Fender Musical Instruments Corp

Jeff “Skunk” Baxter gained enormous international fame as a founding member of Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers. Skunk’s solo licks are among the most noted and influential in rock and roll history. As product advisor, he has also played an important role in the early Roland guitar synthesizers and several effects pedals over the years. His understanding of the inner workings of the electric guitar has made him a well-respected and sought-after expert on subjects both from a design and engineering perspective as well as from a musician’s angle.

Joseph Blumenthal had his sights on being a schoolteacher during his college days when he began to focus on working in retail. He worked at Sears and later at the Good Will Store in New England before he was given a chance to work for a small music store. Basel TV and Music Shop was the first Fender dealership in the area in the years just before the Beatle boom in the mid 1960s. By the mid 1970s when Joseph began working there, the inventory was depleted as the owner was looking to retire. Just a few months later, in 1976, Joseph purchased the store and changed the name to Downtown Sound. With impressive lines already part of the business, such as Martin Guitars, Yamaha and Fender, Joseph was able to grow the business steadily over the years. 

Bruce Bolen has had a long and colorful career in the music industry spanning nearly 50 years and with two of the best-known guitar makers in the world. Mr. M.H. Berlin, the president of Chicago Musical Instruments (CMI), first hired Bruce into the industry. At the time, CMI owned Gibson Guitars and Bruce worked in marketing their products. In the 1980s, after Fender was bought from CBS, Bruce was hired to run the artist relations department, which he had also done for a while at Gibson. Over the years he has worked with nearly all of the major guitars in rock, pop, blues and country and has enjoyed the ride. 

Bob Bull held many positions throughout the music products industry over his long career. However, he is perhaps best known as the president of the Steinway & Sons piano company during the early 1970s. At the time, Steinway was owned by CBS Musical Instruments. Bob, as the president of Steinway, reported to Bob Campbell, the president of CBS Musical, a division of the broadcasting company.  

James Burton is a legendary guitarist in the world of rock music! In the early days of his career, James played influential licks on such 50’s hits as “Hello Mary Lou” with Ricky Nelson. He later toured with Elvis Presley as well as recording with the King of Rock and Roll for nearly a decade. James can be heard on countless recordings and toured endlessly with the likes of John Denver in the 1980s. In recent years James formed a guitar festival in Louisiana where he has gathered hundreds of guitarists each year to break the record of the most guitar players in one place.
 

Robert Campbell began his career in the music industry working for Conn Organ in 1947, the year the company gave a unit to President Harry S. Truman. Bob later worked with Don Leslie, the inventor of the famed Leslie organ speaker. Bob played an important role in the Leslie Speaker Company being purchased by the musical instrument division of CBS. Don and Bob made a dynamic duo in the promotion and marketing of the speaker products; they had several obstacles to overcome and yet still wound up on top. He stayed on with the Leslie product under CBS for five years before he was promoted to President of CBS Musical Instruments. He retired from CBS in the early 1980s to Bloomington, IN.  

Billy Carson was listed in the Guinness book of world records for growing the largest watermelon ever weighed. And if you think that is something, consider the fact that Billy also worked with Leo Fender in streamlining the Stratocaster electric guitar in the early 1950s. As a country player in Southern California in the late 1940s, Billy became close friends with Leo. At the time, Leo was a radio repair man who helped musicians on the side fixing their amplifiers. Over the years, Billy related his frustration over the way the sharp edge of his guitar would cut into his ribs. Leo designed the Stratocaster to fit nicely against the body and added other ideas of Billy’s over the years.

Roger Cox was a pioneering product engineer with Fender Musical Instruments in the 1990s when he brought the Passport system to the market. The project caped a long career with Fender that included working on several landmark projects with many of the icons in the industry. Rodger enjoyed success at a number of companies during his career including CMI (staying on during the Norlin days) and CBS Musical Instruments.

Jim Cruickshank has an eye for design! While a proud member of the Fender guitar team, Jim designed many of the most memorable trade show displays for the company, including the 14-foot neck and headstock. Jim also worked on many of the company’s best known marketing graphics and even redesigned the company logo. When he was approached to add a bit of a splash to the logo, which was really just the name of the company in silver letters, Jim took on the task. He worked on several ideas but liked the simple flare he added to the first letter, a “fish tail” on the letter “F,” which was embraced by Leo Fender. The logo was then changed.