It was aroung November, 1984.  I was in the Navy and was transferring from Groton, CT to San Diego, CA.  After receiving travel pay and two weeks regular pay I headed out in my 72, El camino. On the way I stopped in Nashville, TN for a visit to Gruhn Guitars. My intention was to purchase a Fender Broadcaster.  I had it in my head that I needed the first mass produced solidbody electric guitar.  That particular day Mr. Gruhn had no Broadcasters in stock. He did have an abundance of old Tele's and even a couple of nocasters.  Memory fades but I think one of the nocasters was very reasonably priced because it had been refinished.  There was a 1950's White Falcon hanging on the wall priced around $900.

That day was the only day in my adult life when I could have purchased a quality vintage instrument and I walked out empty handed because all I wanted was a broadcaster.  I was very short-sighted.

For all you would be luthiers that don't have access to a shop.  Go here to create to your hearts content. It's a clever flash program that allows one to start with a basic template, i.e. Fender Strat, and modify it with dozens of options to create a custom instrument.

Enjoy.

No, this is not a blog about the biblical book of Genesis.  I just wanted to share some info about the genesis of Fender solidbody electric guitars. I love guitars, especially solid body electric guitars. I'm also interested in history and I find the history of electric guitars doubly interesting.  When looking into guitar history this is as good a place as any to start.