In 1985 some Fender management and investors bought the selected assets of the Fender company from CBS. Sadly it was too little too late and although they made some incredible guitars during this brief period (1982 – 84) CBS decided to offload the failing guitar company. Many of the CBS changes to the products were scrapped as they made a huge effort to get back on track. Some small scale production began on replicas of their original 50s and 60s guitars in the form of the American Vintage Reissue series. The Stratocaster in it’s current form underwent a major update. By the 1970s however things started to take a bit of a turn for the worse.Ī 1979 Stratocaster – probably the worst year of productionīy the early 80s changes were afoot, some new management were brought in and things started to improve. Many Fender instruments and amps from the late 60s are superb and remain extremely collectible. I’d argue that some changes they made were excellent. It must be noted however that this was a very gradual process. The general consensus is that after the CBS take over the quality, feel and vibe of the Fender products took a downturn. There is little doubt that among Fender collectors, players and enthusiasts this sale marked a huge line in the sand for the company and their product. There were both business and personal reasons involved but the upshot was that in 1965 Fender Musical Instruments was sold to the giant CBS corporation. He was seen holding that same guitar during the filming of the documentary in 1993 and presumably kept it until he died.īy 1965 Leo Fender had had enough of the business. Astonishingly he refused! A seemingly crazy decision but who knows, maybe someone else made him a better offer? After the mid 60s Harrison got his hands on a blue Stratocaster which was used on many Beatles albums thereafter. Later on Brian Epstein, the Beatles manager was offered a sum of money by Fender to get the Beatles playing Fender instruments on stage. Someone else had got up earlier and gone and bought it.
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In a 1993 interview for the superb TV documentary ‘Curves Contours and Body Horns’ he recounts a story of how he once saw a Strat for sale in Hamburg Germany, went to buy it but was too late. By the 1960s the Fender brand was appearing on stages and on television sets in the hands of famous musicians with numerous musical genres adopting the instruments.ĭuring the mid 60s Beatles guitarist George Harrison was keen to get his hands on a Strat citing that he simply wasn’t happy with the guitar sound he had. Their range of guitars and amplifiers were being sold all over the globe.
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The success of the Stratocaster, or Strat as it became known, propelled Fender onto the world stage.