New Book "Fender 75 Years" - The official 75th anniversary celebration of the world's most legendary guitar & amp maker

Fans of Fender guitars and amplifiers take note! Exciting news on Dave Hunter's forthcoming hardcover coming in mid-May 2021! Here is the official media release...Robert Kinsler

The official 75th anniversary celebration of the world's most legendary guitar and amplifier maker!

 FENDER 75 YEARS 

By Dave Hunter | Publishing May 18, 2021

 

Ubiquitous in the music world, Fender guitars and amplifiers are also icons in popular culture, theirshapes and sounds instantly recognizable. Authoritatively written and lavishly illustrated, Fender 75 Years is the officially licensed anniversary celebration of the company and its legendary instruments.

From Fender’s first instrument—a lap steel guitar produced in 1946—to founder Leo Fender’s groundbreaking early six-string “Spanish-style” guitar designs like the Esquire that set the standard for the electric guitar explosion to follow, author Dave Hunter traces Fender’s entire history to the present. All the innovations and landmark models are here, as well as legendary players who became synonymous with Fender instruments across musical genres. 

In addition to the instantly recognizable Telecaster and Stratocaster, Hunter examines Fender’s line of legendary offset guitars like theMustang, Jazzmaster, and Jaguar, and bygone models such as theMarauder, Coronado, Bronco, and more. The Jazz Bass and PrecisionBass also feature, as do Fender’s acoustic guitars and workhorse tube amplifiers like the Bassman, Twin Reverb, and Princeton, to name a few. 

Blues great Buddy Guy, seen here at The Coach House
in August of 2018, playing his beloved Fender guitar.
Photo: Bob Steshetz

Along the way, readers will get in-depth scoops on the relationships dozens of players have enjoyed with Fender: rock ’n’ roll pioneers like Hank Marvin and James Burton; classic-rock icons like Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmour, and Eric Clapton; blues legends Bonnie Raitt, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Buddy Guy; alt-rock gods J Mascis and Kurt Cobain…the list goes on. In addition, Hunter explores the work of the award-winning Fender Custom Shop and the wares produced there. 

Illustrated throughout with rare images from company archives, Fender 75 Years treats readers torare behind-the- scenes views of the shop floor throughout the years, as well as studio imagery of the guitars, rare period advertising and brochures, and performance images of Fender players. 

It’s the definitive look at the Fender’s first three-quarters of a century and a must-have for any guitarenthusiast. 

 

The author

Dave Hunter is an author, musician, and journalist. He is the author of several popular books aboutguitars, amps, and effects, including Voyageur Press's Star Guitars, The Fender Stratocaster, TheGibson Les Paul, and 365 Guitars, Amps & Effects You Must Play. A regular contributor to Guitar Player and Vintage Guitar magazines, he resides in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

 Book Specs

Hardcover with slip case ∙ 224 pages, 300 color and b&w photos

ISBN: 9780760370155 ∙ $50.00 US, $65 CAN

Publishing May 18, 2021

 

2018 NAMM Show Roundup

The NAMM Show was held at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Photo: Bob Steshetz

Article by Robert Kinsler

Photography: Bob Steshetz and Robert Kinsler


Special concert events, under-the-radar on-site performances in merchant booths, the debut of countless new music making-related products and educational sessions make the NAMM Show an essential destination for music lovers.

This year's Winter NAMM Show was held at the Anaheim Convention Center from January 25-28, 2018, with this writer also attending the NAMM Media Preview Day on Jan. 24 to get an early and in-depth look at several highly-anticipated products. 

Here are some of the highlights of my four-day experience at NAMM last weekend.

Concerts and Special Appearances
A couple of decades ago, on-site performances at NAMM were not a focus of the event held every January. But once again this year performances were front-and-center throughout the show.

Andy Grammer performs at NAMM.

The Yamaha Grand Plaza Stage hosted three special high-profile concerts during NAMM. OK Go performed on Jan. 25; an all-star event featuring Michael McDonald, Melissa Etheridge, Marc Broussard, Nathan East, Dave Koz, Butch Walker, Lindsey Stirling, Shelea and others on Jan. 26, and Andy Grammer performed on Jan. 27. 

Brandon "Taz" Niederauer

Those looking for more intimate concert experiences could catch established and up-and-coming artists in booths throughout the show. My favorite event may well have been the mind-blowing performance featuring 14-year-old Brandon "Taz" Niederauer and his excellent four-member band. Performing on Friday afternoon at the D'Angelico Guitars, Niederauer displayed the flashy speed of the late Ten Years After guitar great Alvin Lee with the emotional touch of modern-day bluesman Gary Clark Jr. I have seen young guitarists impress before but Niderauer's virtuoso licks, burgeoning talents as singer and songwriter as well as bona fide stage presence rival many of his considerably-older contemporaries. His wonderful songs included "I Can't Live" (a moody, textured blues rock gem) and "Tell Me Now."

I was lucky enough to catch singer-songwriter/guitar greats Shawn Jones and Stephen Inglis performing together at the Lowden Guitars booth on Saturday. Their short and fiery instrumental set ended with a freewheeling instrumental version of the Jimi Hendrix classic "Little Wing." While at the Lowden booth, I also got to check out and was truly impressed with the Northern Ireland-based company's new GL-10 Electric Guitar. Information: www.lowdenguitars.com.

Miyavi tearing it up at Taylor
Guitars on Jan. 27, 2018.

Taylor Guitars offered a number of must-see concerts. On Thursday, the El Cajon, California-based guitar manufacturer celebrated three emerging Japanese artists. Ai Fujimori, CJ Li and Natsumi Miki showcased the diversity of Japan's burgeoning original music scene and the audience packed into the intimate concert space embraced the three artists and the terrific backing trio of young players who added depth to the material. 

Fast forward to Saturday and I caught three outstanding acts at Taylor Guitars. Country music songstress Brennley Brown, who just turned 16, and Nolan Neal (both one-time contestants on NBC-TV's "The Voice") delivered strong sets in the early afternoon, while genre-defying Japanese singer-songwriter-guitarist Miyavi wowed a packed room with his finger-slapping style of guitar and intoxicating songs, especially the driving rocker "The Others." Information: www.TaylorGuitars.com.

Carl Tosten with FG-TA Yamaha.

NEW PRODUCTS: Guitars aplenty

Yamaha TransAcoustic FG and FS Guitar Series
Yamaha introduced approximately 90 new products at Winter NAMM this year. The Buena Park, California-based company's TransAcoustic guitar series definitely offers something to get acoustic players excited. Building on the success of the company's earlier models, the new FG-TA and FS-TA puts cutting edge technology into the guitar for an affordable price (the FG-TA is priced at $599). "The guitar is able to create reverb and chorus without any external devices," explained Yamaha's Carl Tosten. "It is designed to inspire people to want to play longer." 

Yamaha introduced approximately 90 new products at Winter NAMM, and the new TansAcoustic models were getting plenty of attention throughout the show. My MUSIC WORTH BUYING co-host TJR and I videotaped several segments at the Yamaha booth and will be posting those on this website soon. 

Cal Campbell holding Ovation's
the Glen Campbell 2018
American Artist Model guitar.

Ovation Guitars / Two Glen Campbell Signature Guitar Models
While country music legend Glen Campbell passed away in August 2017, his legacy lives on in ways that stretch beyond his notable recordings. Fans of the late artist's legendary skills on the fret board got an early look at two special signature guitar models released by Ovation Guitars that made their debut at NAMM this year. Campbell's son Cal Campbell was at NAMM to share the release of the Glen Campbell 2018 American Artist Model, an acoustic guitar crafted in the Ovation Custom Shop in New Hartford, CT. 

"This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the creative relationship between Ovation's founder, Bill Kaman, and my dad," said Cal Campbell in a statement released by Ovation. "Growing up, his guitars were a fixture in our lives and it has been a pleasure to work with the artisans at Ovation to ensure the look and the sound of his original gars was faithfully recreated and it's our family's hope that they will inspire future generations of artists to play, write and create for another half century and beyond."

Perhaps even more prized than Glen Campbell's acoustic instrument was the elusive "Bluebird" model. Designed and hand-crafted exclusively for Campbell in the late 1970s, the Bluebird's design was based on the Ovation Viper solid body and was produced in both 6-string and 12-string models. The Campbell family loaned Ovation Guitars Glen's original Bluebird to the guitar maker in order to create the extremely limited run of Bluebird replicas (only 10 of the 6-string models and five of the 12-string models will ever be produced!).

Information: www.ovationguitars.com.

Eric Johnson at the Fender booth at NAMM.

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation 
Eric Johnson Stratocaster® Thinline
Virtuoso guitarist Eric Johnson was at NAMM on Jan. 26 to showcase the latest edition of his Eric Johnson Signature Stratocaster Thinline. At an afternoon press conference, Johnson explained he began working with Fender in 2015 to co-create a new guitar that combined the tones of his favorite semi-hollowbody guitars and his Stratocaster. "To me, my go-to instrument is a Strat. But I've always loved hollow body guitars," Johnson explained. "I used it (the new Thinline guitar) last night (at the City National Grove of Anaheim) and I used it all night." Johnson's new guitar will officially be available on Feb. 20, 2018 and will retail for approximately $1,999.99.

Paul Waller: Prestige 9-Neck Guitar
No overview of new guitars spotted at NAMM would be complete without a mention of Paul Waller's Prestige 9-Neck Guitar featuring nine popular pre-CBS models and scales Fender produced before 1965. Necks featured include those from a four-string mandolin, Mustang, Jaguar, Telecaster, Stratocaster, Jazzmaster, Bass VI, Jass Bass and Precision Bass. It retails for $96,000 (yikes!). See the photo I snapped on the left; in this case, seeing is believing.

Information: www.fender.com.



INNOVATIONS
In addition to the impressive guitars I checked out at NAMM, several other products caught my attention. Stillwater, MN-based Portastand has a line of music stands that are the most impressive I've ever seen. They are not only portable and collapse into small sizes, but are durable and have the ability to serve a variety of roles on stage, in the studio or even around the office. Visit Portastand.com for more information.

Studio engineers and audiophiles should check out the Tascam DA-6400 Recorder. I met with Eric Larsen, director of marketing for Montebello, CA-based TEAC America, Inc., and I was simply blown away at the relatively small size and impressive power of the unit. It can record 64 channels of audio at 24-bit/48kHz, or 32 channels at 24-bit/96kHz! For more information visit www.teac.com or www.tascam.com.

Jim Stern, of Phoenix-based Earful Mastering, at
the Tascam booth at 2018 NAMM Show.
Photo: Robert Kinsler

Jim Stern, with Phoenix-based Earful Mastering, was at the Tascam booth and explained the many wonders of how the Tascam equipment enhances the dynamic range of recordings and reduces the compression that diminishes many modern-day recordings.

"I built a 1bit mastering lab (in Arizona). I can go 1bit to analog and back to 1bit," he explained. "1bit is as close to analog as we have come in digital...I'm an old audiophile and I love it. I love Tascam equipment."


For more information on NAMM, visit www.namm.org.



A very special "thank you" to Bob Steshetz for the use of his wonderful photography

Sights and Sounds: Keith Emerson remembered; Paul McCartney to tour; George Harrison-minded Fender electric guitar

Keith Emerson, left and Greg Lake. Photo: Neal Preston

The music community continues to mourn another rock 'n' roll legend. Just days after everyone reflected on the life of producer-composer George Martin, we learned that Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP) keyboardist Keith Emerson had died. He was only 71.

"I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of my good friend and brother-in-music, Keith Emerson. Keith was a gentle soul whose love for music and passion for his performance as a keyboard player will remain unmatched for many years to come. He was a pioneer and an innovator whose musical genius touched all of us in the worlds of rock, classical and jazz.  I  will always remember his warm smile, good sense of humor, compelling showmanship, and dedication to his musical craft. I am very lucky to have known him and to have made the music we did, together. Rest in peace, Keith."

Carl Palmer

March 11, 2016

"To all ELP friends and fans all over the world, I would like to express my deep sadness upon hearing this tragic news. As you know Keith and I spent many of the best years of our lives together and to witness his life coming to an end in the way that it has is painful, both to myself and to all who knew him. 

As sad and tragic as Keith’s death is, I would not want this to be the lasting memory people take away with them. What I will always remember about Keith Emerson was his remarkable talent as a musician and composer and his gift and passion to entertain. Music was his life and despite some of the difficulties he encountered I am sure that the music he created will live on forever.

My deepest condolences go to Keith’s family. 

May he now be at peace."

Greg Lake

London - March 12, 2016

Sir Paul McCartney has announced he is embarking on a new tour, titled One On One. Check out writer George A. Paul's post on his Music Minded site for all the details, including announced tour dates and more information. You can view the post here.

While we are on the subject of former members of the Fab Four, Fender has announced the production of the George Harrison Tribute Rosewood Telecaster. Here is the media release:

Fender Custom Shop Announces

The George Harrison Tribute Rosewood Telecaster®

2016

Preserving the Legacy of George Harrison Through One of the Most Famous Guitars in Music History

Fender pays homage to what is arguably the most famous Telecaster in musical history, George Harrison’s Rosewood Telecaster, with a limited-run series of 100 guitars. Created with and fully supported by the Harrison family, Master Builder Paul Waller was given access to George’s original guitar from 1968 to examine, disassemble and reverse engineer for a truly accurate recreation. 

This was a challenging process since the original guitar, given away by George to Delaney Bramlett, had gone through a series of modifications over the years.  Through a meticulous process, Fender was able to create the guitar as it was in its glory days, before any of these changes were made.

George Harrison performing on the Abbey Road
Studios rooftop.

Documenting every detail step by step, Master Builder Paul Waller was able to re-create this guitar the right way – even closely matching the tight grain of the rosewood that was in the original. Each of these tribute models is as close as humanly possible to the guitar that George Harrison recorded the album Let It Be with, and played during the band’s final performance on the Abbey Road Studios rooftop.

The George Harrison Tribute Rosewood Telecaster features a very light version of the Custom Shop’s “Closet Classic” finish, to approximate the condition it would be in if someone had used it for a single recording session, and to play a single concert. The Harrison family felt that this would be the most genuine way to honor George, his fans and collectors.