PRECISIONDECK: 75 YEARS IN THE MAKING
In the early 1940s, before the first full-production electric guitar ever left the company's California-based factory, Leo Fender operated Fender Radio Service, which repaired home audio equipment such as radios, TVs, and hi-fi sets. In 1945, Fender, with fellow inventors Doc Kauffman and Clifton Abbott, designed and patented a record changer/turntable. Fender ultimately sold the turntable rights in 1945 for $5,000 in advance royalties and used the proceeds as seed money to fund K&F Manufacturing Corporation with Kauffman. For a short time, K&F made lap steel guitars, amplifiers, and the record changer before Kauffman sold his share in the company to Fender. Undaunted by Kauffman’s departure, Leo Fender established Fender Electric Instruments in 1946. Now, 75 years later, Fender’s name once again graces a technologically advanced turntable.
Like any product worth celebrating and owning, PrecisionDeck has a story that runs deep. A Fender VP initially got the idea for the initiative between Fender and Mobile Fidelity Electronics when visiting an audio dealer and learning about Mobile Fidelity Electronics ‘tables. Knowing that MoFi is known for remastering some of the greatest records of all time, the VP decided to investigate the possibility of collaborating on a turntable for the Fender brand. When contacted by Fender, Mobile Fidelity Electronics was immediately on board.
Back at Fender, Master Builder Yuriy Shiskov became an early champion of the product. He began working late into the evenings crafting slabs of swamp ash wood — the very same blocks that are utilized to make Fender Precision Bass guitars — until he perfected them into the gorgeous shape that became the foundation of PrecisionDeck. Each exacting plinth on every PrecisionDeck is sourced, milled, and finished by Fender before it is sent to Mobile Fidelity Electronics’ Michigan factory for incorporation into PrecisionDeck.
Once the plinth was ready, passion fueled the project to the finish line. Countless exchanges of drawings, CAD files, and samples were analyzed and discussed, including several 'table options with alternate finishes before Mobile Fidelity Electronics and Fender decided on the iconic three-color sunburst pattern that helps turn PrecisionDeck into a work of art.
