Aside from Leo himself, few names are more redolent of Fender’s history than that of John Page, whose work continued to flourish once he left the California guitar empire.
Don’t talk to Phil Jamison about the supposed magical ‘eras’ of Matchless amplifiers, thank you very much. They have all been great, and there’s evidence the California maker is building them better than ever.
After 25 years as production manager and designer with one of the most successful guitar brands of the modern era, Joe Knaggs decided to take his vision directly to the people.
Reviving a beloved vintage brand with a high cool-per-quid quotient, the new Harmony line’s retro-modern marriage delivers some surprisingly upmarket features.
The archetypal F-style guitar would seem a tapped-out vein by now, yet Scott Lentz Sr. and Jr. consistently inject the magic that keeps players coming back for more.
Over the last 30 years, the Fender Custom Shop has rewritten the rules of high-end guitars and blurred the line between big name brands and boutique instruments.
It’s one of the most divisive and debated aspects of modern guitar building, but whether you hate it or love it, nobody has done more to popularise the concept of artificially aged guitars than the Fender Custom Shop.
Can you still fly the ‘boutique’ flag once your roster hits 50 employees and you’ve won a Small Business Exporter Of The Year Award? EQD’s Jamie Stillman and Julie Robbins talk maintaining the small-shop attitude in a big-shop world.
