The Fender Archives Revealed in Scrapbook-Style Collection

Fender lovers: It’s time to rejoice. Another book has arrived for you.

The Fender Archives: A Scrapbook of Artifacts, Treasures, and Inside Information by Tom Wheeler is filled with artifacts from Fender’s long history, including handwritten letters, production totals, and Leo Fender’s drawing-board sketches.

Wheeler, who has written for Rolling Stone and Guitar Player Magazine, and was the founding editorial director of Bass Player, is now a professor at the University of Oregon’s journalism school. He culled the material for the book from not only Fender archives, but also a variety of privately held photo collections. Legendary guitarist James Burton, known for his work with Rick Nelson and Elvis Presley, also provides the forward to the book.

Although Wheeler has authored other, more extensive books on Fender’s history, he states on publisher Hal Leonard’s blog that this book’s goal is a bit different. “The aim here is not to introduce Fender but rather to revisit it, to go behind now-familiar facts, images, and assumptions and shed new light on the inspirations for these revolutionary instruments and amplifiers, their sometimes difficult births and growing pains, the environment into which they were unleashed upon the world, and the motivations and personalities of key players.”

The book, he also notes, does lean toward a focus on early and mid-1960s Fender lore. “Putting this book together revealed many new insights for me while evoking a flood of memories,” he writes.

Here’s a closer look at some of the content within the book:

The 104-page hardcover is out now.