Fender ‘tweed’ bassman

During its long history, Fender has navigated several tricky turning points, but 1965 marks for some the start of a decline from the standards set by Leo’s original company. Is that view still justified?

Decked out in tooled western-style livery with a saddle bag’s worth of speaker and circuit upgrades, this anniversary edition stands strong in the lineage of the classic benchmark combo

Not only does this 1969 Tele illustrate Fender’s slowly changing post-Leo period, it also documents a lot of modding. Dave Burrluck should know – he was there!

NOW, LET’S BE clear — although this 15-watt combo is technically advertised as a practice amp, it can churn out some serious sonic damage and is capable of keeping up with metal drummers at rehearsal.

Compact, affordable and full of Fender DNA, the Blues Junior celebrates 30 years as one of the company’s most iconic and celebrated valve amp designs. Senior product manager, Rick Heins, joins us to mark the milestone

If you always believed the CBS takeover transformed Fender guitars overnight, then think again because there were fewer changes than you might have imagined