Fender Swinger aka Fender Musiclander, lacking paint and pickup cover.

The Fender Swinger (also known as the Fender Musiclander and Fender Arrow – as the "Swinger" name is usually missing from the headstock) was a short-lived electric guitar model released by Fender in 1969, with few ever made. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation of Quincy Illinois is a manufacturer of stringed instruments such as solid-body Electric guitars including the The Swinger was merely an attempt by CBS (which had bought the company in 1965) to get money out of unused factory stock by combining unused bodies from the failed Fender Bass V with parts from the Fender Musicmaster. Background The original Fender Bass V was a quirky and unusual electric Bass guitar model produced by Fender between 1965 and 1970 The Fender Musicmaster is an Electric guitar by Fender, and was the first of their 3/4 scale guitars Another attempt to use excessive stock was the Fender Custom (aka Fender Maverick). The Fender Custom (or Maverick) was a short-lived model released by the CBS -owned Fender in 1969 It was marketed as another cheaper, short-scale 'student' type guitar, but never seriously promoted, and low in popularity as a result.

It was however used by Tina Weymouth of the Talking Heads in live performances and can be seen in their famous movie Stop Making Sense. Martina Michèle Weymouth (born on November 22, 1950 in Coronado California) known simply as Tina Weymouth, is an American musician Talking head Talking Heads was an American New Wave band formed in 1974 in New York City and active until 1991 Stop Making Sense ( 1984) is a highly acclaimed Concert movie featuring Talking Heads live on stage It has also been used by Ben Kweller live, and saw the bulk of the guitar work on his most recent self-titled album. Ben Kweller (born 16 June 1981, San Francisco, California) is an American rock Musician.

Today, a Fender Swinger is a collectors’ item.

Dating

As the Swinger was built using parts that were "lying around", the individual pieces may be older than the guitar. For example, the neck may be datestamped 1966. As far as is known, all Swingers were assembled in 1969.

External links

• shortscale.org Fender Shortscale discussion forum