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  • Quick Take—The Fender Archives

    By Ara Ajizian |

    In the world of musical instruments, there are only a handful of companies that achieve legacy status. It usually takes world-class craftsmanship, unique designs that capture the imaginations of players, and superb playability that lets players tap into their creativity and write timeless songs—for starters, anyway. Along the way, it helps to have associations with famous musicians who create iconic music with your products. Not too tall an order, right? So you see, there's a reason why only a few brands are instantly recognizable and revered by nearly all musicians: it's really, really, really hard.

    If you're a fan of anything Fender® has done in the past 60 years, a reference like The Fender Archives: A Scrapbook of Artifacts, Treasures and Inside Information is just the kind of reference you want within arm's reach, whether it's to better understand all that this iconic brand has contributed to music or simply to impress your friends and fellow musicians with a stunning reference guide.

     

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    What You Need To Know

    The Fender Archives: A Scrapbook of Artifacts, Treasures and Inside Information is a must-have book for Fender aficionados, with 96 full-color pages documenting the entire history of one of music's most iconic brands

    • "Treasures" is the key word here, as this book represents an insider's look at the mojo that has made Fender a household name around the world

    • Foreward written by "Master of the Telecaster" James Burton

    • Via an incredible collection of photographs, schematics, internal memos, letters and other reproductions of actual historical documents, The Fender Archives presents the story of the Fender brand in incredibly rich detail

    • The book covers the entire history of the Fender brand, and several of its inimitable instruments and amplifiers

    • Not just focusing on the glory years of the Fender brand, Wheeler also details the "dark age" of CBS ownership and the brand's renassaince under Larry Thomas

    • As much as the book is a celebration of the Fender brand, it's also a history lesson, diving into the world in which Leo Fender grew up to provide context to his innovations in the musical instrument industry

     

    Conclusion

    You don't have to be a Fender devotee to appreciate the attention to detail that Tom Wheeler put into The Fender Archives. With its in-depth and personal look at the inner workings of the company, this book is fascinating on countless levels that will intrigue any fan of the electric guitar and popular music. It's a treasure trove of documents, photographs, handwritten letters, schematics, price lists, advertisements and much more, delivered in a way that really lets the reader experience that history firsthand. The presentation is impeccable, with embedded envelopes throughout that make you feel like you're raiding the Fender vault, finding artifacts like the Western Union telegram from Gretsch in 1951 informing Fender that they were infringing upon the "Broadkaster" trademark, which resulted in the mythical "Nocaster" models. For Fender fanatics, electric guitar enthusiasts and music fans in general, The Fender Archives: A Scrapbook of Artifacts, Treasures and Inside Information is a must-have reference.

     

    Resources

    Pricing and purchase info on The Fender Archives: A Scrapbook of Artifacts, Treasures and Inside Information at musiciansfriend.com

    Learn more about The Fender Archives: A Scrapbook of Artifacts, Treasures and Inside Information at halleonard.com

     

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     Ara Ajizian, Harmony Central's Editorial Director, has been playing bass and guitar as well as singing since he was 18, and soon that love of music combined with a passion for writing; launching what's now a decade-long career immersed in the gear world. He's thrilled to be back on the Harmony Central team after two years as Managing Editor for Musician's Friend covering gear, bands and events and gigging in the Los Angeles area.




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