The Innovators Clarence Leonidas Fender (“Leo”), was born August 10th, 1909 in Anaheim, California. His interest in music began at an early age. He learned to play the piano and then began playing the saxophone. However, the saxophone did not hold Leo’s attention for long. He quickly became fascinated with radios; tinkering with parts and pieces his uncle would give him from his automotive-electric shop. Because Leo lost his eye to cancer at the age of 8, this left him ineligible to join the World War II fight. Instead, he decided to go to obtain higher education. Leo studied accounting at Fullerton Junior College, he took several accounting jobs and due to the economic state of the country, he was let go. After losing his job, he began a radio repair shop on a $600 loan. Clayton Orr “Doc” Kauffman, born May 4th, 1901, was a violinist, saxophonist, and instrument repairman. He made a living as a dance band musician. With radios becoming a popular home appliance, Kauffman started to provide at-home radio repairs. He received a call for a repair job but there was a mistake with the address. When he arrived at the job site, Kauffman unknowingly walked into a home needing a doctor for a baby delivery; not a radio repair! Word quickly spread about the blunder and Kauffman quickly adopted the new nickname, Doc. During the 1930’s, Doc was working as chief electric guitar designer for Rickenbacker. He filed his patent for a ‘pitch-changing device’ for tenor guitars on August 19th, 1929. In 1937, he convinced Rickenbacker to manufacture a Vibrola electric guitar; however, the invention was never economically successful.