Article Two -- Fender and the Eighties




Japan, Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC), and the Fender Custom Shop, will prove to be the dominant themes of Fender in the 80's. Although there is, and most likely always will be, a great deal of interest from collectors in Stratocasters from the Leo-Fender era, it is the opinion of this writer that Fender-FMIC will some day prove to be Fender's true "Golden Age" due to the variety and quality of the Strats this iteration of the Fender company has produced and continues to produce.


Much can be said about the "mojo", "magic", or "vibe" of the Fender-Leo Strats, but for overall quality -- manufacturing consistency and component development -- Fender-FMIC has taken the Stratocaster to new and improved levels of quality, consistency, and performance.

The Three Fenders -- Leo, CBS, and FMIC

As of late 2003, there have been three major periods in the history of Fender: Fender-Leo, from 1946 through 1965; Fender-CBS, from 1965 through 1985; and, Fender-FMIC, from 1985 to today.


As this series of articles concerns non-vintage collectible Fender Stratocasters, our concern is with the late Fender-CBS and the Fender-FMIC periods.


The decade of the 80s was a challenging period for both Fender-CBS and its succesor, Fender-FMIC. By 1980, Fender had been owned by CBS for fifteen years. Toward the end of the 70's, Fender-CBS had begun to experience a market contraction, most likely due to foreign competition and possibly a decline in its manufacturing standards. From the early 80's through the transition to Fender-FMIC, Fender-CBS would make several serious, though for the most part ill-fated, attempts to recapture market share.


Thanks in large part to a strong dollar, relatively affordable manpower, and well organized manufacturing systems, several guitar makers in Japan had made serious inroads into the Stratocaster market from the mid to late 70s. In 1982, Fender-CBS established Fender-Japan, contracting with Japanese manufacturer, Fujigen, for the production of Stratocasters and other Fender equipment.


In 1985, the new Fender-FMIC found itself in a precarious position. The sale of Fender to FMIC included only certain patents, trademarks, and the existing inventory of parts, unfinished and finished instruments. The sale did not include manufacturing equipment or facilities. The survival and subsequent success of Fender-FMIC would hinge upon: Fender-Japan, the Fender Custom Shop, and an instrument that would later prove astronomically successful, the American Standard Stratocaster, introduced in 1987.

A Condensed Fender 1980s Timeline

1980 -- Strat (features modified wiring allowing nine different tone configurations, 22K gold electroplated brass hardware, and a hot bridge pickup called the X-1; Fender's first use of its trademarked name, "Strat" on a guitar) / 25 Hendrix-inspired, reverse headstock Stratocasters are made, arguably the first "artist-related" Strats; four bolt neck. [Note: "/" is used to separate distinct models]

1981 -- Gold/Gold Stratocaster (one piece maple neck, gold color, smaller headstock, gold-plated brass hardware; essentially a "souped up" Standard "Smith" Strat; part of the "Collector's Series" -- serial number begins with "CA") / Walnut Stratocaster (one piece walnut neck) / International Color Stratocasters (special custom colors: Arctic White; Morocco Red; Monaco Yellow; Maui Blue; Capri Orange; Sahara Taupe; Cathay Ebony; Sienna Sunburst; and, Cherry Sunburst. Note: unlike the other eight, the Sahara Taupe has a four bolt neck and non-bullet headstock) / Standard Stratocaster (also now unoffically known as the "Dan Smith Strat"; introduced mid-to-late 1981. Features the smaller, pre-CBS headstock, return to the four bolt neck, body-end truss rod adjujstment -- the headstock "bullet" is abandoned, the "Micro Tilt" adjustment is abandoned, and a narrower, black headstock logo, though some logo exceptions exist. Forerunner of the American Standard introduced in 1987 by Fender-FMIC) / Bullet Series (A John Page designed replacement of the Mustang, which was dropped in 1981, and the Musicmaster and Bronco, both of which had been dropped in 1980. At that time, Page was working in Fender's R&D department) / Lead III (dual humbuckers).

1982 -- Official Japanese made Fender Stratocasters are introduced. Early models have the Fender logo on the headstock above a small Squier logo. / 1957 and 1962 Vintage Reissues. These models are manufactured in both the U.S. and Japan. By most accounts, the U.S. reissues don't hit the market until early 1983.

1983 -- Elite Stratocaster (featured push-button pickup selectors; active circuitry; distinctive pickup covers -- similar to Lace Sensor covers though the pickups are Alnico; and a new bridge-vibrato mechanism of questionable construction known as the "Freeflyte" tremolo; also, Gold Elite Stratocaster) / Standard Stratocaster Revision (Standard Stratocaster undergoes radical, cost-cutting changes: new jack plate is flush with body and one tone control is dropped) / Japan-built Squiers hit the U.S. market (previously, Japan-built Fenders were only sold to the domestic Japanese market and Europe).

1984 -- Bowling Ball Stratocaster (also known as the "Marble Strocaster"; approximately 100 Strats and 100 Teles are made with this distinctive finish -- red, yellow, or blue marbled streaks; made in the U.S.) / CBS announces its decision to divest itself of the Fender company.

1985 -- January: Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) buys Fender from CBS for 12.5 million, 500,000 less than what CBS had paid for Fender in 1965. The FMIC purchase is accomplished by a group of ten Fender employees and foreign distributors led by then Fender-CBS President and now Fender-FMIC CEO, William (Bill) Schultz. Sale does not include equipment or manufacturing facilities. October: Fender-FMIC opens its first manufacturing facility in Corona, California. Original floor work force numbers approximately ten and produces only five or so guitars a day. Fender instruments manufactured in Japan account for an estimated 80% of Fender sales from 1984 through 1986. / Performer (another John Page designed instrument; manufactured at Japan's Fujigen facility; discontinued in 1986) / Katana (also manufactured in Japan and discontinued in 1986).

1986 -- 1957 and 1962 American Vintage Reissues (essentially a re-introduction of the models first introduced in 1982/1983; manufactured at the new Corona facility; feature some design/construction changes from the '82-'83 versions that had been made at the Fender-CBS Fullerton facility -- nitrocellulose finish replaced by polyurethane and some body/headstock/fret marker changes are made in an attempt to more closely recreate the originals; the first Corona-made American Reissue is a 1962 Fiesta Red reissue with serial number V000001, which was presented to Bill Schultz, the second is a 1957 Fiesta Red reissue with serial number V000002 presented to Shadows guitarist, Hank Marvin).

1987 -- American Standard Stratocaster (although production began in 1986, the American Standard Stratocaster was formally introduced at the Winter NAMM Show in January of 1987; though certainly influenced by the 1981/82 "Dan Smith Strat", and Dan Smith was most likely behind the 1987 American Standard concept, its final engineering design is credited to Fender R&D's Geroge Blanda, who was hired by Fender in 1985 to institute a "Custom Shop", but became a leading force in Fender's R&D department; it features 22 frets, a 9.5 fingerboard radius, "swimming pool route" to accomodate after-market modifications, and a re-designed bridge/tremolo unit); / Fender Custom Shop is founded by John Page and Michael Stevens (the first Fender Custom Shop instrument is built by Michael Stevens: a double-neck Strat/Esquire with serial number 0001) / Eric Clapton and Yngwie Malmstten sign "Artist Series" contracts with Fender, though their signature guitars will not be introduced until 1988 / Strat Plus (first use of Lace Sensor pickups in a Fender Stratocaster; roller nut; locking tuners) / Fender-FMIC acquires facilities in Ensanada, Mexico.

1988 -- Eric Clapton Signature Stratocaster (prototypes by George Blanda) / Yngwie Malmsteen Signature Stratocaster / HM Power Strat (produced in Japan; forerunner of the Heavy Metal (HM) series that would be introduced in the U.S. in 1989).

1989 -- Deluxe Strat Plus (similar to the Strat Plus but with two Blue Lace Sensors and one Silver Lace Sensor); / Fender Custom Shop 35th Stratocaster Anniversary Limited Edition (first Custom Shop "anniversary" model; 500 made); / Homer Haynes Limited Edition (HLE) (first non-anniversary, numbered, limited edition Stratocaster made by the Fender Custom Shop; 500 were made) / Contemporary Stratocaster (TBX tone control; 12" fretboard radius); HM Series (U.S. production).

On the Collectors' Radar Screen

Although there is growing, interest in: the 1980 Hendrix; 1981 Gold Stratocater; 1981 International Colors Stratocasters (especially the Sahara Taupe); the 1981-82 "Dan Smith" Standard Stratocaster; the 1982-84 U.S.-made '57 and '62 Reissues (pre-FMIC); the 1984 Bowling Ball Stratocaster; and, 1988 Clapton and Malmsteen signature models, most of the interest from non-vintage collectors to-date has been focused on the early Custom Shop models, especially low serial numbered instruments and the 1988 HLE and 1989 35th Stratocaster Anniversary models, also with emphasis on low serial number models. Many collectors/investors believe that instruments produced by the Fender Custom Shop will prove to be the collecting "Holy Grails" of the future.


But as time distances us from the 80s, we begin to see the impact that the 1987 production model American Standard Stratocaster has had upon Fender and the guitar playing world. The American Standard Stratocaster is, literally, the instrument that resurrected the Fender brand and brought it back to the forefront of the international guitar market. This growing awareness of the significance of the American Standard is also leading to an increased interest in its forerunner, the 1981-82 Standard Stratocaster (the so-called, "Dan Smith Strat", prior to the 1983, cost-cutting two knob, flat-level jack plug version).