The real genius of Leo Fender

[KeeperOS]

Re: The real genius of Leo Fender

I think that everything the author says here I've read before here and there.
This was more of a re-cap to what I had seen before than anything else.
And I think at least most of it to be true (though I have no more evidence to back it up than he did.)

And, maybe it was the time I was born at (80s) or just a really weird aesthetic agreeance (whatever) but I really, immediately fell in love with the Strat shape.
Strats, Jackson/Charvel/Kramer superstrats and whatnot, I loved them all.

I think there's something special when a person's unconventional/original way of thought becomes an instant classic. That alone is a lot in my book...

 

[scottish]

Re: The real genius of Leo Fender

the strat body shape is def my all time fave shape. but the thing i have grown to love about fenders over gibsons and others...is the flat neck pocket and body flush bridge. overall i think this makes for a better feeling and playing guitar.

even the zebrawood LP i built recently, it has a flat neck pocket and i milled down the TOM bridge so it sat low and flush with the body to compensate for the different neck angle. the result...a guitar that plays like absolute silk and an action that even shredders would die for. i dont keep the action that low though, but it is possible

 

[sosomething]

Re: The real genius of Leo Fender

Huh - that's funny. I find guitars with angled necks much more comfortable to play. Strats, teles, non-angled guitars et al feel like holding a board against my waist when I play them standing up.

Crazy how everybody is so different, huh?

 

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: The real genius of Leo Fender

I think it's crazy that just you are different.

 

[millsart]

Re: The real genius of Leo Fender

Doesn't matter why it works, it just works is all I can say.

So many great products were all invented through accident while trying to design something different, vulcanized rubber or corningware come to mind.

Leo no doubt didn't have a certainly tone and twang in mind when designing the strat but regardless of purpose build design or happy accident, it came into being and sounded awesome and we've all enjoyed it to this day.

 

[newking70]

Re: The real genius of Leo Fender

meh, i guess george fullerton had nothing to do with fender....:chairfall:

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: The real genius of Leo Fender

vulcanized rubber or corningware come to mind.

That's the word of the day, everybody scream!

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: The real genius of Leo Fender

Now the rhetorical question of the day:

Do we love guitars because they sound good, or because we're told they sound good?

 

[MikeS]

Re: The real genius of Leo Fender

Had Leo used plywood or chipboard, would we today scoff at the idea of a solid wood guitar?

A standard was set, and it's a standard the world fell in love with. Like it or not, it's the benchmark in which all deviations from the formula are measured against. That's why it doesn't matter what wood Leo used.

 

[tubeman87]

Re: The real genius of Leo Fender

Nice article, Fender rocks, period.

 

[ES350]

Re: The real genius of Leo Fender

For every Leo Fender, there were lots of other people who made similar 'working man's' guitars that didn't make it---Mosrite, Carvin, Vega, Supro, Airline, the Euro brands, and on and on. If Jimi/Eric/insert Fender guy of your choice had played Mosrites, Supros, or a Hagstrom III, the last Strat would be hanging in the Surf Music Hall of Fame and out of production...

 

[WhoFan]

Re: The real genius of Leo Fender

meh, i guess george fullerton had nothing to do with fender....:chairfall:

ya he gets missed in Fender talk a lot

 

[blueman335]

Re: The real genius of Leo Fender

Huh - that's funny. I find guitars with angled necks much more comfortable to play. Strats, teles, non-angled guitars et al feel like holding a board against my waist when I play them standing up.

Must be what we get used to playing. After owning so many Gibson-type guitars, necks at an angle to the body, headstocks at an angle to the neck, 3x3 tuners, block inlays, and tune-o-matic bridges seem mandatory. And lets not forget set necks & humbuckers. To me, these make a guitar. Fenders look, feel, and sound SO strange. Like a whole different animal. But I'm sure some of you guys feel lost with a Les Paul or 335.

Besides the asthetic reasons, angled necks & headstocks create more tension, pushing down on the body, and transfer move string vibration to the wood, and in turn to the PU's.