The Fender Swinger (also known as the Fender Musiclander and Fender Arrow – as the "Swinger" emblem is usually missing from the headstock) was a short-lived electric guitar model released by Fender in 1969 and reissued by

Fender Japan Fender Japan, Ltd. was a joint venture between Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, and to produce and sell Fender-branded instruments for the Japanese market. The collaboration began in 1982 and ended on March 31, 2015, with Fender's launch ...

in 2019 as a limited edition run in single and dual pickup versions. Estimates of the model's total production number range from 250 to 600 made. The Swinger was an attempt by CBS (which had bought the company in 1965) to extract cash from inventory by combining unused bodies from the Duo-Sonic II and the failed

Fender Bass V The Fender Bass V was a model of electric bass guitar produced by Fender between 1965 and 1971. It was the world's first five-string bass guitar. At the time the electric bass guitar was still a relatively new instrument, and some manufacture ...

with parts from the

Fender Musicmaster The Fender Musicmaster is a solid body electric guitar produced by Fender. It was the first 3/4 scale student-model guitar Fender produced. A Musicmaster Bass model was also put on the market. Musicians such as David Byrne and Liz Phair used ...

. The routing beneath the pickguard differs between instruments made from a Duo-Sonic II or Bass V. Bodies made from the Duo-Sonic II have no comfort cuts and a shorter bottom horn. Like the Fender Custom (a.k.a. Fender Maverick), the model was an effort to liquidate excess parts and inventory. The Swinger was marketed as another cheaper, short-scale 'student' guitar, but never seriously promoted, with resulting low popularity.

Development and design

The Swinger and its cousin, the Custom, were both developed under the supervision of Virgilio 'Babe' Simoni, without the help or even involvement of Fender's R&D Department. Simoni had begun work at Fender in 1953 at the age of 16. He had risen to Product Manager by the mid 1960s, and was both skilled and well-liked within the company. The Swinger used excess parts from the

and

, with the Bass V pickup routing hidden under the pickguard. Between 300 and 600 Swingers were produced. The model never appeared in any Fender promotional literature.

Dating

As the Swinger was built using parts that were surplus, the individual components may be older than the guitar. For example, the neck may be date-stamped 1966. All Swingers were assembled in 1969. Records of Swinger production and sales are poor and it is unclear exactly how many were produced or which parts were used on each instrument.

Users

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used a Swinger in live performances, as seen in the concert movie ''

Stop Making Sense ''Stop Making Sense'' is a 1984 American concert film featuring a live performance by the American rock band Talking Heads. Directed by Jonathan Demme, it was shot over the course of three nights at Hollywood's Pantages Theater in December 198 ...

''. Ben Kweller used a Swinger to record most of his self-titled album and has used it in concert. Lydia Night of

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uses a Swinger live and in the band's Seashore music video. Zac Pennington used a modified version of the guitar on tours with his project

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References

Swinger {{electric-guitar-stub