Tone Report Weekly 191 | Page 56

In the ‘ 70s Fender experienced a slow and steady decline in quality and craftsmanship , and eventually sales as well . This was due in no small part to the sale of the company to the soulless , cost-cutting suits over at CBS corporate headquarters in 1965 , and the subsequent departure of Leo Fender . They just weren ’ t makin ’ ‘ em like they used to in the ‘ 70s , and when guitarists couldn ’ t get quality Fender guitars from Fender itself , Japanese manufacturers stepped into the marketplace and filled the need . Adding insult to injury ( at least from Fender ’ s perspective ), these high quality Japanmade Strat and Tele copies were also way cheaper than the real thing .
Many of these so-called “ lawsuit ” guitars are still around and just as great as ever . Fine Japanese Tele copies can be found with various brand names ( or even no brand name ) on the headstock , including
Ibanez , Aria , Westminster , Raven , and Tokai , among others . The guitars built in the Matsomoku factory tend to be uniformly excellent , and can often be had for a few hundred bucks .

Japanese '' Lawsuit '' Teles

In the ‘ 70s Fender experienced a slow and steady decline in quality and craftsmanship , and eventually sales as well . This was due in no small part to the sale of the company to the soulless , cost-cutting suits over at CBS corporate headquarters in 1965 , and the subsequent departure of Leo Fender . They just weren ’ t makin ’ ‘ em like they used to in the ‘ 70s , and when guitarists couldn ’ t get quality Fender guitars from Fender itself , Japanese manufacturers stepped into the marketplace and filled the need . Adding insult to injury ( at least from Fender ’ s perspective ), these high quality Japanmade Strat and Tele copies were also way cheaper than the real thing .
Many of these so-called “ lawsuit ” guitars are still around and just as great as ever . Fine Japanese Tele copies can be found with various brand names ( or even no brand name ) on the headstock , including
Ibanez , Aria , Westminster , Raven , and Tokai , among others . The guitars built in the Matsomoku factory tend to be uniformly excellent , and can often be had for a few hundred bucks .
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