On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
The First Fender Guitar
Not on view
This instrument is the first solid-body electric Spanish guitar prototype built by Leo Fender. It was inspired by the work of Paul A. Bigsby and Les Paul, with whom Fender frequently met in Southern California to discuss their work in guitar and amplification technologies. Fender’s chief innovation was the bolt-on neck, which made his instruments easy and cheap to mass produce, repair, and customize. This prototype has a neck built without a truss rod, a feature that later became standard to avoid warping due to string tension. It was the prototype for Fender’s first two 1950s production models, the Esquire and the Broadcaster (later renamed the Telecaster).
Technical Description:
Laminated pine body with single cutaway, one-piece maple neck; 25½ in. scale; white finish; bolt-on neck with painted black dot markers; unmarked symmetrical headstock; one single-coil pickup with tone and volume controls; chrome covered bridge, rectangular control surface with knobs on lower bout, tuners with Bakelite buttons, black Bakelite pickguard
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