As always my stories revolve about my Fender past.All of my stories are factual. There has been nothing added or left unsaid.
This is another TRUE story. It involves 2 members of this Forum. Both of whom I have never met. I knew little or nothing of either one except on occasion I would see a post in Buy and Sell with their names attached to the thread.
This Forum which at times has caused me heartburn has also been a God send for me as I met so many nice people on here,and so far as the "Agitators" I leave them in the washing machine where "Agitators" belong.
I have often tried to quit,but the thought of people who have treated me as I would treat them have stopped me. Dont for one minute think I didnt try hard. There are a few on here I have confided in regarding my intentions of leaving.
But when I see the support and prayers for my wife and myself,I find that difficult to do and feel as though Im leaving my friends, goodbye thanks for the prayers and Im outta here. Wham Bam Gone. Its not easy when you have the friends I have on this Forum.
I have recently made two more friends who made an inpact on me, especially one in particular,not that the other was not as instrumental to this story. But the one fellow is primarily the person I make reference to.
I have had a number of Fender steel guitars in my lifetime,what I refer to as a number are fewer than you think. The most I have owned has been maybe three,maybe four.
I had access to anything I wanted while I was a Fender rep dating back to 1950,a 17 year old high school dropout with no interest in school.My life was the steel guitar,and the players of that era many years ago.
I had a triple neck Custom as my first ever Fender,and it was through that Fender that I met Don Randall and Leo Fender,and that shaped my life from that day on.
This story will be told in its entirety when my book is published and not now. There are reasons and one of them is due to the fact that the story is long and I dont tell Long Stories,you just imagine I do,but I dont.
My very first Fender guitar is a long story,but it being defective and my buying it off of a former Fender salesman and being unaware it was indeed defective and not the property of the salesman who sold it to me.
It was the property of Fender Fine Electric Instruments out of Fullerton California.The salesman I bought this from no longer represented Fender and was selling off his remaining samples. Enough of that.
A number of years ago,1988 to be exact,I found my long lost Fender Quad,that story is in the Feb 1988 Guitar Player magazine written by Richard Smith under the "rare bird" topic.
Dave Van Allen can attest to this so if anyone is skeptical regarding the authenticity of my story,Dave can fill you in on the details.
The second issue deals with another Fender Custom guitar which I played back in 1952 and this guitar is shown in the 1954 Fender catalogue with myself sitting at the guitar.
I lost track of that guitar,why should I have kept it when there were so many guitars for me to choose from?
This guitar was returned to Fender and another took its place as Leo and Don always wanted me to have a new guitar.
Two years ago,a Forum member posted that a Vintage dealer in the midwest had a Triple Custom for sale.
Since I have a ledger given to me by the late Forrest White,I was able to track this For Sale guitar back to its origin.
I saw by the serial # it was in fact the very same guitar I had returned in place of a newer model.
I bought that guitar,and it survived the years of use and more than likley many hard knocks and saloons and Honky Tonks,but that was not unusual as these Fenders are built like a Sherman Tank. Leo saw to that.
The guitar is in mint condition and like the quad Iam a bit sensitive taking either one out on a gig for fear of either one being stolen.
I often thought of looking for another although I didnt really need one,if another came along to my interest I would maybe just maybe like to have still another.
Now go to Buy & Sell dated November 11 2002 look for a triple neck Custom For Sale,with O interest in this guitar.
Quite possible the fact that this guitar had been re-finised diminished its chances of being of interest to a collector. It is possible also that some thought the asking price was a bit high,that may be so as well.
I kept going back to Buy & Sell hoping to see someone give this guitar a home,a good home where someone out there would appreciate it despite the battle scars it has suffered over the years and years of hard use.
As I kept looking at Buy & Sell,there was NO interest,so I e mailed the seller and asked for additional information about this guitar and he was kind enough to answer my questions honestly. He was selling this guitar in "as is" condition. He never one time mis-represented himself or the guitar he was looking to sell.
He told me what he knew of this instrument and how he aquirred it from an auction. He agreed to send me jpg's of his For Sale guitar and like a man of good character that he is,explained that the guitar had been re-finished.
He also went on to say he was looking for a Double 8 Stringmaster,but added he wanted one that is in mint condition a special one to be his exact words to me.
I wrote him and told him I knew where there was one For Sale fitting that description.
I then e mailed the Forum member who owned that "mint" condition Stringmaster and asked him to send me jpgs as I had someone who may be interested in his beautiful Fender Stringmaster.
I received the jpgs by e mail a few hours later and forwarded them to the seller of the Custom.
Go to BUY and SELL and look for December 13th as this Stringmaster stood un-noticed and I posted on what a fine guitar this was. I had nothing to gain so far as a monetary situation I just wanted to see these two guys get together.
You will see my comments re the Double 8 S/M
I was able to hook these two people up like a "match maker" setting up a date for two people who may have something in common but may never have met.
It worked,both of these two guys thanked me for the effort that I made,there was nothing in this for me other than the fact that I hate seeing any of Leo Fenders steel guitars being ignored and having to look for a home.
I have a thing about that. I negotiated a price with the seller of the Triple Custom and he and the seller of the Stringmaster agreed on what was fair for both.
That agreement was finalized by the two Forum members,and then I was contacted by the seller of the Custom thanking me for helping him get exactly what he had been looking for, for a long time,in fact he was thrilled with his new found Fender.
The owner of the Custom e mailed me and we too came to an agreement,I bought his battle scarred, but otherwise GREAT guitar. I will have this veteran of the past re-furbished back to its original condition and it like my others will have a home,one that it so rightfully deserves.
There is much more to this "re-union" of these two guitars that I will write in my book,I think it will interest all of you Fender guys.
The people in this little story are both Forum members and post little if any and do not particpate in issues of debate. All they want from the Forum is exactly what they recieved,a friendship and a couple of great guitars have found a new home.
I thank Sunny Callen owner of the Custom which I now have and Dana Duplan former owner of the Stringmaster.I have never found two nicer people than these two people,,how could they be all that bad if they too have the very same passion for FENDER as I have and always will.
I cannot thank Sunny enough for what he has done and as for Dana,I never knew a nicer guy. They both will share a place in my book of Fender memories and with their permission will tell this story.
I dont think Leo ever realized what impact he had on the business he loved so much. His personal pleasure was to see a musican happy with his product.It was NOT all about MONEY as it is today,he had pride in what he did.
And those who admire Leo Fender take pride in the great instruments they own.
I know Sunny does,,Dana does,,and you know where Im coming from.
Merry Christmas
And bOb, I will send a check to you for the sale of my guitar. I will ask Sunny to close his thread now. Sunny if you are seeing this you can close her down.
Jody .who said I tell long stories?????. This
is one of my short one's
Copyright (C) by Jody Carver 2002
All Rights Reserved<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jody Carver on 22 December 2002 at 09:45 AM.]</p></FONT>
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Gene Jones on 23 December 2002 at 05:28 AM.]</p></FONT>
