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By the end of the year, he became convinced that manufacturing was more profitable than repairing and he decided to focus on this business instead. K&F began production in 1945 with Hawaiian lap steel guitars (incorporating a patented pickup) and vacuum tube (or valve) amplifiers sold in sets. He quickly became Leo's business partner and they founded the K&F Manufacturing Corp to design, manufacture, and market electrical amplifiers and instruments. They also visited his store for the amplification of acoustic guitars which were beginning to be used in big band and jazz, and for “Hawaiian” or “lap steel” electric guitars which were becoming very popular.ĭuring World War II in the early 1940s, Leo met Clayton Orr "Doc" Kauffman who was a musician and formally the chief designer of electric guitars for Rickenbacker, who had been making and selling lap steel guitars for a decade.ĭoc Kauffman invented and patented one of the first mechanical vibrato units, Vibrola (sometimes called "Kauffman Vibrola" or "Kaufman vibrato") in 1935. Local musicians and band leaders started coming to Leo for sound systems, which he built, rented and sold. Leo was a smart businessman and supplied any items or devices for his small business that could potentially turn a profit. The Fender Radio Service was one of the few places around Fullerton to buy records or have a radio repaired. Leo began to build amplifiers based on his own designs or modifications of designs, which he felt had improved their quality and usefulness.
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Leo's showcase business also had records for sale and self-designed PA systems for rental. He opened his small shop to repair radios, phonographs, home audio amplifiers, sound systems and musical instrument amplifiers.īy the late 1930s, they were all based on vacuum tubes with the original designs based on research developed and released into the public domain by Western Electric, which manufactured equipment for telephone companies. In 1938, with a loan of 600 $, Leo and Esther returned to Fullerton, and Leo established his own radio repair shop, "Fender Radio Service".
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After losing another job as an accountant at a tire company due to downsizing after just six months, Leo was fed up with the balancing numbers. However, his government position was eliminated due to cutbacks. Leo married his first wife, Esther Klosky in 1934 and took a responsible job with the California Highway Department in San Luis Obispo. He was eventually hired to build six of these sound systems. You couldn't drive to Guitar Center or Sam Ash back then. While working as an accountant, a local band leader asked Leo if he could create a sound system for the band to use at Hollywood dances.
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He later became an accountant and learned a bit about how to run a business. Leo has never had formal training in electronics. He continued to learn electronics and tinker with radios and other electrical devices. Leo was fascinated by radios and quickly began fixing them in a small store in his parents' house.Īfter graduating from Fullerton High School, Leo attended Fullerton Junior College where he studied to become an accountant. His uncle, who ran an auto-electric workshop, had a great influence on him. Leo showed an interest in DIY electronics at a very young age. His parents, Clarence Monte Fender and Harriet Elvira Wood, owned a thriving orange grove located between Anaheim and Fullerton, California. The history of Fender: Fender Stratocaster, Fender Telecaster Leo fenderĬlarence Leonidas "Leo" Fender was born in 1909 and raised in California.