Mind Bender By Stillwater
Posted on 11/04/2018 11:52:45 AM PST by To-Whose-Benefit?
I interviewed Don Randall in 1992, when I was researching my first book about Fender. In the beginning, Don had worked for Fender's distributor, Radio-Tel, but in the early '50s he joined Fender as the head of sales, staying there until a few years after CBS' takeover in 1965.
I met Don at his office in Tustin, California, and spent a couple of enjoyable hours chatting about the old days, necessarily concentrating on his view from the business side of Fender—and, in particular, discussing the controversial CBS purchase.
Sitting in his wood-paneled office, he looked to me a little like an aging astronaut—sleek, tanned, and self-assured. He certainly helped take Fender into the stratosphere.
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(Excerpt) Read more at reverb.com ...
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Gotta read
Check out the 1959 Fender Factory Tour Vid.
Osha would shut them down today. Got’ah love Gmnt regs
Thanks for the ping!
As a drummer I have great respect for the Fender ‘’sound’’. Especially the Fender Stratocaster. Eric Clapton played it quite a bit as did the late Jerry Garcia.
Lol....if only I could be so unproductive.
Clapton has played a Strat almost exclusively ever since Blind Faith broke up in ‘69.
Garcia played a ‘57 Strat (the “Alligator” guitar given to him by Graham Nash) between ‘70 and ‘73, after which he switched to custom guitars.
Pre CBS Fender amplifiers were the best. These were tube amps and you just couldn’t beat them. I had a patent pending Fender Bandmaster which made it an early 1950’s model, just fantastic and some SOB stole it from me and l still grieve.
“Garcia played a ‘57 Strat (the “Alligator” guitar given to him by Graham Nash) between ‘70 and ‘73, after which he switched to custom guitars.”
A waste of perfectly good guitars.
L
Yep, all the Fender tweed amps from the ‘50s were amazing. Sucks about your Bandmaster. That model was prized in particular because of how (relatively) few were made. The tweed Bassmans, Twins, Deluxes....which I had a few now.
Yeah. I never cared for those Irwins he played after putting down the Strat. And I wasn’t too happy when Weir stopped playing the Gibson ES335. I have a fondness for 1969 “Dark Stars’’ when Garcia was playing a Gibson SG.
Yeah. I never cared for those Irwins he played after putting down the Strat. And I wasn’t too happy when Weir stopped playing the Gibson ES335. I have a fondness for 1969 “Dark Stars’’ when Garcia was playing a Gibson SG.
I used to do a bit of being a roadie for local bands in my hometown. Those old Fender amps were heavy!
Bkmk
The thing is, Leo did the RIGHT things. That’s the key.
Btw Gibsonguy, I just bought a ‘63 Gibson GA-5 Skylark amp a few weeks ago. 5 watts. Gets a real nice natural creamy tube distortion. Not loud enough for band work, but great for the house.
Yep, that is the key.
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