The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation is an American manufacturer and marketer of musical instruments and amplifiers. Fender produces acoustic guitars, bass amplifiers and public address equipment; however, it is best known for its solid-body electric guitars and bass guitars, particularly the Stratocaster, Telecaster, Jaguar, Jazzmaster, Precision Bass, and the Jazz Bass. The company was founded in Fullerton, California, by Clarence Leonidas "Leo" Fender in 1946. Andy Mooney has served as the chief executive officer (CEO) since June 2015.
The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar designed as a more expensive sibling of the Fender Stratocaster. First introduced at the 1958 NAMM Convention, it was initially marketed to jazz guitarists, but found favor among surf rock guitarists in the early 1960s. Its appearance is similar to the Fender Jaguar, though it is tonally and physically different in many technical ways, including pickup design, scale length and controls.
The Fender Jaguar is an electric guitar by Fender Musical Instruments characterized by an offset-waist body, a relatively unusual switching system with two separate circuits for lead and rhythm, and a short-scale 24" neck. Owing some roots to the Jazzmaster, it was introduced in 1962 as Fender's feature-laden top-of-the-line model, designed to lure players from Gibson. During its initial 13-year production run, the Jaguar did not sell as well as the less expensive Stratocaster and Telecaster, and achieved its most noticeable popularity in the surf music scene. After the Jaguar was taken out of production in 1975, vintage Jaguars became popular first with American punk rock players, and then more so during the alternative rock, shoegazing and indie rock movements of the 1980s and 1990s. Fender began making a version in Japan in the mid-1980s, and then introduced a USA-made reissue in 1999. Since then, Fender has made a variety of Jaguars in America, Mexico, Indonesia and China under both the Fender and Squier labels. Original vintage Jaguars sell for many times their original price.
The Fender Jag-Stang is an electric guitar produced by Fender and designed by Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. It was intended as a hybrid of two Fender electric guitars models: the Jaguar and the Mustang.
The Fender Precision Bass is a model of electric bass guitar manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In its standard, post-1957 configuration, the Precision Bass is a solid body, four-stringed instrument usually equipped with a single split-coil humbucking pickup and a one-piece, 20-fret maple neck with rosewood or maple fingerboard.
The Fender Cyclone denotes a series of electric guitars made by Fender. Introduced in late 1997, the Cyclone body is similarly styled to the Mustang, but it is a quarter of an inch thicker than the body of a Mustang and is made of poplar, whereas contemporary Mustang reissues were made of basswood.
A vibrato system on a guitar is a mechanical device used to temporarily change the pitch of the strings. It adds vibrato to the sound by changing the tension of the strings, typically at the bridge or tailpiece of an electric guitar using a controlling lever, which is alternately referred to as a whammy bar, vibrato bar, or tremolo arm. The lever enables the player to quickly and temporarily vary the tension and sometimes length of the strings, changing the pitch to create a vibrato, portamento, or pitch bend effect. Instruments without a vibrato have other bridge and tailpiece systems.
The Fender Bass VI, originally known as the Fender VI, is a six-string electric bass guitar made by Fender.
The Fender Mustang is a solid body electric guitar produced by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. It was introduced in 1964 as the basis of a major redesign of Fender's student models, the Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic. It was produced until 1982 and reissued in 1990.
The Fender Mustang Bass is a shortscale electric bass guitar model produced by Fender and Squier. Two variants, the Musicmaster Bass and the Bronco Bass, have also been produced from time to time, using the same body and neck shape. Originally marketed as a student bass, the Mustang Bass is notable for its usage in alternative and indie genres.
The Fender Jaguar Bass is an electric bass guitar currently manufactured in Mexico by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.
The Fender Bass V was a model of electric bass guitar produced by Fender between 1965 and 1971. It was the world's first five-string bass guitar.
The Squier Venus is a signature series guitar released in 1997 and co-designed by Courtney Love in conjunction with Fender's Squier brand, under the Vista series. At the time of its release, Love and Bonnie Raitt were the only two female musicians to have their own signature series of guitars.
The Fender Bullet was an electric guitar originally designed by John Page and manufactured and marketed by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. It was first introduced as a line of "student" guitars to replace the outgoing Mustang and Musicmaster models.
Gary John Jarman is a British musician, best known as the bassist and one of the singers of the indie rock band The Cribs. Formed in 2002, The Cribs have released eight albums to date, and numerous singles and EPs. As of 2016 their latest three records have charted in the UK top 10, alongside 7 top 40 singles. He has lived in Portland, Oregon, since 2006.
Ryan James Jarman is a British musician who is the guitarist and one of the vocalists of lo-fi indie rock band the Cribs.
The Fender J5 Telecaster is John 5's signature model Telecaster, and was designed in part by John 5 himself. The prototype built by Fender Custom Shop Artist Relations representative Alex Perez has served as John 5's main guitar since around 2003. The standard features that differentiate John 5's Telecasters from the traditional Telecaster design include dual volume controls instead of both a volume and tone control, a three-way toggle switch mounted through the upper bout, chrome pickguard, and a specially shaped headstock.
The SX SJM 62 or 57 or 75 is a tailed bridge guitar made by SX Guitars with features similar to the Fender Jaguar and Jazzmaster. It is also available as a "stop tail" guitar, comprising a Tune-o-matic bridge and a stopbar tailpiece.
The Gary Jarman Signature Bass is an electric bass guitar manufactured by Fender/Squier in 2016, designed by Gary Jarman of The Cribs. It was released in August 2016 alongside the Squier Ryan Jarman Signature Guitar 'Mus-Uar'.
