1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: Get in touch with technology with tech Stuff from how 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:14,320 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. Here, Welcome to tech Stuff. I'm 3 00:00:14,360 --> 00:00:17,640 Speaker 1: your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with How 4 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:20,480 Speaker 1: Stuff Works and I love all things tech, and today 5 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:24,439 Speaker 1: we are continuing our story about Fender, and I spent 6 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:27,000 Speaker 1: a lot of time in the last episode kind of 7 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:30,480 Speaker 1: setting the foundation, leading all the way up to the 8 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:34,960 Speaker 1: first solid body electric guitar that Fender ever released, the Esquire, 9 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:37,560 Speaker 1: and then I hinted a little bit about the Telecaster, 10 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:40,840 Speaker 1: the follow up to the Esquire, the first electric guitar 11 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:44,360 Speaker 1: that Fender made that had two electric pickups, not just one. 12 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: We're gonna talk more about the Telecaster and of course 13 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:50,720 Speaker 1: the Stratocaster, and then I'm going to just be frank 14 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:53,200 Speaker 1: with you guys. I'm going to be speeding through kind 15 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:57,440 Speaker 1: of the years after Fender was purchased by a major 16 00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:02,360 Speaker 1: media company up through to today. Uh, because it's kind 17 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 1: of a sad story in many ways, and also it 18 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:07,600 Speaker 1: just gets to be one of those things. It's like 19 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:11,480 Speaker 1: any tech company where I start feeling like all I'm 20 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:15,720 Speaker 1: doing is listing off all the different variations of the 21 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 1: product they came out with, So like if I were 22 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:20,840 Speaker 1: doing the Apple story and then they came out with 23 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 1: the Apple five like that gets tiring after a while. 24 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:27,080 Speaker 1: So the same sort of thing holds true here, all right, 25 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:30,920 Speaker 1: So talked about the Esquire guitar, the single pick up 26 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:36,200 Speaker 1: electric guitar, and then the double pickup Esquire with a 27 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:41,399 Speaker 1: trust rod became the Fender Broadcaster, but nine one that 28 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:44,520 Speaker 1: had to change names and it became the Telecaster. So 29 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 1: the telecasters two pickups change things quite a bit, which 30 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: in the end means these guitars produce a different sound 31 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:54,280 Speaker 1: than Esquire guitars do. Now note I did not say 32 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 1: they produce a better sound. It's different. I think both 33 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 1: guitars produce really good tones if they're paired with the 34 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:06,040 Speaker 1: right amplifier and they have a good musician playing them. 35 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:09,359 Speaker 1: But they are different. So why would you even include 36 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:12,119 Speaker 1: two pickups instead of just one? Why would you have 37 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:15,480 Speaker 1: one of those pickups near the bridge, you know, at 38 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 1: the base of the guitar's face, and another one near 39 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 1: the neck of the guitar where where the neck joins 40 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:24,760 Speaker 1: the face of the body of the guitar. How does 41 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 1: that change the nature of the sound. Well, think of 42 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:31,680 Speaker 1: how a guitar string is anchored right, So on one 43 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:34,720 Speaker 1: end of a guitar string, you have the nut, that 44 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaker 1: is the end at the end of the neck, right 45 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 1: where you go where a string goes over the nut 46 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:42,840 Speaker 1: and then it goes to the tuning pegs or the 47 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:45,359 Speaker 1: respective tuning peg. On the other side, you have the 48 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 1: bridge on the body of the guitar, and those are 49 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 1: the two anchor points. Pickups react to string vibrations, so 50 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:55,360 Speaker 1: if the pickup is close to an anchor point for 51 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:58,799 Speaker 1: those strings, those strings are not moving with as much 52 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: variation as they would closer to the middle of the string. 53 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:06,080 Speaker 1: You know, it's just if you the closer you are 54 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 1: to an anchor point, the less movement you're going to see. Overall, 55 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: the anchor points become what we call nodes, and the 56 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:17,160 Speaker 1: points that have the greatest variation in movement, the points 57 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:21,120 Speaker 1: where the string moves the most, not faster, still moving 58 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:24,520 Speaker 1: at the same frequency, but it's it's covering more ground. 59 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:28,440 Speaker 1: You might say those are anti noodes. So again the 60 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:31,040 Speaker 1: frequency remains the same. Otherwise you would have a string 61 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:35,360 Speaker 1: that's playing different notes along different links of it. Uh. 62 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:37,720 Speaker 1: We'll get a little bit more into that with harmonics 63 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 1: in a second um. But harmonics are really complicated. In fact, 64 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: let's let's do it now, because I've already introduced the concept. 65 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: A vibrating string has harmonics or overtones. So if you 66 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: plug a string, the frequency you'll hear most prominently is 67 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: what we call the fundamental frequency of that string, and 68 00:03:56,640 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: as determined by factors like the strings eight or its 69 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: mass if you prefer, the tension that the string is under, 70 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 1: and how long the string is. But there are also 71 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 1: harmonics present. So for example, if you strum an open string, 72 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:13,200 Speaker 1: meaning you're not you don't have your fingers under any 73 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:16,800 Speaker 1: of the threats, You're just strumming an open tuned string. 74 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:22,799 Speaker 1: The second harmonic is an octave higher than whatever note 75 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:25,280 Speaker 1: the string is playing. So if you're playing a G 76 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:30,800 Speaker 1: note on an open G string, then the second harmonic 77 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:34,840 Speaker 1: is G, but it's the octave higher than what the 78 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:40,320 Speaker 1: open string is. That harmonic represents the funnel mental frequency 79 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:42,719 Speaker 1: you would have heard if you held down the G 80 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:45,799 Speaker 1: string halfway down its length and then played it again, 81 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:49,640 Speaker 1: you would then have that higher octave G. So we 82 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:53,880 Speaker 1: perceive all of these harmonics as a single note when 83 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:57,359 Speaker 1: it's played on a string like this, the higher the harmonic, 84 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:02,120 Speaker 1: the lower the amplitude is amplitude being volume. So that's 85 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 1: one of the reasons why we don't perceive this as 86 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:06,960 Speaker 1: a bunch of different notes all played at once. We 87 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:10,600 Speaker 1: have a fundamental frequency that's played at twice the amplitude 88 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:15,640 Speaker 1: of the second harmonic. So those harmonics shape the tone 89 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 1: or timbre of a note, but they don't uh determine 90 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: the actual frequency. So positioning a pickup near the neck 91 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:31,200 Speaker 1: of a guitar emphasizes certain harmonics more than others because 92 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:32,839 Speaker 1: if you look at those harmonics, they all look like 93 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:36,240 Speaker 1: little sign waves, and the points where the sign waves 94 00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:38,839 Speaker 1: cross over the center part those are your nodes. That's 95 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 1: where the string is not really moving at those locations. 96 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:45,760 Speaker 1: And then the peaks and valleys those are the anti 97 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:48,560 Speaker 1: noodes where the string is moving the most. So by 98 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,920 Speaker 1: positioning your pickup at a different point along the guitar, 99 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 1: you are putting it underneath certain areas that might be 100 00:05:56,600 --> 00:05:59,840 Speaker 1: nodes for one harmonic or anti noodes for another harmonic. 101 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:03,800 Speaker 1: That means those harmonics will either be suppressed in the 102 00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:07,760 Speaker 1: case of nodes, or enhanced or at least passed through 103 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:10,520 Speaker 1: in the case of anti noodes, and this is what 104 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:13,719 Speaker 1: shapes those sounds. And it means that if you have 105 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:16,240 Speaker 1: two pickups on your guitar and there are you know, 106 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:19,080 Speaker 1: two very different locations where you're going to have a 107 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:23,600 Speaker 1: different sample of harmonics, Switching between those pickups is going 108 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 1: to produce a very different sound, even if you're playing 109 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:29,280 Speaker 1: the exact same note, or maybe it's not very different, 110 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:32,320 Speaker 1: it is different, and again also depends upon the quality 111 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:36,480 Speaker 1: of the amplifier you've plugged the guitar into. So uh, 112 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:39,880 Speaker 1: there are a lot of things that determine the qualities 113 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: of this sound, and a lot of that has to 114 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:45,360 Speaker 1: do with build quality. Now, I would love to go 115 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:49,640 Speaker 1: into a full explanation of harmonics and physics, but frankly 116 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:53,560 Speaker 1: it's beyond me. I mean, if I'm being honest, I 117 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:57,520 Speaker 1: can grasp the basic concepts behind harmonics, but I've never 118 00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:02,080 Speaker 1: really taken any classes in acoustics. I haven't really studied 119 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 1: harmonics in uh in a deep way. I've very kind 120 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:09,120 Speaker 1: of a cursory way. So it quickly gets away from 121 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:13,160 Speaker 1: me after that. And and there's some subtleties there that 122 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:15,400 Speaker 1: are in both in physics and in music theory which 123 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:18,480 Speaker 1: are very closely related, and I am not an expert 124 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:22,000 Speaker 1: in either. So rather than bolm my way through there 125 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:25,400 Speaker 1: and make terrible mistakes along the way and and really 126 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:28,360 Speaker 1: discourage all the musicians out there, I'm just going to 127 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:32,240 Speaker 1: admit this is the point where my my knowledge ends. 128 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 1: I get it up to there. But the important thing 129 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:37,520 Speaker 1: to remember for electric guitars is that the location of 130 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: the pickup means the magnets will detect certain harmonics more 131 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:43,600 Speaker 1: than they would others, and that shapes the quality of 132 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:45,960 Speaker 1: the sound we hear. So we still hear them as 133 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:49,040 Speaker 1: single notes for each string, but the timbre of that 134 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:51,600 Speaker 1: note will change based upon which harmonics are coming through 135 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:55,040 Speaker 1: and which ones are not because of the pickups location. Now, 136 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:59,360 Speaker 1: your standard telecaster has a three position switch, and if 137 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:01,560 Speaker 1: you listen to my last episode, you know that the 138 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:05,280 Speaker 1: Esquire the single pickup. It was a single coil pickup 139 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:08,240 Speaker 1: and it only had one of them, also had a 140 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 1: three position switch. But the telecaster is different. The original 141 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:16,640 Speaker 1: telecaster switch had three positions that did different, very different things. 142 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:20,400 Speaker 1: The first position would let you choose both the bridge 143 00:08:20,440 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: pickup and the neck pickup together in parallel to send 144 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:28,160 Speaker 1: a signal out to the rest of the guitar being 145 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:30,360 Speaker 1: the volume knob and the tone knob, and then the 146 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:36,960 Speaker 1: output jack. The second and third position, uh, we're for 147 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:41,400 Speaker 1: the neck pickup alone. So there was no position that 148 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:44,240 Speaker 1: would let you play just the bridge pickup. For the 149 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:47,719 Speaker 1: original telecaster, if you had in position one, it was 150 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:50,040 Speaker 1: the bridge pickup and the neck pickup. If you had 151 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:52,400 Speaker 1: in position two or three, it was just the neck pickup. 152 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:56,160 Speaker 1: Um And the difference between positions two and three for 153 00:08:56,240 --> 00:09:01,319 Speaker 1: the neck pickup had to do with extra capacity. The 154 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:05,160 Speaker 1: neck pickup had a chrome cover on it, and this 155 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:09,400 Speaker 1: sapped some of the capacitants from the circuitry, and it 156 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:12,959 Speaker 1: meant that you lost some bass when you switched to 157 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:16,240 Speaker 1: the regular position. To going to position three would add 158 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:18,560 Speaker 1: an extra capacitance, so you get a little more base 159 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:21,480 Speaker 1: in the sound that you would play, So the actual 160 00:09:21,559 --> 00:09:24,880 Speaker 1: quality of the sound would change. But again there was 161 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:27,080 Speaker 1: no way to have just the bridge pickup in the 162 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:30,840 Speaker 1: original nineteen fifty one Fender Telecaster. The nineteen fifty two 163 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:34,840 Speaker 1: model change this so that you had one bridge pickup 164 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:38,360 Speaker 1: selection and then two different neck pickup selections, but there 165 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:41,280 Speaker 1: was no setting that would let you use both pickups together. 166 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:44,600 Speaker 1: So the only big difference there was that instead of 167 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:47,840 Speaker 1: having position one the bridge and neck, position one was 168 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:50,480 Speaker 1: just the bridge. Otherwise it was pretty much the same 169 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:54,920 Speaker 1: as the original telecaster. The different positions allow some harmons 170 00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:57,200 Speaker 1: to come through to the signal or prevent those harmonics, 171 00:09:57,240 --> 00:10:00,079 Speaker 1: depending upon the specific harmonics in which pickup you're going with, 172 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:02,520 Speaker 1: and that would change the quality of the sound. Uh. 173 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:06,120 Speaker 1: You get a very twangy sound typically with a telecaster, 174 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:09,520 Speaker 1: at least if you're playing it without the volume turned 175 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:11,560 Speaker 1: all the way up. You know, the more volume you 176 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:15,080 Speaker 1: crank up on the guitar when you're sending it out 177 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:17,600 Speaker 1: to the amplifier, the more distortion you're going to get. 178 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:20,200 Speaker 1: So if you're if you're careful with that volume knob, 179 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:23,199 Speaker 1: you can get that nice twangy telecaster sound, the very 180 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:27,640 Speaker 1: very signature sound for the telecaster. The telecaster also had 181 00:10:27,679 --> 00:10:31,320 Speaker 1: knobs for volume and for tone, and the telecaster, by 182 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:34,480 Speaker 1: the way, sold for one nine dollars and fifty cents 183 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:39,319 Speaker 1: in nine, so that's like a thousand and eight dollars 184 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:42,480 Speaker 1: or so in today's money, so again not unheard of 185 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:47,880 Speaker 1: for Fender electric guitars. By this time, Fender was spending 186 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:51,040 Speaker 1: his hours Leo Fender, the man was spending his hours 187 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:54,480 Speaker 1: tinkering and tweaking electronics, which I suspect is what made 188 00:10:54,559 --> 00:10:56,960 Speaker 1: him the most happy about his job, since that's what 189 00:10:57,000 --> 00:10:58,640 Speaker 1: he was doing all the way up till the day 190 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:03,920 Speaker 1: he died. He handed off management, like day to day 191 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:07,280 Speaker 1: management of Fender to a guy named George Fullerton in 192 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:11,520 Speaker 1: Fullerton had been a machinist at Lockeyed Aircraft before he 193 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:15,839 Speaker 1: joined Fender, and like Leo Fender himself, Fullerton made significant 194 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:20,080 Speaker 1: contributions that made the telecaster possible. Fender continued to work 195 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:23,880 Speaker 1: on new designs. He actually worked on a design that 196 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:27,800 Speaker 1: led to the first electric bass guitar, called the Precision Base. 197 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:31,199 Speaker 1: Before the introduction of the Precision Base in nineteen fifty one, 198 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:34,400 Speaker 1: bands were depending upon the upright double bass to provide 199 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:39,080 Speaker 1: those notes. This is an enormous upright stringed musical instruments, huge, 200 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:44,600 Speaker 1: very cumbersome and bulky, and like the guitar, it was 201 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:47,880 Speaker 1: facing the problem of the fact that it did not 202 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:50,520 Speaker 1: produce as much volume as some of the other instruments 203 00:11:50,559 --> 00:11:53,560 Speaker 1: in these big bands, so it was becoming hard to 204 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:56,439 Speaker 1: hear it, and it was on the danger of becoming 205 00:11:56,480 --> 00:11:59,320 Speaker 1: obsolete because if you can't hear any notes that are 206 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:03,520 Speaker 1: being played, why lug this enormous thing around. Bender decided 207 00:12:03,559 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 1: to try and do for the double bass what he 208 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:09,880 Speaker 1: had done for the guitar. The precision bass was the result. 209 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:14,600 Speaker 1: It's in a guitar form factor. So you know you've 210 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:17,840 Speaker 1: seen electric bass guitars. They look like regular guitars, except 211 00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:21,920 Speaker 1: they have four strings, not six strings. Your standard guitar 212 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:26,440 Speaker 1: has six strings. And the precision bass had some other 213 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:28,600 Speaker 1: elements to it that made it look more like a 214 00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:31,840 Speaker 1: guitar and less like an upright bass. It had frets 215 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:34,520 Speaker 1: on the neck of the guitar. The double bass doesn't 216 00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:39,360 Speaker 1: have frets, So you still change the notes on a 217 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:41,760 Speaker 1: double bass by pressing down on a on a string 218 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:44,280 Speaker 1: at a certain point around the neck, but you didn't 219 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:47,160 Speaker 1: have frets to guide that or to really cut off 220 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:49,920 Speaker 1: the notes. This is why he called it a precision bass, 221 00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:53,800 Speaker 1: because the freds made it easy to create precise notes, 222 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:57,760 Speaker 1: not approximations. That did change the quality of the bass 223 00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:00,480 Speaker 1: notes a musician would produce, and not just because of 224 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:03,760 Speaker 1: that precision. The electrical nature had a different sound to it, 225 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:06,160 Speaker 1: but that sound would become one of the most important 226 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:10,280 Speaker 1: components in modern music across tons of genres from country 227 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:15,319 Speaker 1: to rock to punk to funk music, and literally contributed 228 00:13:15,559 --> 00:13:19,280 Speaker 1: to changes in music and rhythm, creating opportunities for musicians 229 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:22,959 Speaker 1: to explore new sounds. The precision base of today has 230 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:27,160 Speaker 1: a split single coil pickup, so the wiring is split 231 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:31,480 Speaker 1: in two, so you have the top two strings for 232 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:35,000 Speaker 1: the base sharing one half of this single coil pickup 233 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:37,480 Speaker 1: and the bottom two strings sharing the other half, and 234 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:41,880 Speaker 1: they're offset. The two halves of the coil pickup are 235 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:45,840 Speaker 1: offset from each other, a coined offender. This creates quote, 236 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 1: big beefy sound, more tonal versatility, and balanced output across 237 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:55,880 Speaker 1: each string end quote. Bass strings are of a much 238 00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:58,800 Speaker 1: heavier gauge than regular guitar strings, and I imagine they 239 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:02,120 Speaker 1: disrupt the magnetic feel to pick up more dramatically than 240 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:06,240 Speaker 1: the strings of their guitar cousins. So this split pickup 241 00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:08,760 Speaker 1: is probably to help account for that, or to to 242 00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:13,280 Speaker 1: accommodate that. And music was changing around this time, so 243 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:19,280 Speaker 1: in the thirties and forties, popular music span genres like blues, jazz, gospel, 244 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:24,160 Speaker 1: big band music, folk music, African American influences in music 245 00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:26,880 Speaker 1: were really growing at this time, and black musicians were 246 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:31,600 Speaker 1: synthesizing African musical traditions with musical instruments that could trace 247 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:35,600 Speaker 1: their ancestry back to Europe. This music, which in its 248 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:39,800 Speaker 1: early days really shaped jazz and swing and blues, uh, 249 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:44,400 Speaker 1: we're later adopted for, or maybe we should say it 250 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:49,360 Speaker 1: was appropriated by white musicians. Uh, and they began to 251 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:52,120 Speaker 1: take those same sort of techniques and apply them to 252 00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:57,160 Speaker 1: music for their audiences. Um. So goes the long history 253 00:14:57,480 --> 00:15:00,480 Speaker 1: of popular music in the United States, and the styles 254 00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:04,360 Speaker 1: were evolving, with new techniques shaping the sound, giving rise 255 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:07,640 Speaker 1: to newer genres like rhythm and blues and then rock 256 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:10,840 Speaker 1: and roll. Electric guitars and bass guitars would end up 257 00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:14,000 Speaker 1: playing a pivotal role in those genres, and so while 258 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:18,760 Speaker 1: Fender Leo Fender was largely focused on accommodating musicians who 259 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:22,320 Speaker 1: worked in in the genre of Western swing as his 260 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:25,000 Speaker 1: target audience, he would find out his guitars would soon 261 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:29,000 Speaker 1: become the foundation for entirely new movements and music. The 262 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:33,160 Speaker 1: telecaster and some esquires were a part of that, but 263 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:36,640 Speaker 1: the real game changer would be Fender's next electric guitar, 264 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:39,840 Speaker 1: the strato Caster, which I'll tell you more about in 265 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:43,120 Speaker 1: just a second, but first let's take a quick break 266 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:53,040 Speaker 1: to thank our sponsor, not before I get to the 267 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:56,800 Speaker 1: strat which is what we call the stratocaster. I feel 268 00:15:56,840 --> 00:15:58,720 Speaker 1: like a poser saying that. I guess I am a 269 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 1: poser saying that, but it gets tiring saying it's stratecaster 270 00:16:02,240 --> 00:16:05,080 Speaker 1: and Telecaster over and over. It was in the early 271 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:08,520 Speaker 1: nineteen fifties when Fender was offering the Telecaster that things 272 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:13,080 Speaker 1: turned sour with the Radiotel company. That was the company 273 00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:16,280 Speaker 1: that that Fender had been using to distribute his guitars. 274 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:20,560 Speaker 1: He felt Radiotel was focusing on the lap steel guitars 275 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:24,640 Speaker 1: at the expense of the Telecaster and the Esquire. You know, 276 00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:28,760 Speaker 1: those were the Spanish style guitars, and Fender was feeling 277 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:32,200 Speaker 1: like the company wasn't taking him seriously with those models. 278 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:35,320 Speaker 1: And there was even a point where Fender the company 279 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:39,480 Speaker 1: was forced to reimburse dealers who had bought Esquire and 280 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:43,120 Speaker 1: Telecaster guitars, only to discover that those guitars were full 281 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:46,440 Speaker 1: of termites. Had turned out that Radiotel had stored the 282 00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:49,720 Speaker 1: solid body guitars in a garage and hadn't really taken 283 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:52,280 Speaker 1: good care of them before shipping them out, so Fender 284 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:55,840 Speaker 1: was forced to write off about five hundred guitars. Because 285 00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:59,080 Speaker 1: of that, Leo Fender made the decision to end the 286 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:02,320 Speaker 1: agreement with Radio Hotel, and in nineteen fifty three he 287 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:07,639 Speaker 1: created a new distribution company called Fender Sales. Donald Randall, 288 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:10,240 Speaker 1: the salesman who had come from Radio Hotel, would head 289 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:13,359 Speaker 1: up that distribution company, and other Radio Hotel salespeople and 290 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:16,199 Speaker 1: executives actually came over as well. So I guess the 291 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:19,199 Speaker 1: guys that came over must not have been any of 292 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:21,600 Speaker 1: the ones that had anything to do with that bug situation. 293 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:24,480 Speaker 1: All right, Now, let's get to the stratocaster. In the 294 00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:27,480 Speaker 1: world of modern music, I would say there are two 295 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:32,240 Speaker 1: guitars general guitar models that tend to rise to the 296 00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:34,520 Speaker 1: top of the heap when you're talking about the musical 297 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:38,919 Speaker 1: instruments that defined rock and roll, and they are the 298 00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:43,040 Speaker 1: Gibson Les Paul and the Fender Strato Caster. The two 299 00:17:43,119 --> 00:17:46,359 Speaker 1: guitars are very different, both in circuitry and the sounds 300 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:48,560 Speaker 1: they produce. And again I'm not going to tell you 301 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:52,040 Speaker 1: which one is better. I don't believe either one is 302 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:55,400 Speaker 1: better than the other. They're different and they make very 303 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:57,720 Speaker 1: different sounds, and I love the music that both of 304 00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:01,000 Speaker 1: them can create. It all to pends upon the effect 305 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:03,639 Speaker 1: you want. The differences in sound come down to a 306 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:06,879 Speaker 1: few factors, and they depend on more than just the 307 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:08,879 Speaker 1: electric pickups, although that is a big part of it. 308 00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:11,399 Speaker 1: So one of those is that the Gibson less Paul 309 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:15,359 Speaker 1: has special pickups called humbuckers, and I talked about this 310 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:18,960 Speaker 1: in the Gibson episodes. They're called humbuckers because the design 311 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:22,239 Speaker 1: of those pickups is meant to eliminate the hum you 312 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:25,960 Speaker 1: get from electrical interference getting picked up by your electrical 313 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:30,159 Speaker 1: pickup and your guitar. Because remember, electrical pickups essentially are 314 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:33,439 Speaker 1: working on the principles of electromagnetism, So if they are 315 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:36,359 Speaker 1: anywhere close to anything that's generating an electric field or 316 00:18:36,359 --> 00:18:39,800 Speaker 1: a magnetic field, you can start getting this hum interference. 317 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:42,720 Speaker 1: And uh, you know, once you amplify that, that comes 318 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:44,639 Speaker 1: through and it goes through to the speakers and you 319 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:48,160 Speaker 1: can hear it on the speakers. The Gibson guitars had 320 00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:52,080 Speaker 1: these special humbucker coils, UH kind of had like these 321 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:56,600 Speaker 1: coils that were wired with opposite polarity, so that the 322 00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:59,879 Speaker 1: collective interference the coils would pick up would actually cancel 323 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:02,320 Speaker 1: each other out. It's it's like they were out of 324 00:19:02,359 --> 00:19:04,680 Speaker 1: phase with each other. And it's like a sound wave. 325 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:06,719 Speaker 1: If you have a sound wave and then you produce 326 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:10,880 Speaker 1: a sound wave that has equal and opposite peaks and valleys, 327 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:13,280 Speaker 1: so that the peaks and valleys of one sound wave 328 00:19:13,359 --> 00:19:15,720 Speaker 1: match up with the valleys and peaks of another sound wave, 329 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:18,000 Speaker 1: they cancel each other out. I explain more about that 330 00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:19,919 Speaker 1: in the episodes about Gibson guitars, so you can go 331 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:21,480 Speaker 1: listen to that if you want to learn more about it. 332 00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:26,280 Speaker 1: But speaking of humbuckers, I should mention Fender actually attempted 333 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:28,840 Speaker 1: a few times to create systems that could emulate the 334 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:34,720 Speaker 1: humbucker sound without actually using humbucker pickups. The Baja Telecaster 335 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:39,000 Speaker 1: was such an instrument. Unlike the other telecasters, this model 336 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:41,760 Speaker 1: actually had a four positions switch. The other ones were 337 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:44,960 Speaker 1: all three position switches, and that fourth position would cause 338 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: the neck and bridge pickups to work in series, not 339 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:52,760 Speaker 1: in parallel. So if you remember the original telecaster, if 340 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:55,560 Speaker 1: you had it in the first position, both the neck 341 00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:59,120 Speaker 1: and the bridge pickups would send signals, but they sent 342 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:02,000 Speaker 1: them in LLL, so both sets of signals would go 343 00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:06,480 Speaker 1: to the output jack. The serial approach meant that the 344 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:08,639 Speaker 1: signal one of the pickups would pick up the signal 345 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:12,239 Speaker 1: and send that to the second pickup, which would then 346 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:14,560 Speaker 1: add it to its signal and then move that to 347 00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:18,120 Speaker 1: the output jack. That does change the nature of the music, 348 00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:21,439 Speaker 1: and it made the two pickups act kind of like 349 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:24,639 Speaker 1: a humbucker does. That's the Baja telecaster. So back to 350 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:29,120 Speaker 1: the stratocaster. The strato caster has three single coil pickups. 351 00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:31,520 Speaker 1: There's one that's near the bridge, the bridge pickup, there's 352 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:34,680 Speaker 1: one that's called the mid pickup, and then there's the 353 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:37,800 Speaker 1: neck pickup, so the mid pickup is in between the 354 00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:41,879 Speaker 1: bridge and the neck. Uh. Then there's the scale length 355 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:46,320 Speaker 1: of the strato caster versus the Gibson less Paul. Scale 356 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:49,520 Speaker 1: length is the length of the strings measured from the 357 00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:53,119 Speaker 1: nut to the bridge. The Gibson less Paul has a 358 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:56,359 Speaker 1: shorter scale length. The string measures twenty four point seven 359 00:20:56,440 --> 00:21:00,240 Speaker 1: five inches from nut to bridge. The stratocaster scale length 360 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:03,440 Speaker 1: is twenty five point five inches. It is three quarters 361 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:06,760 Speaker 1: of an inch longer than the less Paul that changes 362 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:09,600 Speaker 1: not just the tone of the strato caster, but also 363 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:14,320 Speaker 1: the playability of it. So remember the strings frequency, the 364 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:16,879 Speaker 1: note that's going to produce when you pluck it depends 365 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:20,359 Speaker 1: upon the thickness of the string or it's gauge, the 366 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:23,800 Speaker 1: length of the string, and the amount of tension on 367 00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:27,920 Speaker 1: the string. Once you string a guitar, it's pretty hard 368 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:31,040 Speaker 1: to change the thickness or length of that string, but 369 00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:34,040 Speaker 1: you can change the tension either through the tuning pegs 370 00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:37,359 Speaker 1: or if you have a vibrato bar like the strato 371 00:21:37,359 --> 00:21:39,879 Speaker 1: caster does. More on that in a second. You can 372 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:42,800 Speaker 1: do it that way, or you can change it just 373 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:46,960 Speaker 1: by you know, again, tuning very slowly. So if you 374 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:48,840 Speaker 1: want to tune a less paul in the strato caster 375 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:51,159 Speaker 1: to the same tuning, you want both guitars to have 376 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:53,720 Speaker 1: the exact same tuning, you actually have to put more 377 00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:57,680 Speaker 1: tension on the strato caster strings because it has a 378 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:01,399 Speaker 1: larger scale length, and the longer scale also means the 379 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:07,159 Speaker 1: space between frets on a stratocaster is larger, So that 380 00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:09,320 Speaker 1: might mean that if you have small hands, that playing 381 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:12,080 Speaker 1: a stratocaster is more of a challenge to you than 382 00:22:12,119 --> 00:22:14,720 Speaker 1: it would be with a less Paul because the frets 383 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:16,600 Speaker 1: are further apart from each other than they are in 384 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:19,280 Speaker 1: a less Paul. The longer strings on a strap make 385 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:22,040 Speaker 1: it a bit easier to bend the strings, so you 386 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:25,000 Speaker 1: can start to shape notes that way. And the longer 387 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:27,679 Speaker 1: scale is also one of the contributing factors to making 388 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:30,359 Speaker 1: the sound of a stratocaster sound like a mel It 389 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:34,960 Speaker 1: chimes almost. It's very clear when you have the settings 390 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:39,080 Speaker 1: um properly set and a and a good amplifier and 391 00:22:39,119 --> 00:22:41,760 Speaker 1: it it can be a little more jangly and clean 392 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:43,800 Speaker 1: than a less Paul. You can pick out those notes 393 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:47,639 Speaker 1: much more easily. But a less Paul creates a pretty 394 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:52,639 Speaker 1: iconic rock sound frequently used in harder rock, metal, that 395 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:56,160 Speaker 1: kind of stuff. The strato caster became incredibly popular guitar 396 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:59,640 Speaker 1: for all sorts of other types of rock, especially things 397 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:03,399 Speaker 1: like of music. I always think of the stratocaster in 398 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:08,040 Speaker 1: relation to surf guitar. That's that jangly music you'll hear 399 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:10,800 Speaker 1: on those instrumental surf rock albums, stuff like Dick Dale 400 00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:13,960 Speaker 1: and the Dell Tones, or the Woggles or the Hate 401 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:19,199 Speaker 1: Bombs or manner Astroman or Low Straight Jackets. They all 402 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:23,479 Speaker 1: are using guitars that either are stratocasters, they are copies 403 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:28,439 Speaker 1: of stratocasters, or they are built on similar principles to stratocasters, 404 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:32,119 Speaker 1: and more frequently than not, they are actual Fender stratocasters. 405 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:36,720 Speaker 1: The stratocaster today has a five position switch to choose 406 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:39,560 Speaker 1: which pickups you want to use. Remember there are three pickups, 407 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:43,119 Speaker 1: but originally it did not have a five position switch. 408 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:46,440 Speaker 1: Originally it only had a three position switch because Leo 409 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:50,960 Speaker 1: Fender really liked the idea of isolating each pickup so 410 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:53,159 Speaker 1: that you were only going to hear the bridge, or 411 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:54,800 Speaker 1: you're only going to hear the mid, or you're only 412 00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:57,520 Speaker 1: gonna hear the neck. That that was kind of his aesthetic, 413 00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:01,680 Speaker 1: and so each position corresponded with one of the three pickups. 414 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:06,640 Speaker 1: But musicians found that if you position the switch between 415 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:11,679 Speaker 1: two real positions, like between the bridge and mid positions, 416 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:14,480 Speaker 1: you could actually get a new sound because it was 417 00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:19,440 Speaker 1: combining the input from both pickups simultaneously, and so they 418 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:22,960 Speaker 1: were doing things like shoving stuff in their their toggle 419 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:26,560 Speaker 1: switches to hold the position there and get this sound. 420 00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:30,439 Speaker 1: Fender would finally respond to this in nineteen seven by 421 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:34,320 Speaker 1: creating a five position switch so that people wouldn't be jamming, 422 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:37,080 Speaker 1: you know, match books into their switches anymore. So the 423 00:24:37,119 --> 00:24:40,080 Speaker 1: rear most position is for the bridge pickup. You go 424 00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:43,560 Speaker 1: up one. Now you're at the bridge and mid together. 425 00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:46,560 Speaker 1: You go up another. It's the mid pick up all 426 00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:50,359 Speaker 1: by itself. Go up another, it's mid and neck pickups. 427 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:52,879 Speaker 1: Then you go up to the last one. It's just 428 00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:56,000 Speaker 1: the neck pickups. So each setting shapes the sound in 429 00:24:56,040 --> 00:24:58,600 Speaker 1: a different way. Then again it's because of those harmonics. 430 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:02,399 Speaker 1: Now you can you start to get a very clear 431 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:06,400 Speaker 1: and crisp sound towards the bridge and a more mellow 432 00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:09,800 Speaker 1: some would call it kind of a either warmer or 433 00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:15,040 Speaker 1: muffled sound towards the neck. And again that also depends 434 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:17,480 Speaker 1: upon you having other really good equipment, you know, a 435 00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:20,960 Speaker 1: good amplifier when you're plugging in. Otherwise the differences can 436 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:22,720 Speaker 1: be too subtle to tell if you don't have a 437 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:28,120 Speaker 1: really good amplifier. The strat also has two tone controls 438 00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:31,720 Speaker 1: in addition to a volume control. Cranking the volume up 439 00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:34,240 Speaker 1: creates a really high gain sound, and you know, you 440 00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:36,679 Speaker 1: can get this really crunchy rock sound of a strato 441 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:39,280 Speaker 1: caster if you turn that volume knob on the guitar 442 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:42,399 Speaker 1: very all the way up, but if you're saying it 443 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:45,360 Speaker 1: at a lower volume, you create these very clean tones. 444 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:49,080 Speaker 1: And it's so interesting that this one dial, just a 445 00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:51,880 Speaker 1: volume dial, the the amplitude of the signal you're sending 446 00:25:51,880 --> 00:25:55,560 Speaker 1: out to the amplifier can have such a dramatic effect 447 00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:57,639 Speaker 1: on the sound coming out of that guitar. I watched 448 00:25:57,720 --> 00:25:59,280 Speaker 1: videos of a guy going through this and it was 449 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:01,800 Speaker 1: really amazing. You would just tweak the volume knob a 450 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:05,440 Speaker 1: little bit and generate very different sounds. The two tone 451 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:09,520 Speaker 1: knobs are meant for various pickup positions. Uh. One tone 452 00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:12,679 Speaker 1: knob is really just for the neck pickup alone. So 453 00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:14,760 Speaker 1: if you're using the neck, you would just use tone 454 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:17,640 Speaker 1: knob number one. If you're using the neck and the 455 00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:21,680 Speaker 1: mid together, then you need both tone knobs to roll 456 00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:25,240 Speaker 1: off the trouble, and for the mid down to the 457 00:26:25,359 --> 00:26:29,440 Speaker 1: bridge pickup, you would just used the second tone knob. Um, 458 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:34,320 Speaker 1: So the second tone knob commands the the trouble for 459 00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:37,720 Speaker 1: the bridge in the mid, and the first tone knob 460 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:41,000 Speaker 1: for just the neck pickups. The Strato caster debuted in 461 00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:44,280 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty four, and the body has curves called cutaways 462 00:26:44,359 --> 00:26:47,400 Speaker 1: near the neck which like the Esquire and the telecaster, 463 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:50,359 Speaker 1: allows musicians to get access to those upper frets so 464 00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:53,720 Speaker 1: they can do their squiggly li dus. The strato caster 465 00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:58,240 Speaker 1: also had a synchronized tremolow bar or the whammy bar. 466 00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:00,960 Speaker 1: It's more appropriately called a bra. I talked about that 467 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:04,280 Speaker 1: in the last episode. That would let a player dynamically 468 00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:06,760 Speaker 1: change the amount of tension on a string, which allows 469 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:09,680 Speaker 1: the player to affect the tone of the note, the 470 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:12,880 Speaker 1: pitch of the note, to increase or decrease the pitch 471 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:16,880 Speaker 1: to bend the note using this thing. Fender thought that 472 00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:19,720 Speaker 1: the Leo Fender he thought the stratocaster was going to 473 00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:22,920 Speaker 1: replace the telecaster, so he's like, well, this is an upgrade. 474 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:26,720 Speaker 1: The telecaster is gonna go obsolete, and that Fender as 475 00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:29,040 Speaker 1: a company would just phase out the telecaster. But the 476 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:33,240 Speaker 1: stratocaster one did not catch on immediately, and some musicians 477 00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:37,280 Speaker 1: just legitimately loved the sound of the telecaster, and it's 478 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:42,240 Speaker 1: not necessarily easy to replicate the telecaster sound using a stratocaster, 479 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:45,920 Speaker 1: and some people just developed this love of that telecaster sound. 480 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:48,600 Speaker 1: So there was still a demand for the telecaster even 481 00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:51,520 Speaker 1: after the stratocaster came out. One guy who really did 482 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:54,680 Speaker 1: help boost the profile of the stratocaster was a rock 483 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:59,160 Speaker 1: star and unlikely one named Buddy Holly, or that's what 484 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:01,880 Speaker 1: we all call him. Some of you may not know 485 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:04,480 Speaker 1: who that was, and I don't judge you for it. 486 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:07,960 Speaker 1: Buddy Holly was an early rock and roll musician who 487 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:11,240 Speaker 1: brought he got a stratocaster way back in nineteen fifty 488 00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:14,080 Speaker 1: five and Lubbock, Texas. He borrowed some money from his 489 00:28:14,119 --> 00:28:17,199 Speaker 1: brother in order to buy it, and like the telecaster, 490 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:19,639 Speaker 1: the strat was mostly known as a musical instrument that 491 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:23,000 Speaker 1: was used by people who were making country and Western music. 492 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:25,600 Speaker 1: But Buddy Holly grew up in Texas and that was 493 00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:27,000 Speaker 1: the kind of music that was all around him, and 494 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:29,600 Speaker 1: he drew a lot of inspiration from that style of 495 00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:32,919 Speaker 1: music when he started to put together his own band 496 00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:36,320 Speaker 1: and create a new sound, which I'll talk about a 497 00:28:36,359 --> 00:28:38,400 Speaker 1: little bit more in just a second, but first let's 498 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:48,360 Speaker 1: take another quick break to thank our sponsor. Buddy Holly 499 00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:51,240 Speaker 1: and the Crickets created a sound that put a nearly 500 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:55,640 Speaker 1: equal emphasis on lead guitar and rhythm, and by ninety eight, 501 00:28:56,360 --> 00:28:59,240 Speaker 1: his music, his band's music was at the top of 502 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:02,600 Speaker 1: the charts, and his guitar of choice was influencing many 503 00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:05,440 Speaker 1: others to take a close look at the strato caster, 504 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:09,680 Speaker 1: particularly bands in England like the Beatles, who named their 505 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:13,160 Speaker 1: band partly because you had Buddy Holly and the Crickets. 506 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:18,040 Speaker 1: Holly would die in a tragic plane crash around one 507 00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:23,240 Speaker 1: am on February third, nineteen fifty nine. That plane also 508 00:29:23,360 --> 00:29:26,400 Speaker 1: had Ritchie Valen's and J. P. Richardson, who is better 509 00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:29,120 Speaker 1: known as the Big Bopper in it. Together those three 510 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:32,120 Speaker 1: musicians had made some of the most popular music in 511 00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:35,160 Speaker 1: the early rock and roll era, and that day became 512 00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:38,080 Speaker 1: known as the Day the Music Died. It's also the 513 00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:42,040 Speaker 1: subject of the song American Pie, the song, not the 514 00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:47,240 Speaker 1: movie series. Putting tragedy aside. Buddy Holly really helped Fender 515 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:50,520 Speaker 1: sell a lot of strato casters, and the company created 516 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:53,800 Speaker 1: a new line of guitars and amplifiers that they were 517 00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:58,680 Speaker 1: aiming for the budget conscious musician under a new brand 518 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:02,120 Speaker 1: called White that was a tribute to Forrest White. He 519 00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:07,160 Speaker 1: was a Fender's production manager. So now you have a 520 00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:10,360 Speaker 1: much larger customer base coming to buy guitars. All of 521 00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:14,560 Speaker 1: a sudden, the rock and roll emergence had inspired tons 522 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:18,760 Speaker 1: of kids to get into making music, and the strato 523 00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:22,760 Speaker 1: caster became one of the guitars of choice for a 524 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:26,640 Speaker 1: lot of those musicians. Fender the company tried to diversify 525 00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:29,600 Speaker 1: a bit. They added some other instruments to their line, 526 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:33,000 Speaker 1: including electric mandolins. They had an electric violin for a 527 00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:37,880 Speaker 1: short while. They also started making acoustic guitars, but most 528 00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:42,800 Speaker 1: of these lines, including the White brand, were ultimately discontinued. 529 00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:45,479 Speaker 1: They just didn't take off quite as much and they 530 00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:49,120 Speaker 1: were pulling a lot of focus from the electric guitars center. Now, 531 00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:54,160 Speaker 1: they kept on making more models of telecasters and strato casters. 532 00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:56,720 Speaker 1: You know, you typically call them by whatever year they 533 00:30:56,720 --> 00:31:00,440 Speaker 1: came out, and some of them would tweak things so 534 00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:02,600 Speaker 1: they wouldn't be exactly the same. So that's why you 535 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:05,880 Speaker 1: have musicians who talk about the the pros and cons 536 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:09,920 Speaker 1: of the various model years for telecasters, strato casters, that 537 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:14,720 Speaker 1: kind of stuff. Leo Fender also created a jazz guitar 538 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:18,520 Speaker 1: that got a lot of love in certain circles, but 539 00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:22,280 Speaker 1: never reached the levels of popularity of the stratocaster, and 540 00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:25,920 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty four, Leo Fender's health took a turn 541 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:29,000 Speaker 1: for the worst and he thought about retiring, so he 542 00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:32,320 Speaker 1: offered to sell the company to Don Randall for the 543 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:35,840 Speaker 1: princely sum of one point five million dollars. Randall, however, 544 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:38,320 Speaker 1: didn't really have the scratch together to buy a company 545 00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:40,080 Speaker 1: at that price, so he told Fender, hang on, let 546 00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:42,640 Speaker 1: me see if I can find a buyer, and he 547 00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:47,480 Speaker 1: found one. That buyer was the Columbia Broadcasting System better 548 00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:54,000 Speaker 1: known as CBS. YEP that CBS. CBS had a subsidiary 549 00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:58,280 Speaker 1: company called Columbia Records Distribution Corporation, and that was the 550 00:31:58,360 --> 00:32:01,920 Speaker 1: subsidiary that Negotia. You had to acquire the Fender Electric 551 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:06,200 Speaker 1: Instruments Company for thirteen million dollars. They announced that deal 552 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:10,480 Speaker 1: on January five, nineteen sixty five. The new company was 553 00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:14,440 Speaker 1: originally called Fender CBS, but in nineteen sixty six the 554 00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:18,160 Speaker 1: company changed its name to CBS Musical Instruments because it 555 00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:20,560 Speaker 1: was going on a bit of a buying spree with 556 00:32:20,640 --> 00:32:25,360 Speaker 1: other musical instrument companies. So uh Fender as a brand 557 00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:28,400 Speaker 1: and a division still existed, but it was no longer 558 00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:31,920 Speaker 1: the name of the company. CBS started making big changes 559 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:35,800 Speaker 1: pretty early on with Fender. For one, thing. There were 560 00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:39,479 Speaker 1: some issues over at Fender Electric Instruments. The company had 561 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:42,760 Speaker 1: been growing in a very haphazard kind of way since 562 00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:45,760 Speaker 1: its founding back in nineteen forty six. By the time 563 00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:50,880 Speaker 1: CBS acquired Fender, there were offices and factories and distribution 564 00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:56,640 Speaker 1: centers in twenty nine different buildings scattered across Fullerton, California. 565 00:32:56,880 --> 00:32:59,520 Speaker 1: That's not a very efficient way to run a company. 566 00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:02,600 Speaker 1: So SEE has decided they wanted to consolidate that into 567 00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:06,240 Speaker 1: a centralized facility. They made plans to build a huge 568 00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:10,040 Speaker 1: facility hundred twenty thousand square feet in size, and it 569 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:13,000 Speaker 1: would cost more than a million dollars. They finished it 570 00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:16,640 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixties six. CBS talted it as being a 571 00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:21,640 Speaker 1: high tech, dust free manufacturing facility that could produce guitars 572 00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:25,320 Speaker 1: at a much faster rate and meet demand. And you 573 00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:27,320 Speaker 1: could argue that if you could do this, and if 574 00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:30,560 Speaker 1: you can maintain quality, then you could bring the price 575 00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:34,080 Speaker 1: down on guitars, right because if it costs less to 576 00:33:34,160 --> 00:33:37,800 Speaker 1: make them, you can still get your profit and sell 577 00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:40,080 Speaker 1: them at a lower cost, and that will also attract 578 00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:42,840 Speaker 1: more customers, so you actually end up making more money 579 00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:45,760 Speaker 1: in the long run. That's if you can keep the 580 00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:49,680 Speaker 1: quality up. CBS also sent along analysts to Fender to 581 00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:53,480 Speaker 1: study how efficient Fender employees were when they were making instruments, 582 00:33:53,840 --> 00:33:57,000 Speaker 1: and that started rubbing people the wrong way because a 583 00:33:57,000 --> 00:34:01,400 Speaker 1: lot of people consider themselves, you know, crafts and artists there. 584 00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:05,960 Speaker 1: They take great pride in what they do and they 585 00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:09,560 Speaker 1: don't want to compromise on quality for the sake of 586 00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:14,560 Speaker 1: speed or efficiency. Forrest White, who I mentioned just a 587 00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:17,440 Speaker 1: moment ago, would write in a book that the experts 588 00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:19,520 Speaker 1: from CBS seemed to think that they had all the 589 00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:25,239 Speaker 1: answers and they were kind of disregarding the opinions and 590 00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:28,719 Speaker 1: UH and expertise of people who worked for Fender. Now, 591 00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:32,919 Speaker 1: I should say that White comes across as very opinionated 592 00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:35,000 Speaker 1: in the various things I've written, I've read that he 593 00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:38,400 Speaker 1: has written, and UH, I don't know how unbiased his 594 00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:41,680 Speaker 1: view was, but he certainly felt very strongly about this. 595 00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:44,799 Speaker 1: White himself would leave the company a couple of years 596 00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:47,400 Speaker 1: after CBS took over UH, and it was over a 597 00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:50,600 Speaker 1: disagreement with an amplifier that CBS wanted to produce. White 598 00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:53,000 Speaker 1: felt that that amplifier failed to live up to the 599 00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:56,680 Speaker 1: name and a reputation of Fender, and rather than preside 600 00:34:56,800 --> 00:35:02,200 Speaker 1: over the production of a product that he felt was substandard, 601 00:35:02,360 --> 00:35:07,200 Speaker 1: he left the company. Fender continued to exist as a brand, obviously, 602 00:35:07,239 --> 00:35:11,279 Speaker 1: and continue to manufacture guitars and various models, and would 603 00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:14,680 Speaker 1: occasionally update those models over time with some new features. 604 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:18,640 Speaker 1: You know, I mentioned that five switch for the for 605 00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:22,120 Speaker 1: the strato caster, or sometimes they would strip new features 606 00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:26,359 Speaker 1: out if musicians gave feedback that said, this thing you've 607 00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:29,600 Speaker 1: included on this guitar is terrible and it's pointless and 608 00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:32,120 Speaker 1: you should take it out. Sometimes that did happen, but 609 00:35:32,239 --> 00:35:35,400 Speaker 1: the updates and the new models were rather infrequent. You 610 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:38,640 Speaker 1: didn't see as much innovation coming out of the company 611 00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:42,120 Speaker 1: once CBS took over, and some Fender employees worried that 612 00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:44,799 Speaker 1: the quality overall was taking a hit. And in fact, 613 00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:48,239 Speaker 1: you'll see a lot of forums out there about guitars 614 00:35:48,640 --> 00:35:53,840 Speaker 1: written by musicians who say, yeah, Fender instruments in general, 615 00:35:54,360 --> 00:35:56,680 Speaker 1: not just like a strato caster or a telecaster or whatever, 616 00:35:56,719 --> 00:35:59,879 Speaker 1: but in general from that era are of a low 617 00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:03,880 Speaker 1: or quality than the ones that preceded the CPS takeover. 618 00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:09,080 Speaker 1: Don Randall would resign in nineteen sixty nine allegedly because 619 00:36:09,239 --> 00:36:13,080 Speaker 1: he felt the politics of the company were too much 620 00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:15,480 Speaker 1: to bear. It wasn't a question of the quality of 621 00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:19,120 Speaker 1: the products for Randall, but it was more about how 622 00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:21,680 Speaker 1: people would backstab each other and try to climb the 623 00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:24,719 Speaker 1: corporate ladder, and he got tired of that. Leo Fender 624 00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:27,960 Speaker 1: was retained as a consultant for many years, but he 625 00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:33,320 Speaker 1: would leave Fender as well in nineteen seventy uh Forrest 626 00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:36,799 Speaker 1: White said that CBS executives rarely gave Leo Fender very 627 00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:40,120 Speaker 1: much attention or respect, and so Fender would go on 628 00:36:40,200 --> 00:36:42,799 Speaker 1: to work with a company that eventually became known as 629 00:36:42,880 --> 00:36:47,040 Speaker 1: music Man Incorporated. UM. He started sort of consulting with 630 00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:50,080 Speaker 1: him in nineteen seventy four and building instruments and components 631 00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:53,279 Speaker 1: for them back at that time, and music Man was 632 00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:57,040 Speaker 1: founded by Forrest White and another former Fender employee named 633 00:36:57,080 --> 00:37:00,440 Speaker 1: Tom Walker, who was the district sales manager over Fender 634 00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:04,760 Speaker 1: before he left to to found this company. Leo Fender 635 00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:08,040 Speaker 1: would also form a new partnership with George Fullerton, the 636 00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:12,799 Speaker 1: man he had given management accountability to way back in 637 00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:15,759 Speaker 1: the day. So this is in nineteen eighty and Leo 638 00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:18,960 Speaker 1: Fender and George Fullerton create g N l Incorporated. That 639 00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:22,239 Speaker 1: stood for George and Leo. Fullerton would cash out in 640 00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:26,440 Speaker 1: nine six, but Leo stuck with it until he passed away, 641 00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:29,480 Speaker 1: in working until the day he died, and including the 642 00:37:29,560 --> 00:37:32,320 Speaker 1: day he died. But now let's get back to Fender, 643 00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:35,840 Speaker 1: the company and brand. So he listened to the Gibson episodes. 644 00:37:36,200 --> 00:37:39,320 Speaker 1: You know, there was a period during which Gibson employees 645 00:37:39,320 --> 00:37:42,640 Speaker 1: were going through a very similar experience. There was this 646 00:37:43,120 --> 00:37:46,680 Speaker 1: large company that comes in, acquires them and tries to 647 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:50,959 Speaker 1: create a more mass manufacturing approach to what they were doing, 648 00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:53,520 Speaker 1: and that there as a result, some of the employees 649 00:37:53,560 --> 00:37:56,560 Speaker 1: developed a lot of resentment, and there's a general feeling 650 00:37:56,640 --> 00:37:59,239 Speaker 1: that the guitars that were produced in that era were 651 00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:02,239 Speaker 1: of a general just a lower quality than the earlier ones. 652 00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:05,719 Speaker 1: The explosive popularity of rock and roll in the sixties 653 00:38:05,760 --> 00:38:09,480 Speaker 1: had led to an unprecedented demand for electric guitars, so 654 00:38:09,560 --> 00:38:13,360 Speaker 1: companies like Gibson and Fender were making these instruments that 655 00:38:13,360 --> 00:38:16,239 Speaker 1: were in really high demand. So in some ways this 656 00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:19,560 Speaker 1: corporate move might have been necessary just to keep up 657 00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:23,880 Speaker 1: pace with the demand for the products. However, that decrease 658 00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:27,080 Speaker 1: in quality kind of balances things out, so those compromises 659 00:38:27,080 --> 00:38:30,520 Speaker 1: made along the way made a lot of people unhappy, 660 00:38:30,560 --> 00:38:34,160 Speaker 1: both in the company and customers of the company. In 661 00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:37,640 Speaker 1: the nineteen eighties, CBS was facing stiff competition from a 662 00:38:37,680 --> 00:38:41,880 Speaker 1: new rival, not Gibson, but Japanese companies that were producing 663 00:38:41,880 --> 00:38:45,280 Speaker 1: electric guitars for a lower cost than Fender or Gibson, 664 00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:49,480 Speaker 1: and at first cbs solution was to shift manufacturing overseas 665 00:38:49,560 --> 00:38:52,640 Speaker 1: to Korea, but the guitars that were being produced out 666 00:38:52,640 --> 00:38:55,400 Speaker 1: of those facilities did not measure up to the quality 667 00:38:55,480 --> 00:38:58,279 Speaker 1: Fender had established in the market, so they ultimately said, well, 668 00:38:58,280 --> 00:39:01,600 Speaker 1: this isn't going to work. So then they changed the 669 00:39:01,640 --> 00:39:06,480 Speaker 1: executive leadership at Fender. They got some new leaders for 670 00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:10,319 Speaker 1: that division that would include William Schultz who became the 671 00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:13,839 Speaker 1: president of the division and Dan Smith who became the 672 00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:17,879 Speaker 1: director for marketing of Fender. John McLaren became the new 673 00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:21,960 Speaker 1: head of CBS Musical Instruments that would be the subsidiary 674 00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:25,960 Speaker 1: company that would oversee Fender, and that executive team found 675 00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:29,440 Speaker 1: that Fender's reputation was really starting to suffer, that musicians 676 00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:33,040 Speaker 1: were seeking out older models of telecasters and stratocasters instead 677 00:39:33,080 --> 00:39:36,160 Speaker 1: of new models because they said the build quality was 678 00:39:36,200 --> 00:39:39,800 Speaker 1: just better and the sound was better in those classic models, 679 00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:43,080 Speaker 1: and so on close examination it appeared that they were 680 00:39:43,160 --> 00:39:46,080 Speaker 1: onto something. Dan Smith would later say, quote, we were 681 00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:48,880 Speaker 1: brought in to kind of turn the reputation of Fender 682 00:39:48,920 --> 00:39:51,920 Speaker 1: around and to get it so it was making money again. 683 00:39:52,120 --> 00:39:54,320 Speaker 1: It was starting to lose money, and at that point 684 00:39:54,360 --> 00:39:58,080 Speaker 1: in time, everybody hated Fender. We thought we knew how 685 00:39:58,080 --> 00:40:01,120 Speaker 1: bad it was. We took for granted that they could 686 00:40:01,200 --> 00:40:04,279 Speaker 1: make strato casters and telecasters the same way they used 687 00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:07,160 Speaker 1: to make them, But we were wrong. So many things 688 00:40:07,239 --> 00:40:10,160 Speaker 1: had changed in the plant end quote. So he's not 689 00:40:10,239 --> 00:40:14,040 Speaker 1: necessarily saying that they employees were at fault, but that 690 00:40:14,239 --> 00:40:16,719 Speaker 1: the changes that had been made over the previous decades 691 00:40:17,120 --> 00:40:20,680 Speaker 1: were such that it was now impossible to make the 692 00:40:20,719 --> 00:40:24,840 Speaker 1: guitars the way they had been made, especially under the 693 00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:29,440 Speaker 1: policies that CBS had created. In nine two, Williams. Schultz 694 00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:33,400 Speaker 1: scaled back on Fender guitar production, focusing primarily on creating 695 00:40:33,480 --> 00:40:37,040 Speaker 1: reissues of limited editions of class guitars from before the 696 00:40:37,080 --> 00:40:40,920 Speaker 1: time when CBS bought the company, and Schultz also arranged 697 00:40:41,320 --> 00:40:44,719 Speaker 1: for a new division within Fender called Fender Japan, which 698 00:40:44,760 --> 00:40:49,399 Speaker 1: was a partnership with Kondo Shokai and Yomana Music as distributors, 699 00:40:49,480 --> 00:40:53,760 Speaker 1: and a Japanese company called Fuji Genghaki got the license 700 00:40:53,840 --> 00:40:57,000 Speaker 1: to produce Fender branded guitars, with the intent that they 701 00:40:57,040 --> 00:41:01,320 Speaker 1: would only be sold in Japan, but the brand called Squire, 702 00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:06,200 Speaker 1: named after the old Esquare guitar actually made in Japan, 703 00:41:06,360 --> 00:41:08,720 Speaker 1: eventually became an export to the United States in nineteen 704 00:41:08,800 --> 00:41:10,799 Speaker 1: eight three, so you can buy Square guitars in the 705 00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:15,640 Speaker 1: States too. In March nineteen five, CBS was ready to 706 00:41:15,800 --> 00:41:19,640 Speaker 1: offload Fender because CBS was trying to push off a 707 00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:23,080 Speaker 1: possible takeover, and so they were looking to wait for 708 00:41:23,120 --> 00:41:26,160 Speaker 1: ways to divest of certain things and really focus on 709 00:41:26,280 --> 00:41:28,960 Speaker 1: protecting the company. So they chose to sell the Fender 710 00:41:28,960 --> 00:41:31,680 Speaker 1: division to William Schultz and a group of investors for 711 00:41:31,719 --> 00:41:35,120 Speaker 1: about twelve point five million dollars. That's actually half a 712 00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:38,239 Speaker 1: million dollars less than what CBS bought the company for 713 00:41:38,600 --> 00:41:41,640 Speaker 1: decades earlier, so when you factor in inflation, they really 714 00:41:41,640 --> 00:41:45,160 Speaker 1: did take a loss from the purchase to the sale 715 00:41:45,200 --> 00:41:49,600 Speaker 1: of that company. This new company became Fender Musical Instruments, 716 00:41:49,840 --> 00:41:53,000 Speaker 1: but the manufacturing facility that CBS had bought. The hundred 717 00:41:53,040 --> 00:41:56,760 Speaker 1: twenty thousand square foot facility was not part of this deal. 718 00:41:57,280 --> 00:42:00,160 Speaker 1: The new company started its life deep in debt, with 719 00:42:00,320 --> 00:42:03,920 Speaker 1: no real US base for manufacturing the only Fender guitars 720 00:42:03,960 --> 00:42:07,480 Speaker 1: being made. Right after the deal, we're in Japan, Schultz 721 00:42:07,520 --> 00:42:10,400 Speaker 1: would cut nearly nine percent of the staff at Fender, 722 00:42:10,719 --> 00:42:14,520 Speaker 1: going from eight hundred employees to ninety. Schultz then made 723 00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:18,200 Speaker 1: the Fender Custom Shop in Corona, California, and he began 724 00:42:18,239 --> 00:42:21,320 Speaker 1: to lure big name musicians in with free or heavily 725 00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:25,200 Speaker 1: discounted Fender instruments if they would in return up here 726 00:42:25,239 --> 00:42:27,920 Speaker 1: in ads for Fender. And it took some time, but 727 00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:31,279 Speaker 1: the company slowly began to build back up again, and 728 00:42:31,320 --> 00:42:35,600 Speaker 1: they introduced the American standards model for strats and Telly's 729 00:42:35,920 --> 00:42:40,920 Speaker 1: in and then Schultz would move the company headquarters away 730 00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:44,719 Speaker 1: from its long time home of Fullerton, California, to Scottsdale, Arizona, 731 00:42:45,120 --> 00:42:48,160 Speaker 1: and by the the a little bit later, the company 732 00:42:48,239 --> 00:42:51,480 Speaker 1: was opening up a new manufacturing facility in Mexico and 733 00:42:51,560 --> 00:42:56,760 Speaker 1: Korea and China. By ninety six, the Corona plant grown 734 00:42:56,760 --> 00:42:59,640 Speaker 1: out of this little custom shop had grown up to 735 00:42:59,760 --> 00:43:02,279 Speaker 1: six hundred employees. So Fender was kind of on the 736 00:43:02,320 --> 00:43:06,640 Speaker 1: rebound here. Schultz would oversee the company until two thousand five, 737 00:43:06,640 --> 00:43:09,240 Speaker 1: when he would retire. He had made a lot of compromises, 738 00:43:09,280 --> 00:43:12,359 Speaker 1: but he also managed to return Fender's reputation to where 739 00:43:12,400 --> 00:43:16,839 Speaker 1: it had been before the CBS acquisition. William Mandelo, who 740 00:43:16,880 --> 00:43:19,240 Speaker 1: was part of the same group that made that purchase 741 00:43:19,600 --> 00:43:23,600 Speaker 1: from CBS, would become the new CEO Offender. Since then, 742 00:43:23,600 --> 00:43:25,320 Speaker 1: Fender has been able to get back on its feet, 743 00:43:25,920 --> 00:43:28,319 Speaker 1: even while it's seeing its competitor Gibson have to file 744 00:43:28,360 --> 00:43:30,880 Speaker 1: for Chapter eleven bankruptcy. But I covered that story in 745 00:43:30,920 --> 00:43:32,719 Speaker 1: the previous episode, so you can go listen to that 746 00:43:32,760 --> 00:43:35,640 Speaker 1: if you want to find out why that happened. Fender 747 00:43:35,719 --> 00:43:38,240 Speaker 1: also has guitar models that I didn't really get into 748 00:43:38,320 --> 00:43:40,800 Speaker 1: in these episodes, but I feel like I should acknowledge 749 00:43:40,840 --> 00:43:42,640 Speaker 1: the fact they do exist. It's not like it's just 750 00:43:42,760 --> 00:43:45,960 Speaker 1: the strato Caster and the Telecaster and the Esquire. There's 751 00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:48,960 Speaker 1: like the jazz Master. There's the Jaguar, which also was 752 00:43:49,000 --> 00:43:53,640 Speaker 1: another important surf rock guitar, and they didn't quite approach 753 00:43:53,760 --> 00:43:56,040 Speaker 1: the level of reference given to the strato Caster. But 754 00:43:56,040 --> 00:43:59,000 Speaker 1: they're still important and you can still buy Fender guitars 755 00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:01,520 Speaker 1: to this day. One of these days I am going 756 00:44:01,560 --> 00:44:06,360 Speaker 1: to have to get one. I think I really like 757 00:44:06,440 --> 00:44:08,400 Speaker 1: the Fender sound. I love the Gibson sound too. I 758 00:44:08,440 --> 00:44:11,200 Speaker 1: love them both. But there's something about the Fender that 759 00:44:11,320 --> 00:44:14,480 Speaker 1: strato Caster that has always really appealed to me. And 760 00:44:14,600 --> 00:44:17,400 Speaker 1: that concludes these episodes. I know that I really flew 761 00:44:17,440 --> 00:44:23,360 Speaker 1: through the last two decades of Fender, but that's because, again, 762 00:44:23,680 --> 00:44:26,200 Speaker 1: the story would have essentially been a new model of 763 00:44:26,280 --> 00:44:30,240 Speaker 1: strato Caster comes out and nobody likes it, because people 764 00:44:30,280 --> 00:44:33,279 Speaker 1: felt that the the models that were produced under the 765 00:44:33,320 --> 00:44:37,759 Speaker 1: CBS ownership were substandard, and it took quite some time 766 00:44:37,760 --> 00:44:40,759 Speaker 1: for that reputation to be repaired. But I would say 767 00:44:40,760 --> 00:44:43,200 Speaker 1: that these days it has largely been repaired. I would 768 00:44:43,239 --> 00:44:46,200 Speaker 1: also say that musicians still to this day try to 769 00:44:46,239 --> 00:44:48,799 Speaker 1: seek out those vintage models when they can. You have 770 00:44:48,840 --> 00:44:50,239 Speaker 1: a lot of collectors out there, and you have a 771 00:44:50,280 --> 00:44:53,880 Speaker 1: lot of musicians who just swear by those early early 772 00:44:53,960 --> 00:44:57,000 Speaker 1: Telecaster and strato Caster models, and that's all they want. 773 00:44:57,040 --> 00:44:59,600 Speaker 1: They don't want to replica, you know, they want to reissue. 774 00:44:59,640 --> 00:45:02,320 Speaker 1: They don't want a later model, they want the original. 775 00:45:02,719 --> 00:45:05,000 Speaker 1: But you got to shell out huge amounts of money 776 00:45:05,040 --> 00:45:08,360 Speaker 1: for those. If you guys have any suggestions for future 777 00:45:08,360 --> 00:45:11,080 Speaker 1: episodes of tech Stuff, whether it's a company, a technology, 778 00:45:11,160 --> 00:45:13,239 Speaker 1: a person in tech, send me a message. The email 779 00:45:13,280 --> 00:45:16,120 Speaker 1: addresses tech Stuff at how stuff works dot com, or 780 00:45:16,120 --> 00:45:18,280 Speaker 1: you can drop me a line on Facebook or Twitter. 781 00:45:18,400 --> 00:45:22,680 Speaker 1: The handle for both of those is tech stuff hs W. Hey, 782 00:45:23,239 --> 00:45:25,520 Speaker 1: I notice that that shirt you're wearing. It's looking kind 783 00:45:25,560 --> 00:45:27,839 Speaker 1: of ragged. You know what you should do? You should 784 00:45:27,840 --> 00:45:30,359 Speaker 1: go to t public dot com slash tech stuff. Get 785 00:45:30,360 --> 00:45:33,440 Speaker 1: yourself a brand new tech stuff T shirt. It's gonna 786 00:45:33,640 --> 00:45:36,360 Speaker 1: keep you nice and safe and comfortable, and it looks 787 00:45:36,640 --> 00:45:39,960 Speaker 1: real boss. So go check that out t public dot 788 00:45:40,040 --> 00:45:43,040 Speaker 1: com slash tech Stuff. Don't forget to follow us on 789 00:45:43,160 --> 00:45:53,000 Speaker 1: Instagram and I'll talk to you again really soon for 790 00:45:53,080 --> 00:45:55,400 Speaker 1: more on this and bathands of other topics. Because that 791 00:45:55,480 --> 00:46:02,080 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. Why wo