![]() As rare as they are, musicians as different as Jimmy Page and Talking Heads’ Tina Weymouth have taken them to the stage. Dating these guitars would seem to be a difficult task, since they are assembled entirely from older parts, but they were only made for a brief period, so every Fender Swinger is a vintage 1969. The Swinger featured a 22.5” scale length, an almost randomly contoured body design, one single-coil pickup near the neck, and a bridge and control plate design borrowed from The Fender Bass V. It showcased another side to the Irish six-stringer, an adventurousness that extended beyond the blues, broadening his sound with elements of folk and jazz. More often than not, those who found a Swinger had no idea what to call it and often informally referred to it as the Fender Arrow, probably after the pointy “arrow” shaped headstock. Rory Gallagher s eponymous debut solo album was a landmark recording for blues-rock guitar. Most began to peel off within a few years, so very few have any kind of indication as to what model of guitar they are. The “Swinger” decal seems to have been an afterthought, applied, if at all, over the finish on the headstock. Only 250 to 600 were ever assembled and they were virtually unmarketed, never appearing in any of Fender’s catalogs or literature. and the “student” model Fender Musicmaster. ![]() It was introduced in 1969 as a way to make use of spare parts left over from the unsuccessful Fender Bass V. The Fender Swinger was one of the quirkiest and most obscure guitars ever to come out of the factory. For one reason or another, these were guitars that never had a chance to become iconic. Quirky experiments, expedient hybrids, odd designs that would never be manufactured in large enough numbers, or never marketed properly to get the attention they deserved. Then there are those truly obscure instruments unknown to all but a dedicated few. Or maybe, a thrift store romantic who embodies all three of these and simply has a good eye, and a good ear, for the forgotten masterpieces. Maybe an adventurous musician looking for a quality instrument that is different enough to create a unique sound, or maybe a beginning guitarist on a budget, or a collector in search of a lost gem whose quality outshines its fame. Fender guitars and basses have become so iconic that it is difficult to imagine how the last sixty or seventy years might have sounded without them.īut, of course, while not every Fender instrument has inspired this same level of success, many relatively obscure Fender guitars do have their fans. Each has its own distinctive sounds, its own look, its own luminous history and its parade of inspired players who have used it to create some of the most popular music ever, sometimes even completely transforming pop culture in the process. instruments so ubiquitous that you might forget these are not their actual names.
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