dsmith2904
ONE love, blood, life
Fender's Rocking
The future of a giant that played a vital role in shaping rock music was shrouded in doubt last night. According to reports, bosses at Fender, the makers of the electric guitars that have been a true American icon for the past 50 years, are on the verge of selling the company for ?272million.
Few products can claim the same status as the Fender Stratocaster, which has been the instrument of choice for legendary musicians ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Kurt Cobain.
Insiders claim consultants have been appointed to look at the sale of the business.
Last night, executives at the company that launched a million schoolboy dreams issued a terse statement in an attempt to defuse the rumours.
Chairman and chief executive Bill Schultz snapped at reporters: "These articles are completely erroneous, and we are not for sale."
But question marks are still hanging over why finance experts Goldman Sachs have been called in to value the company first set up in 1946 by Californian inventor Leo Fender.
Fender had been working in radio technology when he came up with the concept of creating the world's first amplifiers designed for musical instruments.
And, after five years of trials and tests, he paved the way for the rock and roll revolution with the creation of the first ever custom-made electric guitar, the Telecaster.
The legendary Stratocaster or 'Strat' followed in 1954, and the rest is history.
Only Gibson, the makers of the Les Paul, ever came close to matching the guitar that played a pivotal role in many of the defining moments of pop history.
When Hendrix took out the matches and lighter fuel and set fire to his customised Strat on stage at the Monterey festival in 1967 the guitar's place in history was cemented.
Hendrix, considered by many to be the greatest-ever guitar god, summed up the feelings of thousands when he sank to his knees and paid a very public homage to his guitar.
Despite the flood of cheap imitators, the Strat has always led the market, and 50,000 were sold in the UK alone last year. Proud owners include one-time rocker-turned politician Tony Blair.
In 1999 a new world record was set when Eric Clapton sold Brownie - the guitar he used when he was writing Layla - at auction for ?316,879.
He once said: "I would challenge someone to come up with a better design for a guitar. The design is as good as it gets."
The list of aficionados reads like a Who's Who of rock and includes Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen, U2's The Edge and, more recently, Albert Hammond Jr of The Strokes.
When the Beatles staged their farewell concert on the roof of the Apple HQ in London they were surrounded by a framed backdrop of Fender amplifiers.
And Kurt Cobain, the tortured Nirvana frontman, was rarely seen in public without his bright red customised Stratocaster.
Not surprisingly an online poll of players voted the Strat the world's greatest guitar last year.
Only time will tell if the unique slice of rock history will be sold off to the highest bidder.
--Western Daily Press
The future of a giant that played a vital role in shaping rock music was shrouded in doubt last night. According to reports, bosses at Fender, the makers of the electric guitars that have been a true American icon for the past 50 years, are on the verge of selling the company for ?272million.
Few products can claim the same status as the Fender Stratocaster, which has been the instrument of choice for legendary musicians ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Kurt Cobain.
Insiders claim consultants have been appointed to look at the sale of the business.
Last night, executives at the company that launched a million schoolboy dreams issued a terse statement in an attempt to defuse the rumours.
Chairman and chief executive Bill Schultz snapped at reporters: "These articles are completely erroneous, and we are not for sale."
But question marks are still hanging over why finance experts Goldman Sachs have been called in to value the company first set up in 1946 by Californian inventor Leo Fender.
Fender had been working in radio technology when he came up with the concept of creating the world's first amplifiers designed for musical instruments.
And, after five years of trials and tests, he paved the way for the rock and roll revolution with the creation of the first ever custom-made electric guitar, the Telecaster.
The legendary Stratocaster or 'Strat' followed in 1954, and the rest is history.
Only Gibson, the makers of the Les Paul, ever came close to matching the guitar that played a pivotal role in many of the defining moments of pop history.
When Hendrix took out the matches and lighter fuel and set fire to his customised Strat on stage at the Monterey festival in 1967 the guitar's place in history was cemented.
Hendrix, considered by many to be the greatest-ever guitar god, summed up the feelings of thousands when he sank to his knees and paid a very public homage to his guitar.
Despite the flood of cheap imitators, the Strat has always led the market, and 50,000 were sold in the UK alone last year. Proud owners include one-time rocker-turned politician Tony Blair.
In 1999 a new world record was set when Eric Clapton sold Brownie - the guitar he used when he was writing Layla - at auction for ?316,879.
He once said: "I would challenge someone to come up with a better design for a guitar. The design is as good as it gets."
The list of aficionados reads like a Who's Who of rock and includes Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen, U2's The Edge and, more recently, Albert Hammond Jr of The Strokes.
When the Beatles staged their farewell concert on the roof of the Apple HQ in London they were surrounded by a framed backdrop of Fender amplifiers.
And Kurt Cobain, the tortured Nirvana frontman, was rarely seen in public without his bright red customised Stratocaster.
Not surprisingly an online poll of players voted the Strat the world's greatest guitar last year.
Only time will tell if the unique slice of rock history will be sold off to the highest bidder.
--Western Daily Press
