Fender Musical Instruments Corp
Don Johnston has become a well-respected sales manager for the Fender Musical Instruments Corp. He was hired just after CBS Musical purchased the famed electric guitar company in May 1965 and stayed with Fender via CBS until the brand was sold to a group of employees, headed by Bill Schultz. He...
Gary Sunda began building guitar amplifiers under the name Sunda in the 1960s before he was hired by Don Randall to create a new line of amplifiers, Randall Amps. Gary began designing products for the Randall Company in 1970 and stayed until just after Don sold the company in 1990. Gary continues...
Bill Kirchen is a well known rockabilly guitarist known by his tag, The Titan of The Telecaster! During much of his career Bill could be seen and heard playing his 1959 Sunburst finished Fender Telecaster. His driving playing style has been an influence on rock and country players alike, but Bill...
Elaine Frizzell was an artist endorser for the Mosrite Guitar Company back in the 1960s. Over the years she became close friends with the company’s founders, Semi and Andy Mosley. She witnessed first hand the production of the guitars that were first made famous when played by the Ventures in the...
Buddy Merrill played the pedal steel guitar on the Lawrence Welk TV program from its start in 1954 until he left the show in 1974. Buddy played Fender products while on the Welk Show, which was an exciting time as several key instrument innovations were released during this time, including the...
Ritchie Fliegler has come to be known throughout the music products industry as “the Amp guy.” He wrote several articles and two popular books on amplifiers. He has been in the forefront of the technology that helped advance the amp, particularly when he was working with Fender Musical Instrument...
Bill Mendello retired as president of Fender Musical Instrument Corp in the fall of 2010 after a long career in the industry. He was hired in the accounting department of CBS Musical Instrument Division in 1978. Bill soon began working with Bill Schultz who was hired by the president of the musical...
Gary Hoey is a fantastically gifted guitar player who continues to inspire fans around the world. Honing and perfecting his chops on the East Coast, Gary’s talent was recognized early on by Ozzy Osbourne who invited him out to California to audition. That introduction was the springboard that...
Babe Simoni began working for the Fender Guitar Company in 1953. He was a teenager when George Fullerton hired him to work on the factory floor. Babe’s father had worked in the plant just the year before but had suffered a stroke and left the company. Babe worked on nearly every style of guitar the...
Larry Taylor joined the rock/blues band Canned Heat in 1967 just before the band’s string of hit recordings. The gig came after nearly 6 years as a recording artist playing both guitar and bass. As a member of Canned Heat, Larry played Woodstock and Monterey, performing the band’s hits including “...