ETYM From Fend, cf. Defender.
1. A low metal frame to confine falling coals to a hearth.
2. An inclined metal frame at the front of a locomotive to clear the track; SYN. buffer, cowcatcher, pilot.
3. Surrounds the wheels of a vehicle; SYN. wing.

(Clarence) (1909-1991) US guitarmaker. He created the solid-body electric guitar, the Fender Broadcaster 1948 (renamed the Telecaster 1950), and the first electric bass guitar, the Fender Precision, 1951. The Fender Stratocaster guitar dates from 1954. In 1965 he sold the Fender name to CBS, which continues to make the instruments.
> Fender began making amplifiers and Hawaiian-style guitars 1945, and built solid-body guitars for several country musicians. Although the guitarist and producer Les Paul was also working independently on a solid-body electric guitar, Fender was the first to get his model on the market. The design was totally new, with a one-piece neck bolted on to a wooden body, and could easily be mass-produced.
Its clear trebly sound was particularly suited to country music; rock guitarists have generally preferred its successor, the futuristically streamlined Stratocaster introduced 1954, whose three pickups made possible various electronic modifications of tone and volume.