone likes the fender, there are certainly going to be fans of other brands as well. It’s all about what kind of tone you are looking for.
A skilled guitarist could possibly play you some great songs on any guitar, be it a fender, a Les Paul, a Strat, or any other brand out there. So to some extent it is correct that you just think of the artist who’s tone you like the most, look at what setup he/she has and choose one accordingly.
However, there are certain things that are characteristic of a Fender, such as their bright characterized guitars. Gibson les pauls, on the other hand, are very good when played as rhythm guitars. No wonder they’re the most used guitars when it comes to layering tracks for albums.
Then there are also budget guitars that are made by brands such as Epiphone. But then most experienced players feel that Guitars should not only sound good, they should look beautiful as well and need to have beautiful wood to complement the Musician. This is where guitarists prefer the more expensive guitars from the likes of Fender and not some cheap plastic makes.
Buying a Used Fender Electric Guitar
Is it true that most experienced guitar players would prefer buying a used fender electric guitar, compared to buying a new one.
If you’re looking for a good Fender Electric, you would know that there are many options out there. You may like John Fogerty and other classic player’s skills on the guitar, and may want to do something like that on the guitar.
But before that you need a guitar.
Most experienced players feel that new guitars have no soul, no character to it.
A used one, on the other hand, because it has been shaped well under the hands of a person, who knows how to play the guitar.
That is why the ‘used guitar’ is a better choice for the experienced players.
Having said that, most of them own multiple guitars, and they also keep on buying new guitars all the time.
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KeytarHQ editorial team includes musicians who write and review products for pianists, keyboardists, guitarists & other musicians. KeytarHQ is the best online resource for information on keyboards, pianos, synths, keytars, guitars and music gear for musicians of all abilities, ages and interests.
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