Skip to main content
Music Radar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Artist news
  • Guitar Amps
  • Guitar Pedals
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Drums
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • You Oughta Know
  • Glasto 2025 - how to watch, who's on?
  • Wrecking Crew
  • 95k+ free music samples

Recommended reading

Mike Campbell pictured with his new Red Dog Fender Telecaster; the heavily customised electric guitar has a Bigsby, a Destruct button and a pickup configuration that gives you lots of options. Campbell wears shades and a wide-brimmed hat.
Guitars “The destruct button really sets it apart”: Fender unveils the Mike Campbell Red Dog Telecaster
Mark Speer of Khruangbin sits with his natural finish Fender Strat while Laura Lee holds her new signature Jazz Bass.
Artists Fender unveils DiMarzio-loaded Strat and Jazz Bass for Khruangbin’s Mark Speer and Laura Lee
Brent Mason
Guitarists “I thought, 'Well, now I have a Strat, a Les Paul, and a regular Tele all in one’”: How a top session player struck gold
The Fender Richie Kotzen Stratocaster is made in Japan and features a contoured ash body with a stunning figured maple top, and comes with DiMarzio pickups and Gotoh tuners.
Artists Fender gives Richie Kotzen’s figured-maple topped MIJ signature Strat a global release
Kane Hibberd, the photographer behind the Scale exhibition in London, poses in front of his photographs – guitars features will include Kerry King of Slayer's BC Rich and Tom Morello's Arm The Homeless S-style.
Guitars Exhibition featuring life-sized photos of 100 legendary artists' guitars to open in London
Eric Clapton sits on a cream sofa and plays one of his new signature Martin acoustics, with the other sitting on a stand beside him
Artists Martin recreates Eric Clapton’s MTV Unplugged acoustic for limited edition 30th anniversary run
Fender Limited Edition Brad Paisley 1967 'Lost Paisley' Telecaster – the new Custom Shop signature collab features a finish from a Blue Paisley Cling-Foil sheet
Artists Fender and Brad Paisley introduce the Custom Shop 1967 ‘Lost Paisley’ Telecaster
  1. Guitars
  2. Electric Guitars

Fender: The Golden Age 1946-1970 in pictures

News
By The MusicRadar Team published 5 July 2010

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Fender: The Golden Age 1946-1970

Fender: The Golden Age 1946-1970

In the year that the world's first mass production solidbody electric guitar - the Fender Telecaster - celebrates its 60th birthday, Fender junkies and indeed all fans of hardcore guitar porn should check out one of the sexiest guitar-centric hardbacks we've seen in years.

Fender: The Golden Age 1946-1970 by Martin Kelly, Paul Kelly and Terry Foster, published by Cassell Illustrated, is available now from www.octopusbooks.co.uk and Amazon.

The book charts the history of Fender from its humble beginnings through to the sale of the company to CBS in 1965 and beyond. Along the way, the company's instruments and amplifiers changed the face of popular music, and this is celebrated in Fender: The Golden Age 1946-1970 alongside images of some of the most valuable and rare guitars on earth, contemporary promotional material and previously unseen factory photographs.

If you want to get your hands on this wonderful tome, MusicRadar is giving away six copies. But before we tell you how to enter the competition, click through the following gallery taken from the pages of Fender: The Golden Age 1946-1970. Be warned: you will want this book!

Page 1 of 11
Page 1 of 11
1946 Model 26/Deluxe Woodie amplifier

1946 Model 26/Deluxe Woodie amplifier

Page 2 of 11
Page 2 of 11
A trio of blond 1950 Broadcasters

A trio of blond 1950 Broadcasters

Page 3 of 11
Page 3 of 11
Late 1950s Precision Bass and Bassman advert

Late 1950s Precision Bass and Bassman advert

Page 4 of 11
Page 4 of 11
1958 Surfburst Jazzmaster

1958 Surfburst Jazzmaster

Page 5 of 11
Page 5 of 11
1960s The Beach Boys Play Fender postcard

1960s The Beach Boys Play Fender postcard

Page 6 of 11
Page 6 of 11
The Golden Age in Telecaster headstocks

The Golden Age in Telecaster headstocks

Page 7 of 11
Page 7 of 11
1962 Bass VI

1962 Bass VI

Page 8 of 11
Page 8 of 11
Early 1960s amplifier advert

Early 1960s amplifier advert

Page 9 of 11
Page 9 of 11
Mid 1960s Bob Dylan Plays Fender postcard

Mid 1960s Bob Dylan Plays Fender postcard

Page 10 of 11
Page 10 of 11
Second-series 1966 Lake Placid Blue Marauder prototype

Second-series 1966 Lake Placid Blue Marauder prototype

Fender: The Golden Age 1946-1970 by Martin Kelly, Paul Kelly and Terry Foster, published by Cassell Illustrated, is available now from www.octopusbooks.co.uk and Amazon.

Want to win it?

Of course you do! We have six copies up for grabs, so hurry up and click here to enter our competition...

Liked this? Now read: 2010 International Vintage Show in pictures

Connect with MusicRadar: via Twitter, Facebook and YouTube

Get MusicRadar straight to your inbox: Sign up for the free weekly newsletter

Page 11 of 11
Page 11 of 11
The MusicRadar Team
The MusicRadar Team
Social Links Navigation

MusicRadar is the internet's most popular website for music-makers of all kinds, be they guitarists, drummers, keyboard players, DJs or producers.

GEAR: We help musicians find the best gear with top-ranking gear round-ups and high-quality, authoritative reviews by a wide team of highly experienced experts.

TIPS: We also provide tuition, from bite-sized tips to advanced work-outs and guidance from recognised musicians and stars.

STARS: We talk to artists and musicians about their creative processes, digging deep into the nuts and bolts of their gear and technique. We give fans an insight into the actual craft of music-making that no other music website can.

Read more
Mike Campbell pictured with his new Red Dog Fender Telecaster; the heavily customised electric guitar has a Bigsby, a Destruct button and a pickup configuration that gives you lots of options. Campbell wears shades and a wide-brimmed hat.
“The destruct button really sets it apart”: Fender unveils the Mike Campbell Red Dog Telecaster
Mark Speer of Khruangbin sits with his natural finish Fender Strat while Laura Lee holds her new signature Jazz Bass.
Fender unveils DiMarzio-loaded Strat and Jazz Bass for Khruangbin’s Mark Speer and Laura Lee
Brent Mason
“I thought, 'Well, now I have a Strat, a Les Paul, and a regular Tele all in one’”: How a top session player struck gold
The Fender Richie Kotzen Stratocaster is made in Japan and features a contoured ash body with a stunning figured maple top, and comes with DiMarzio pickups and Gotoh tuners.
Fender gives Richie Kotzen’s figured-maple topped MIJ signature Strat a global release
Kane Hibberd, the photographer behind the Scale exhibition in London, poses in front of his photographs – guitars features will include Kerry King of Slayer's BC Rich and Tom Morello's Arm The Homeless S-style.
Exhibition featuring life-sized photos of 100 legendary artists' guitars to open in London
Eric Clapton sits on a cream sofa and plays one of his new signature Martin acoustics, with the other sitting on a stand beside him
Martin recreates Eric Clapton’s MTV Unplugged acoustic for limited edition 30th anniversary run
Latest in Electric Guitars
Harley Benton ST-80FR
Harley Benton erupts with '80s shred fever as it launches the Floyd-equipped ST-80FR Series S-styles
Strandberg Boden Standard NX 6 Plini Edition Mirage
Strandberg launches limited edition Plini Boden Standard with glow-in-the-dark Mirage graphic finish
PRS Herman Li Chloe: the new shred-ready signature model for the DragonForce guitarist comes in two finishes and features an all-new body design.
PRS activates total shred mode for Herman Li of DragonForce’s feature-stacked Chloe signature guitar
Epiphone Jeff Beck Oxblood 1954 Les Paul
Epiphone unveils Inspired By Gibson Custom version of Jeff Beck’s iconic 1954 Oxblood Les Paul
Duesenberg Alliance Series Tom Bukovac: the new semi-hollow signature model is a stunning singlecut with a quilted maple build in a natural finish.
“Unbeatable... A play-anything guitar”: Duesenberg Alliance Series Tom Bukovac Session Man review
Mark Knopfler
"I did everything wrong, but I think they’re perfect notes”: Mark Knopfler's favourite guitar solo
Latest in News
Lorde
Lorde on the Frank Ocean collaborator who helped to humanise the synths on her new album, Virgin
synth one j6
"In a blind test of 100 musicians, it beat the $200 plugin 3-to-1. Not bad for a free app": AudioKit releases Synth One J6, a free Juno-inspired synth for iOS
Neil Young
BBC confirm that they won’t be showing his Glastonbury set “at the artist’s request”
Nadia Struiwigh
Tresor resident Nadia Struiwigh on why she avoids tutorials and keeps things 'loose' in the studio
Sam Ryder on a train
“The energy on there was unreal”: Sam Ryder performs an impromptu set for passengers on a Glastonbury-bound train
velvet sundown
"There's not a shred of evidence on the internet that this band has ever existed": This apparently AI-generated artist is racking up hundreds of thousands of Spotify streams

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...