At that point Leo renamed the company the Fender Electric Instrument Company. Kauffman remained unconvinced, however, and they had amicably parted ways by early 1946. By the end of the year, Fender had become convinced that manufacturing was more profitable than repair, and he decided to concentrate on that business. Production began in 1945 with Hawaiian lap steel guitars (incorporating a patented pickup) and amplifiers, which were sold as sets. to design, manufacture, and sell electric instruments and amplifiers. He became intrigued by design flaws in current musical instrument amplifiers, and he began custom-building a few amplifiers based on his own designs or modifications to designs.Д«y the early 1940s, he had partnered with another local electronics enthusiast named Clayton Orr (Doc) Kauffman, and they formed a company named K & F Manufacturing Corp. The business also sidelined in carrying records for sale and the rental of self-designed-and-built PA systems. All designs were based on the research developed and released to the public domain by Western Electric in the 30s, and used vacuum tubes for amplification. (Technical note: at the time, most of the above were simply variations on a few simple vacuum-tube circuits). As a qualified electronics technician, Leo was asked to repair not only radios, but phonograph players, home audio amplifiers, public address systems and musical instrument amplifiers. The company began as Fender's Radio Service in late 1938 in Fullerton, California, USA. Its headquarters are in Scottsdale, Arizona, with manufacturing facilities in Corona (United States of America), Ensenada ( Mexico), Korea and Japan. Other popular and/or notable Fender instruments include the Mustang, Jazzmaster, Jaguar, Starcaster, Duosonic, and Bronco guitars basses such as the Jazz Bass, the 'Telecaster Bass' reissue of the original 1950s Precision Bass a line of lap steels three models of electric violin, and the Fender Rhodes electric piano. These guitars were and still are popular for musicians in a variety of genres.

Furthermore, while nearly all other electric guitars then were either hollow-body guitars or more specialized instruments such as Rickenbacker's solid-body Hawaiian guitars, Fender had created versatile solid body electric guitars.

While Fender was not the first to manufacture electric guitars, as other companies and luthiers had produced electric guitars since the late 1920s, none were as commercially successful as Fender's. Fender offered the first mass-produced solid-body Spanish-style electric guitar, the Telecaster (originally named the 'Broadcaster', 'Esquire' is a single pickup version) the first mass-produced electric bass, the Precision Bass (P-Bass) and the enormously popular Stratocaster (Strat) guitar.

Fender is particularly important because of its role in bringing solid body electric guitars to the masses with its low-cost, manufacturing-oriented bolt-together designs. The company, initially named the Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company, was founded in Fullerton, California, by Clarence Leonidas Fender in 1946. Its Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer is William (Bill) Mendello, its President and Chief Operating Officer is Matthew Janopaul, and its Chief Financial Officer is Richard Kerley The company is a privately held corporation, with the controlling majority of its stock owned by a group of its own company officers and managers. Other Fender brands include Guild (acoustic and electric guitars), Rodriguez (classical guitars), Benedetto (jazz guitars), SWR (bass amplification) and Squier (entry level/budget). The company makes instruments such as acoustic guitars, electric basses, mandolins, banjos, and violins, as well as guitar amplifiers, bass amplifiers, and PA (public address) equipment. Leo Fender also designed one of the most, if not the first, commercially successful solid-body electric bass, which is now standard in rock, jazz, country, funk, and all other types of popular music. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, of Scottsdale, Arizona, USA, is famous for making stringed instruments, such as solid-body electric guitars, including the Stratocaster and Telecaster.

Fender champ lap steel serial numbers