And So It Began…

While we were enjoying the sunshine and positive vibe of this year’s NAMM Show in California back in January, there were a few corks being popped on the Fender stand. 2020 marks the 70th anniversary of the year this game began, when Leo Fender and his small team first started making what was to become the Telecaster – a virtual stone’s throw away from the vast Anaheim Convention Center in Orange County.

You’ll know the story. Technically, the single-pickup Esquire was the first Fender electric Spanish guitar, initially displayed at a Chicago trade show in July 1950. And although dual-pickup versions are documented, it was the dual-pickup Broadcaster that was the first electric Spanish guitar built in any quantity – hence its claim to being the first production solidbody electric – with its adjustable