The Last Fender Guitar

[basilh]

As soon as copies become available we will give you (GRATIS) a full page A4 advert in colour in our magazine, plus a review that should be a couple of pages at least.
Go to it Jody !!

[Jody Carver]

Mike thank you ever so much for all you've done for myself and my dad, airing our recordings My Love to Susan and Jody and Jennifer and your Grand children you know how I feel about you and you're lovely family Thank you and as someone once said There is ONLY ONE Mike Gross and how right he was... Baz thank you and I will take you up on your most generous Offer Yes I'll Go To It You Bet.....When The book is ready to go and the publisher agrees I will have someone announce the book on this Forum You can bet on that........

My best as always to both of you,

Jody-

[Jody Carver]

Tom thank you for your most generous comment it flatters me.........thank you so much keep the triple neck close to you... It's a Great Steel Guitar I know Mr. Clarence Leo. Fender would have loved to know that you and many others appreciated all he has done.........My best friend Mr. Donald Dean Randall as well I miss them very much. I always addressed them as Mister I feel that is proper

Your friend

Jody

[Tom Zielinski]

Jody,

Your playing has been an inspiration and your comments on the SGF are both informative and entertaining. I can't wait to get some further insight about the Fender story. I can think of a dozen family members and friends that would enjoy your book!

My Custom T3 is going to stay right next to my D8, thanks!
Tom Zielinski

[Jody Carver]

Tom again thank you...

Jody

[Dave Van Allen]

Jody... I should hope you know how I feel by now...about yourself, and Fender products

I'm your biggest fan (and at well over an 1/8th of a ton I ain't just whistlin' Dixie 'bout that)

http://www.dvanet.net/hcoahome.html

I look forward to finally getting "the rest of the story" as Paul Harvey might say...

[Alan Brookes]

Can I place an advanced order for the book ?

[Mike Black]

Jody, I can't wait to read it! Make sure you let us all know how to get a copy. What a great looking Strat, is that the cover? Is that the last guitar made while Leo was steering the ship?. All of a sudden I got a hankering for a mint julip

I heard a piece on A. Godfrey on NPR while I was on the road to Amarillo and I was thinking about you. Man, don't the days fly bye! You stood in a place and time in history that most of us can only imagine.

I hope you tell the story about how you ordered a Bigsby while working for Fender.
It's always great to get the story from someone that was there. Actually in the shop in 1958 and 59. I rever the 4x10 Bassman~Amp, you can probably tell a story or 2 about when they were just big heavy amps you had to haul around the countryside! Speedy said he'd get dealers calling and telling him they didn't care what was on the next truck, don't even unlock it just send it on!

I hope you included some pics all the great salesmans stuff, catalogs and other Fender-o-bilia you've saved thru the years.

BTW, do you think this will make Oprah's Book Club?

[Jim Sliff]

Jody's book is something I am really looking forward to. Each of the "inside story" books published so far gives a uniquely different perspective on the "Fender Life", especially during the Leo days.

I can commiserate with Jody's entanglements with Fender's legal folks as well. I helped a friend work through the same maze on another book project, and everything is SO "corporate" and structured in most of the music business nowadays that it can be very discouraging - which is exactly what should NOT happen! I wish companies were far more supportive of projects like this rather than fretting (pun intended) over whose toes might need a band-aid....

I'm really glad Jody decided to push on with it!

[CrowBear Schmitt]

Happy New Year to ya Sir Knight

you can bet yer' steel bar that i'll want a copy too

man, yer wrist is gonna get mighty worn out from dedicatin' copies to the Fo'Bros

[nick allen]

Yup, even those you thought were long gone and forgotten are sitting here, just waiting for that book
And if you think writing it was tough... from what I've read (in Dave Barry columns and elsewhere) the really tough part is when you have to go on tour to promote the book!
Take care Jody, and take a little time to enjoy life, too.
Nick

[Jody Carver]

Nick thank you I hope you are well, Miss you on this Forum, France is a long way off, however I think of you often. Yes I will take my time I have too......

Your friend,

Jody-

[Jody Carver]

Mike I received the pictures of the double neck Stringmaster in Walnut it looks great.. speak to you on Sunday

[Andy Sandoval]

Jody, will there be any photos in the book?

[Jody Carver]

Hi Andy My California friend indeed...yes there will be and I don't for the life of me know how to apply them...Andy this is a a difficult time of year for myself and family

Thanx

Jody

[Jody Carver]

Mike I'll speak to you on Sunday Thank you for the photo of the late and Great Tom Morrel


Thank You Cowboy

Jody-

[George Keoki Lake]

See Jody...Didn't I tell you this thread would produce a lot of response ? ( 3 pages so far! )
So now my friend, you had better get off your okole and produce, or all the guys and gals will throw their finger picks at you in revenge ! Be forewarned !

[Jody Carver]

Your NOT My Friend should learn to play your Canopus

[Jody Carver]

Dave.. and thank you for the great photo..I have downloaded it as you suggested and you really look great..Thank you for sharing this and that into my book..in fact I do beleive that I may need the publisher to do that..at any rate..I'll try..you are one Handsome young fella or should I say dude..way
Young man..keep in touch you have my phone number and I'll keep you up to date as I will try to make progress with my book.
Smile you're on candid camera haha..You have my home phone number and Doylestown is just around the corner
Call me whenever you wish..Same phone number

Thank you friend for all you have done for The "Hot Club Of America" YOU have done us proud and I never will forget that..my best to Lizz and Christopher..

Your Friend, and it was nice you being here with Lizz and Chris to meet My Marilyn, I will always remember that Day as Long as I Live Thank YOU!!

Jody-

[Roy Ayres]

Jody, as the others have said in the above three pages of posts, I, too, anxiously await the publication of your great book, "The Last Fender Guitar". With your vast knowledge of the Fender company and your story-telling knack that approaches that of Will Rogers, the book is going to be something to behold and to be treasured.

Here’s a story I don’t think I ever told you about Leo Fender and the “First Fender Guitar.” It was in about 1949 (if my memory is right) that I first met Leo Fender. We (Pee Wee King’s Golden West Cowboys) were playing a nine-week engagement at the Riverside Rancho in Glendale, California while we were in the Hollywood area making a movie. One day while there I drove out to Fullerton and looked up the Fender plant. At that time, it was located near the downtown Fullerton area in a row of a small buildings each of which was located behind the next. It consisted of a couple of brick or block buildings and about three small metal buildings. Leo and I negotiated a contract for my endorsement of Fender products. Before I left the plant, Leo gave me his prototype of what later turned out to be his first solid-body, six-string guitar. He asked me to play it on the job a few days and give him some feedback regarding my opinion and suggestions. When I returned it, I told him I really liked everything about it – but the 2nd string kept jumping out or the slot in the nut. He said something to the effect of, “Yes I know. I have designed a little button that will hold the two strings in place. I thought this was a pretty crude way to build a guitar – a brand new solid-body guitar idea, but with “fixes” even on the first model. So, I said, “But, Leo, obviously you could fix it without a button to hold the strings down by just tilting the tuning head back a few degrees." He answered, “But then I couldn’t make the necks from standard two-by-fours, and that would run the cost up." I, personally, thought he was making a mistake – but his guitar with a “button fix” went on to become the most famous and sought-after guitar that ever existed. I guess that’s why Leo became a millionaire, while I’m still a hundredaire.

Don’t rush that book too much, as you might leave out some good story material. Get-er-done right. I’m as anxious as anyone to read it, but I understand that anything worth while is worth waiting for. Just be sure to see that a copy gets saved for me.

[George Keoki Lake]

Hi ROY...That's sure an interesting story ! I'll bet Jody will enjoy reading it also. Had you not mentioned it in this thread, probably none of us would have known the real story of those first and second string head slots.

[Bill Scherer]

I am fortunate enough to be a friend of Jody's for years and all I can say is that I have had the delight of listening to his stories many times, and I often wished he would put them down for all to enjoy. The stories he told me have left me laughing and crying. I would sit with him for hours and just listen. Not only will Jody's book be a great addition to the history of this instrument we all are hooked on. It will give an insight of what it was like to be a sales rep in the toughest sales district on earth, back when a sales rep knew his customers, not just as numbers, but as family. You had to be able to "kabitz" and you had to have a passion for the product you sold. Jody, I can't wait for the book because I have heard first hand the stories that will be in it and I know it will be something very special. I know Fender will be very proud when you book comes out . Save one for your old pal Bill.

Bill Scherer
Briarcliff Manor, New York

[Bill Scherer]

On Friday, I drove out to Milford,Penn to visit my old pal Jody Carver. I had visited him and his lovely wife Marilyn many times when they lived in Somers, New York. Now that he is In Milford, PA it is worth the trip .
Jody is the best. I took my D10 SHO_BUD along, and he played the living fire out of it. I wish you could hear him with pedals and Knee levers
(even though thats not his style, he is great on it ) Jody showed me anything I asked. He shares everything. Well as we have done many times before, after a good few hours of playing, we went to the local Dinner in Milford. We sat and talked and he told me more stories of his life and his days as a Fender rep. I can't wait for the book to come out. He had me laughing so hard I was pain. What a great day. Thanks Jody, I just want everyone to know how much fun it is to be your friend.
Hey Sandy, get on him, we are all waiting for the book.
PS: God Bless America and God Bless BROOKLYN :

[Jody Carver]

Here is My Grandson Greg Sullivan His birthday is the 24th of September.......I took this picture of him while we were on the West Coast.......he is a great shortstop and the Jersey he is wearing is Rawlings pro Jersey I had the numbers on front and back added by Gerry Cosby in New York City. the number is a retired number as former Dodgers Manager Walt Alston had this....I have here Number 1 for the Great Harold Pee Wee Reese and the great Edwin Duke Snider Center fielder number 4 I will give to Greg when I go to his wedding in Oregon in 2015 he now lives in Seattle and is always an avid DODGERS fan like my self........Dodgers Blue Forever...

[Al Marcus]

Jody-I just latched on to this post in Non Pedals. I am amazed that somehow I missed it before. Even though I have played a lot of non pedal in my early career. I must admit I don't get to catch all the different categories. Glad I caught this one. Remember I've had my order in for Two of your books. Glad to hear you are in good health and going forward with the book....al.:)