Happy 100th birthday to Leo Fender, who founded the Fender Instrument Manufacturing Company.
Fender, who died in 1991, never learned how to play a guitar. Didn't matter. His creations -- particularly the Fender Stratocaster -- set the industry standard in rock and blues.
This article in Wired is couched in a lot of technical stuff and is probably too much information for a lot of folks, but it paints the picture of Fender's accomplishments.
Or, if you need more information on Fender's influence, go no farther than here: Jimi Hendrix. Eric Clapton. Bonnie Raitt. David Gilmour. Buddy Guy. Jeff Beck. Buddy Holly. Stevie Ray Vaughan. Dick Dale. And Bob Dylan, who plugged in a Strat at Newport in 1965 and totally reinvented folk and pop music.
From Wired:
The Fender Stratocaster is more than just an electric guitar. It is one of the great hallmarks of modern art. As an object, it has made a profound impact, becoming synonymous with the men and women who play it and the art it has been used to create ...
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Photos: (Top) Jimi Hendrix in an outrageous moment. (Bottom) Eric Clapton on a Strat, performs his sixties classic "Crossroads" as part of ABC's "Good Morning America" summer concert series in Bryant Park, Friday, July 20, 2007, in New York. Hendrix and Clapton usually sweep the one- and two-spots in Best Guitarist Ever polls, and both used the Fender Strtatocaster as their go-to instruments.
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