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Post by langford on Jun 29, 2021 11:36:54 GMT -5
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tmc
Wholenote
Posts: 907
Formerly Known As: tmc
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Post by tmc on Jun 29, 2021 20:42:18 GMT -5
Thanks, that was quite interesting.
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Post by Riff Twang on Jun 29, 2021 21:59:00 GMT -5
I enjoyed reading that.
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Jun 30, 2021 9:43:52 GMT -5
Great read!
Richard Smith, in his book Fender--the Sound Heard 'Round the World, relates the same kinds of stories about Leo's quirky personality. Leo was never mean spirited, but he was extremely hard-headed and often difficult to deal with. Like many innovators, he was 'eccentric' in that he was happiest working by himself on whatever small or large task was at hand.
Fender Electric Instruments was a success partly due to Leo's vision and partly due to him bringing in people that knew how to run a business. If it had not been for Don Randall (marketing and sales), Bob Perrine (slick, modern advertising), Freddie Tavares (artist relations and all-around utility guy) and Forrest White (factory operations), I believe the company would not have prospered in the manner it did.
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Firebird-V
Quarternote
I Deftly Pluck Metal Strands!
Posts: 21
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Post by Firebird-V on Jun 30, 2021 16:21:57 GMT -5
Great read!
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Jul 1, 2021 0:28:14 GMT -5
I remember Leo every time I sand a John Mayer body; it's basically a Stratocaster (same contours pretty much, three pickups, a five-way switch, same pickguard shape, a wiggle stick, etc.), and I chuckle to myself because so many makers are on that Strat wagon.
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Post by Leftee on Jul 1, 2021 6:49:55 GMT -5
every time I sand a John Mayer body I read that quite wrong. I thought I heard John screaming. |
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Post by Mike the marksman on Jul 1, 2021 7:50:54 GMT -5
In the big red Fender book ('the sound heard 'round the world'?) there was a story from a Fender employee about Leo- whenever an employee bought a new car, Leo would crawl underneath it and give it a throrough "inspection" and let him know if he made a good purchase.
Man, I coulda used Leo a few weeks ago..
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Jul 1, 2021 8:15:34 GMT -5
^^^Leo was a machine freak.
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Post by rok-a-bill-e on Jul 1, 2021 14:57:26 GMT -5
He did not share the high opinion of George Fullerton as Leo seems to have had.
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Post by jhawkr on Jul 1, 2021 15:44:36 GMT -5
Leo was smart enough to understand his limitations and weaknesses and hire or partner with people who could mitigate. Leo recognized a need and filled it. Randall was a glorified salesman but sometimes that’s exactly what you need.
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Post by 6l6 on Jul 2, 2021 11:54:34 GMT -5
Great read and thanks for posting!
Don and Leo owned the company 50/50. SO... Don took home almost $7MM in 1965 for his reward (over $80MM in 2021 money).
They both deserved their rewards! Talk about paving the way for countless musicians to have FUN playing electric guitar!
Those boys did it right.
6
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Post by HenryJ on Jul 2, 2021 20:24:44 GMT -5
Just got around to reading it. That was very interesting. Thanks, langford, for bringing the article to our attention.
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Post by windmill on Jul 2, 2021 20:59:24 GMT -5
Thanks for posting that article Langford
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MoJoe
Wholenote
Posts: 855
Formerly Known As: quiksilver
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Post by MoJoe on Jul 2, 2021 21:30:58 GMT -5
Great read indeed.
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