Fender: The Inside Story

Manichaeans believe that the world is divided between good and evil. Guitar owners believe that it's divided between Gibsons and Fenders. Members of the latter camp will want to own this compilation of behind-the-scenes testimony by Leo Fender's right-hand man. Forrest White joined the Fender Electric Instrument Company in 1954, and helped develop such iconic models as the Telecaster, Stratocaster, and Precision Bass. As a writer, White is strictly a nuts-and-bolts man--his main concern is to set the record straight and debunk what he sees as a plague of "Fender fictions." But there's still considerable amusement to be had, whether he's recounting the epithets applied to the fledgling Telecaster ("canoe paddle" and "toilet seat with strings") or quoting Leo Fender on the factory's pre-OSHA working conditions: "Around 1949, we started to put an acetate finish on the lap model Hawaiian steel guitar bodies; and to keep the acetate warm, we kept it near an open gas flame. I guess if anything ever happened, we would have blown that building over the moon. Actually, it was so bad that when the fire inspector came, he just looked in the door and ran off to call us at the nearest pay phone, he was so scared." Sure, sure, as long as it's got that twang.