The daddies of electric guitar (Fender Guitars in general)

Member Name: MGEEK

Product:	Fender Guitars in general
Date:	05/09/08 (26 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great, versatile instruments

Disadvantages: a bit TOO ubiquitous

Like many young teenagers, when I first started playing the guitar, I simultaneously became obsessed with Jimi Hendrix- therefore, i HAD to have a Fender Stratocaster, like he played.

It was only as I carried on learning, that I realised there was more to Fender guitars than a whammy bar, and a hell of a lot of distortion

Originally designed for, and prized by country players for their clean, bright tone, with a dry sustain, the first Fender guitars were born out of the lap steel electric tradition, rather than the archtop acoustic guitar tradition of their main competitor, Gibson, and surprisingly, they proved far more versatile as time and styles progressed- despite their almost total abandonment of 'traditional' guitarmaking woods such as mahogany, for alternative materials such as ash and alder!

If you are in the market for an electric guitar, you can't go TOO far wrong with a fender, in terms of versatility and future resale value.

From their beginnings as an american company, there are now fender factories in America, Mexico and Japan. A note of caution must therefore be applied. The American and Japanese guitars made today are of very good quality- the mexican guitars, far less so- I would be wary of buying a mexican fender online- but be sure to try one in person, rather than relying on my judgement- it may be, as is so often the case in the guitar world, that an individual guitar may just suit you.

One word on vintage Fenders- older strats and telecasters have been priced WAY out of reach of most mortal guitar players by the collectors market, yet there are still comparitively cheap older fenders to be had. Fender Musicmasters and Duo-Sonics, their student models were made from 1956 until the early eighties, and early examples can still be had for under a thousand pounds, in contrast to their more famous brethren, which regularly sell for over twenty times that amount, in clean shape!

These guitars STILL have the famous fender tone, and the cool aged look that is fashionable these days. Watch out for them!

Summary: can't go too far wrong