As I said, the guitar models have remained largely unchanged over the decades. So with Fender keeping such a consistent brand identity, it can start to make sense that the products they make are just as consistent. While they had a brief period in the 60’s where they had what is called the “transition” logo, they changed it back soon after to the normal “Spaghetti” logo. There isn’t a story of a group of designers working tirelessly on it. The logo itself is just his signature of his last name with the “F” inverted. Looking at the Fender logo, it was first made in 1946 when the company was founded by Leo Fender, the guy who designed practically all the electric guitars they still use today.
Then as I thought more, it all began to make sense. Hell, Martin Guitars has had the same exact logo since the company was started in 1833! While I always loved guitar logos, this was something I never noticed before and found it strange that while every other brand is constantly revamping their logos, these companies have remained unchanged. Gibson hasn’t had a major change since the 40’s. Fender hasn’t had a logo change since the late 60’s. Much to my disappointment, they did not… in fact, none of the brands did. So, when tasked with critiquing a logo redesign, instead of going on about a brand I couldn’t care less about, I decided to see if Fender had any recent logo redesigns. My first choice in guitar was a Fender Stratocaster which is a model invented in 1954 – and it’s still the coolest one if you ask me. The same guitars that were around and most popular in the 60’s, are largely the same guitars popular now. Not between each other, but similar through time. Many young and new players, at some point or another, have the same criticism of the guitar models being too similar. Within the brands, there is a consistency that is seemingly unchanging.
Old players who were around for these brands’ inceptions and young players new to the guitar world all know what each of these brands are best at. Whether it be Fender, Gibson, Taylor, Martin, or PRS, players know nearly every brand more than the brand’s guitars. Very naturally, as guitar players, people know the brand of a guitar before the actual instrument itself. So as I have been studying guitar and graphic design simultaneously, I became aware of the guitar brands themselves and how they are linked to the player. While individual guitars hold immense personal value, like I said earlier, guitar models in general hold special places in many players’ hearts as well. I myself was given an electric guitar from my grandfather when he heard I was learning to play. Many times, guitars become family heirlooms passed down through generations of players. So it’s no wonder that for many players, guitars begin to become as personal as a family home. We spend hours of our lives studying and practicing to experience it. And for the players, we seek to have that first hand experience of creating the music that moves millions. Naturally all of us who listen intently, chills running down our spines and hearts racing, are able to have the undefinable experience of being able to not only listen, but feel the music running through our very being.Īs with any high, once it’s felt the brain only wants more. In many cases the guitar and vocalist become two voices engaging in a euphonic duet of the soul, showing the human spirit almost materializing, as the universal language of music is spoken to those willing to listen. We need only look to the live performances of Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, BB King, and John Mayer to see the magic that’s created when a player and their guitar are in perfect harmony. For the avid player, a guitar becomes more than a mere tool for making sounds. Yet, despite certain guitar models being associated with certain genres – the twangy country tunes of a Telecaster, the solemn sliding solos of a Stratocaster, or the loud rock licks of a Les Paul- players across the world have shown that the true voice of any guitar is that of the person who holds it. There’s no one size fits all since guitar is present in practically every genre. The point is, the guitar as an instrument has many identities. Some may think of bedroom pop players like Rex Orange County or Boy Pablo. Some may think of soft folk/pop acoustic artists like Jack Johnson or Ed Sheeran. Some people think of 70’s classic rockers like Jimi Page of Led Zeppelin or Angus Young of AC/DC. When we talk about guitars, I think there is an immediate association everyone has in their heads.
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