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CHAPTER 3

The Magic Moment

The moment when Leo Fender got the idea about the electric guitar says a lot about what made him tick.

Germany invaded Poland in 1939, just a year after Leo got married. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, millions of men jumped at the chance to serve their country, but Leo was left at home. The Army did not want him because he had a glass eye. This did not sit well with Leo, who knew he could contribute and was always eager to help.

Leo never once complained about his situation, he just quietly kept moving forward. He loved his country, and he wanted to do his part to serve. This meant that he needed to invent a way to do it. That was okay because Leo was an inventor at heart.

In the 1940s, it was common to have war bond dances where the town would come out, sing, dance and hopefully buy some war bonds and stamps to support the troops. One warm summer night, at a park in Fullerton near his high school, Leo figured out how he could help. He was the guy who would set up the dances. He was good with electronics, so he would lay the cables to bring in the electricity, string the lights from tree to tree, set up the microphones and amplifiers for the singers, set up chairs, and quietly get the whole event set up.

Leo typically worked alone, a nondescript, quiet man who was attentive and pleasant and made the place come alive. Content with being in the background, Leo silently enjoyed the setting he created.

When the sun went down, and scores of people flowed into the dance, Leo remained on the sidelines. Leo was always calm, and keenly observant. He stood by in case anything broke or needed his attention. Not being much of a dancer himself, he just enjoyed the simple things, like seeing everyone enjoying themselves, watching the sales of bonds and stamps, and knowing that he was doing his part to support his country.

One warm, Fullerton summer night, everything was going smoothly, so Leo just sat near the band enjoying the music. At the war bond dance, they were mostly playing big band music, and Leo always admired musical talent. While Leo had played the piano and saxophone in high school and college, he no longer played any instruments. Leo knew music took both a special gift and a lot of time. He never really got good himself, but he appreciated those who did. He watched the brass section, tapped his foot to the beat of the drums, and soaked in the beautiful singing.

Then something caught Leo’s eye. Leo noticed the guitar players. That was the moment that changed the world forever.

While the guitarists played their wooden, acoustic guitars with all their might, nobody could hear them. They were playing their hearts out, but they were basically invisible! Leo felt bad for them. The guitarists had to be heard! Leo got an idea. He was determined to help these talented musicians be heard, just like the rest of the band.

The whole idea of the electric guitar was sparked by Leo Fender’s deep, never-ending desire to help other people. The birth of the electric guitar is a profound story, and it reveals so much about Leo. It was never about Leo, and it would never be about Leo. He simply wanted the underdog to be heard. Little did he know that he was changing the world. He had no idea of the millions of dollars or the international fame that would be coming his way. For Leo, it was all about his deep, authentic passion for helping people.

From setting up for the dance to helping fund a cause he felt so deeply about, to working behind the scenes to make sure everyone had a good time, to the moment he wanted to help a struggling guitarist to get heard, it was never about Leo. In his mind, it was all about helping his country, the dancers, and ultimately the musicians.

Leo in high school

That’s the secret to understanding Leo Fender. He knew that helping others made him happy, and he never strayed from that guiding principle.

THE TELECASTER DAYS

The idea to help the struggling guitarists remained Leo’s obsession for the rest of his life.

The day after the dance, in 1943, Leo Fender went to his radio shop. He got out some drafting paper and started working on designing a ground-up, solid-body electrical guitar with electrical pickups. Nobody had ever done it before, but that did not stop him. He told me that at his radio shop, he got a hunk of wood, cut the middle, out and put some electronics in it. That is where the magic began. He built several “paddle guitars” that quickly evolved into the guitars we see today.

Leo’s high school yearbook

When Leo came out with the electric guitar, he said that people laughed and made fun of him. Scoffing, people called them “boat paddles.” Most people do not like being laughed at. Leo did not like it either, but he did not take it personally. He converted that energy into fuel that propelled him forward. Leo believed in himself and in his invention.

Ironically, when Leo’s electric guitar took off, the critics went from laughing to trying to take credit. Some manufactured a debate over who really invented the electric guitar, so let’s clear that up. At the time that Leo invented the electric guitar, a few people were starting to put pickups on regular acoustic guitars. Leo never claimed to have invented that concept, and some people, including himself, were putting pickups on different things like steel lap guitars. However, Leo got the idea from the war bond dance to put pickups on a solid body piece of wood, and create what today is considered a true electric guitar. When these kinds of discussions came up, Leo would just smile, and calmly say, “I’ve got the patent.”

Leo really had something, but it did not take off immediately. In his rented shop on Harbor Boulevard, Leo bought some parts from Mr. Ellingson, who owned the shop he rented. Leo built guitar after guitar, but they did not sell overnight. After thirty days Mr. Ellingson came to collect on his invoice, and Leo just said, “You can’t collect on that bill, I haven’t sold the guitar yet.” Mr. Ellingson just smiled and tried to explain things to Leo, who as an accountant knew better. However, Leo soon did sell the guitar, and then another and another. And they just kept on selling. Sales may have started off slow, but they quickly picked up. Leo paid his bills.

Leo’s first shop is listed on the National Historical Register. It is a good thing too because that building was made from beautiful brick, while all the rest of Leo’s buildings were so ugly! Leo just wanted places to get the job done, and he was no interior decorator. The key word for Leo was function! From the time Leo started building his own factories, the rest of his buildings were non-descript, grey, concrete block buildings. But I will say that inside those ugly buildings, beautiful things did happen.

Today, at the rear of his first building there is a ceramic mural of a striking red Stratocaster guitar, created by wonderful school children from Fullerton.

While the war was raging, Leo met Clayton Orr “Doc” Kauffman. Doc had been a designer of lap steel guitars in the 1930s for Rickenbacker. Leo talked Doc into teaming up, and they formed the K&F Manufacturing Corporation. In 1944, Leo and Doc patented a lap steel guitar that used a pickup that Leo had patented. Leo would later buy out Doc’s interests and rename the company after himself.

Guitar Player magazine said,

Clayton Orr “Doc” Kauffman was a key person in Leo’s introduction to manufacturing. “Leo came by one day,” recalled Doc, “and he said, ‘Hey, you’ve been building guitars around here – want to build some together?’ and I said, ‘Well, sure, sounds okay to me.” Kauffman and Fender called their company K&F and built lap steels and small amps. Doc was dubious about a future in guitar building, despite the modest but promising successes of K&F. “See, it hadn’t been that long since the Depression,” he explained. “My dad was a credit boy all his life – owed money on the farm – so I told myself that I’d never go into debt. Leo was different – He’d go into debt on an investment like a house afire! He didn’t care. Besides, he was smart. And he thinks at it all the time; he keeps digging. He’s a pursuer, by day and night. That’s what put the guitar where it is.

I only met Doc a few times, but Leo told me that when Doc had worked for Rickenbacker in Santa Ana, they built Hawaiian and steel lap guitars. Doc had invented a pickup and a tailpiece that Leo called a tremolo. Nobody knows where Leo got this name, but he always insisted that everyone call it that. It was not a vibrato, not a whammy bar, but a tremolo!

In 1946, Leo set up his first plant to produce his guitars a couple of blocks away from the radio repair shop at 122 S. Pomona Avenue. Today, the site has a parking structure, and over two entrances there are wonderful murals of Leo and his inventions. It was created by a local artist, with the help of some of Fullerton’s children.

In 1949, Leo finished a prototype of a thin solid-body electric guitar and commercially released it in 1950 as the Fender Esquire. He renamed it the Broadcaster, but that got Leo into copyright trouble with Gretsch Drums. Leo was not a fighter and not about to waste time with a bunch of lawyers. He just quickly sidestepped and trimmed the name off the decals. Today, those guitars are known as “Nocasters.” Eventually, Leo thought of a new name, the Telecaster. This name was a simple, catchy blend between the new, upcoming televisions and radio broadcasters. That was Leo—he liked it simple.

The Telecaster immediately caught on. Leo, now more business savvy from his prior legal challenges, quickly took his drawings and registered them with the US Patent Office. This turned out to be yet another brilliant idea, which kept the copycats at bay. Leo just loved the Telecaster and the music it made. With his one good eye, Leo knew style when he saw it. The Telecaster had style.

When Leo invented the Telecaster, he had his own musical taste in mind. Leo was always clear that he specifically liked three kinds of music. There was country music. There was western music. And there was country-western music. For his entire life, he simply loved watching a Telecaster being played by country-western players.

When I think about the Telecaster, I wonder how many other products were invented in the 1940s that are still considered iconic today? Now, that is “staying power!” That Telecaster later created music ranging from Chuck Berry to the Beatles to Jimmy Page’s Led Zeppelin One album, and everything in between. Leo’s years of obsession with the Telecaster resulted in an instrument that today continues to inspire musicians.

THE STRATOCASTER DAYS

Leo continued working on Pomona Avenue for a few years, but his Telecaster guitar was taking off, and it was clear that he needed more space. Leo insisted that the company stay in Fullerton, so he went a few blocks east and found a large tract of level land on Raymond Avenue.

Leo designed the buildings himself—but then again, he designed everything himself! Leo was optimistic about his business, but he was also cautious. He designed the building as multiple, small independent units that could also be operated as one large manufacturing plant. Leo thought that if his new business ever struggled or failed, at least it would be easy to lease out the individual units. That never happened.

One day, the contractors handed Leo a set of keys to 500 S. Raymond Avenue. It was a non-descript, grey concrete building located just south of the railroad line in the industrial section of Fullerton.

Leo unlocked the doors, turned on the lights and got to work. With a growing business, Leo was on the lookout for talented people. By chance, Leo met Freddie Tavares. He was born on Maui, Hawaii, and was about four years younger than Leo.

It is gutsy of him, but when the two met, Freddie told Leo that his amplifiers were junk. A proud man would have gotten mad and written the guy off, but remember, Leo was not conventional. Many CEOs surround themselves with yes-men who always vote unanimously for everything the leader proposes. Leo was different, and he always liked people that told him the truth.

Leo quietly asked Freddie what was wrong with his amplifiers, and Freddie immediately turned the amp around and started showing Leo various design issues. Leo was impressed with Freddie’s insights, and he hired Freddie on the spot. Leo connected with authentic people—people who told it how it really is, had a feel for the business and got the job done.

Freddie had the vibe Leo liked. In fact, Freddie was a Hawaiian version of Leo. Quiet, mellow, and calm, Freddie was also intensely in love with music and musical instruments. While Freddie looked Hawaiian, he was a mix of Portuguese, Hawaiian, Chinese, English, Tahitian, and Samoan. Freddie would sometimes say, “The Portuguese makes me stubborn; Chinese makes me smart; English makes me high-class; Hawaiian gives me the music; Tahitian gives me the beat—I couldn’t ask for more!”

On his first day on the job in 1953, Freddie took out some paper and drew a design for Leo. Leo loved it, and together the two of them collaborated to invent the Stratocaster. Freddie not only worked for Leo in the Pre-CBS days, but stayed with the Fender company even during the CBS period as a designer and engineer within the research and development department. While his contributions were huge, Freddie was always very mild and humble. He once said, “All of the guitars were essentially Leo’s design.”

Leo and I were both quite fond of Freddie and his wife, Tamar. Freddie was the one who played the instruments, and had a knack for truly feeling the instrument as he and his wife sang together. If Freddie liked it, Leo knew it was a winner, and that when the invention hit the streets the world would never be the same.

I sometimes think about the rare brain—compared to my blonde brain—who could make all of this happen in such a short amount of time. I believe that the secret came from Leo’s background, which encompassed so many talents. He was conservative to the core, exact with his expectations of himself and others, while at the same time remarkably innovative and free-thinking.

Leo knew how to use a drafting table, design and solder electronic circuitry, do woodworking, metalworking, build a facility, file a patent, invite feedback from the customers, design a mass-production manufacturing line, attract and hire good people, and quickly get rid of anyone who was lazy! Leo would laugh at the notion of doing only one thing, and he was the first in the plant to put out a fire and fix a machine with his own hands. He had to do it himself—because he invented many of those machines.

One day, tragedy struck. A bunch of employees were fixing an amplifier. Of course, Leo was right in there with them. At one point, Leo climbed down on the ground and stuck his head into the speaker cabinet to check on the wiring. Without warning, one of the men flipped the “on” switch of the amplifier, and the speakers burst out with a deafeningly loud squealing sound. Both of Leo’s eardrums were shattered. He told me that he could feel them just melt away. In an instant, Leo lost most of his hearing. It was a devastating loss for a man who already was going through life with one glass eye. Besides, he loved music, he loved musicians, and he loved his role in making instruments. Suddenly, Leo’s world was nearly silenced.

Leo invented this first solid body electric guitar

Later, Leo would get hearing aids, which greatly helped. Remarkably, even with these physical limitations, Leo never complained or made any kind of fuss about any of it. He simply did what Leo always did—he calmly went forward with a slight smile. His disabilities went virtually unnoticed by all the people around him.

Few would guess that Leo was a team player. At one point, he employed over a thousand people. His core team included not only Freddie Tavares, but also George Fullerton (no relation to the City of Fullerton) and Dale Hyatt.

Born in Arkansas, George Fullerton moved to Southern California in 1940 to work as a machinist. Leo hired George in 1948, and George worked with him until the day Leo passed away.

Dale Hyatt was a charismatic guy who oversaw the sales at Fender and was a longtime associate of Leo and George. Dale had been a tail gunner on a B-17 bomber who flew twenty-five missions and was once shot down over France. Dale began working for Leo in 1946. He left Fender Musical Instruments when Leo sold the business to CBS in 1965.

While never an official employee of Fender, Bob Perline was also a close friend of Leo’s. Bob developed a popular advertising campaign that really grabbed people’s attention. Bob said that when he drove from his home in Laguna Beach up to the Fender plant in Fullerton, he saw Freddie Tavares taking a break and hitting a tennis ball against the side of the building. The two chatted, and then Freddie said, “Well, let me introduce you to Leo.”

Leo was keenly observant and could size people up rather quickly. Leo liked Bob and Bob liked Leo. They instantly hit it off, and Leo really loved the “You won’t part with yours either” ad campaigns that Bob created because they were clever, really grabbed attention, and did not cost a lot of money! These were all winning qualities to Leo. Bob went around looking for people engaged in everyday activities, gave people a Fender guitar, and snapped pictures. He then cropped the photo and added the slogan. It was simple, yet powerful.

Bob was a classically trained, offbeat Laguna Beach artist, Mormon bishop, and beach bum, all wrapped into one. He took pictures of surfers playing a G-cord, (recruited on the spot near the Huntington Beach pier), beautiful girls in bikinis with surfboards (friends of his daughters from Laguna Beach High School), smiling parachutists (hired on the spot before skydiving in Riverside), and a scuba diver (just some guy down at Crystal Cove) walking into the ocean, with a Fender guitar on his back. The whole thing was brilliant.

Leo loved these concepts, especially the ones with cute girls! I often teased Leo that the only thing that took his attention off guitars was a cute girl in tight jeans walking by!

While Leo was a quiet and subdued guy who often wore the same basic outfits, his head was always spinning with innovative ideas. His instruments were truly Southern California. Before Leo, there were no mint green or candy apple red musical instruments. Leo made them, along with glittery gold, turquoise blue, and shiny silver guitars. Fender guitars were fitting for jazz, country, and rock and roll. They were outrageous, but at the same time, they were solid, high-quality instruments, with a distinctive sound that everybody loved.

The most common question I get asked about Leo is, “What was he really like?” The truth is, no matter where he was or what he was doing, he was really thinking about musical instruments and amps. You could be talking with him for five minutes, and then in mid-conversation, he would get an idea and would just walk away. He would not say “excuse me” or “goodbye.” He would just leave.

Because Leo was never in it for money or personal fame, he was an easy person to get behind and support, and his team greatly admired him. With Leo ever at the captain’s wheel, this core team of Freddie, George, Dale, and Bob kept designing, inventing, producing, selling and promoting. The Telecaster, Stratocaster, and amplifiers grew and grew in popularity and eventually spread across the world.

Later, Leo got the idea to invent the electric bass guitar. The Fender bass turned music upside down, as up until then bass guitars were huge, fretless upright instruments. With Leo’s invention, the bass player could run around the stage like everyone else. Without Leo, everyone from Gene Simmons to Sting would be plunking one of those huge, wooden basses on stage!

During this time Guitar Player magazine said,

Fender tube amps were enormously popular and set standards still followed by the industry; the competitors envied both their design and sales records. They sounded great, and they were hip – you could get a piggy-back (the father of the stack) with JBL’s 30 years ago. To this day, even metal head Marshall Maniacs rave about the tonal hugeness of a small Fender amp cranked to tube meltdown. Nothing succeeds like success, and when it came to promotion, Fender’s touch was solid gold. Ventures album covers looked like Fender ads; in a sense, they were. The Hendrix association still sells Strat’s by the truckload, and the company continues to reap incalculable benefits from millions of fans seeing Fenders in the hands of everyone from Buddy Holly and Dick Dale to Beck, Richard and Clapton.”

For many years, Leo’s life was a cycle of eating and sleeping in his modest home, driving a few blocks to the plant, where he would spend time quietly in his laboratory designing new instruments. Leo would also go out to the production line and check on how things were going, make executive decisions with regards to marketing and sales, go home, and then do it all again the next day.

However, this rigorous daily grind eventually got to be too much for Leo, and he became sickly and tired. Most people did not know it, but Leo had gotten a severe staph infection. It lingered and lingered and eventually got worse. The doctors told Leo that this was incurable and that he was going to die, so, in 1965, Leo decided to sell the company he had built. He wanted to wrap up his affairs so that when he died his wife, Esther, would not have to deal with them.

Guitar Player magazine explained this time well,