About Fender
Fender was founded in 1946 by Leo Fender in Fullerton, California, growing out of Fender's Radio Service, the repair shop Leo had run since 1938. CBS owned the company from 1965 to 1985, when a management buyout led by then-president William Schultz bought it back from CBS and renamed it Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. Fender is now privately held and headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, with its flagship USA guitar factory in Corona, California. 2026 marks the company's 80th anniversary, alongside the 75th anniversary of both the Telecaster and the Precision Bass, the two instrument designs most often credited with defining the shape of the modern electric guitar and bass.
Fender is the company behind the Stratocaster, Telecaster, and Precision and Jazz Bass, three of the most-recorded instrument shapes in popular music, built across its USA (American Professional II), Mexico-made (Player II), and Squier tiers. Squier is Fender's own beginner and budget subsidiary, built to Fender's own quality-control specifications and backed by genuine Fender warranty service rather than being a licensed knockoff. Fender also runs Fender Play, a structured online lesson platform bundled with many of its beginner instruments; offering it free for 90 days during the pandemic-era guitar boom is credited by trade press with helping drive the company's highest sales figures on record and drawing hundreds of thousands of first-time players to the instrument.
Brand website: fender.com
What Fender makes
Fender's catalog runs wider than the gear we review. The lines we know best from our own testing are marked with a star:
Stratocaster & Telecaster Electric Guitars
Fender's signature electric guitar shapes, spanning USA-built American Professional II, Mexico-made Player II, and Squier import tiers — featured on House of Octave
Squier
Fender's own beginner and budget subsidiary brand, built to Fender's quality-control specs and backed by genuine Fender warranty service — featured on House of Octave
FA & CD-60S Acoustic Guitars
Beginner-focused dreadnought and 3/4-size acoustic and acoustic-electric guitars, several sold as complete bundles with Fender Play included — featured on House of Octave
Precision & Jazz Bass Guitars
The most-recorded bass guitar designs in history, sold under both the Fender and Squier names — featured on House of Octave
Mustang & Frontman Amplifiers
Digital modeling amps (Mustang LT25, Mustang Micro Plus) and simple solid-state practice amps (Frontman 10G) for home and silent practice — featured on House of Octave
Picks, Tuners & Accessories
Celluloid picks in the classic 351 shape, clip-on tuners, straps, and cases sold alongside the instrument lineup — featured on House of Octave
Why we recognized Fender
The House of Octave Top Brand recognition isn't paid for and can't be applied for. We award it to the brands whose gear consistently stands out in our player-tested category guides. Fender earned it on the strength of the products below, judged the same way every product on this site is: assessed on build, tone, and playability, weighed against what players actually report over years of use, and ranked on merit.
Fender gear we rated highly
Fender FA Series Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar Bundle
A complete day-one bundle -- gig bag, clip-on tuner, spare strings, picks, an instructional DVD, and three months of Fender Play -- so a beginner can tune up and start their first lesson the day it arrives. The full-size dreadnought body delivers the big, projecting tone new players picture when they imagine an acoustic, and Fender's quality control keeps the neck profile and fret work consistent from unit to unit rather than a gamble.
Read the 8 Best Beginner Acoustic Guitars of 2026 guide →
Fender California Debut Redondo CE Acoustic-Electric Guitar
The lowest-cost genuine acoustic-electric in our beginner roundup, with a built-in pickup and an onboard tuner so a new player who dreams of plugging in doesn't need to buy a second guitar later. It's backed by a Fender pedigree, a 2-year warranty, and three months of Fender Play.
Read the 8 Best Beginner Acoustic Guitars of 2026 guide →
Fender FA-25N 3/4 Nylon String Acoustic Guitar
Nylon strings that take far less pressure to fret than steel, paired with a 3/4-size body and a shorter 23.3-inch scale that suit small hands, kids, and adults working through early finger soreness. A genuine Fender at a true entry price, bundled with three months of Fender Play.
Read the 8 Best Beginner Acoustic Guitars of 2026 guide →
Fender CD-60S All-Mahogany Acoustic Guitar
An all-mahogany dreadnought from Fender's well-regarded CD-60S line, giving a warmer, darker voice than a spruce-top guitar that flatters strumming behind a singing voice. A full-size, no-compromise instrument with the build consistency of a name brand.
Read the 8 Best Beginner Acoustic Guitars of 2026 guide →
Fender Squier Debut Series Stratocaster Electric Guitar Kit
A complete starter kit -- a 10-watt Frontman amp, gig bag, stand, strap, clip-on tuner, and picks -- built to Squier's Fender-family quality-control specs and backed by a real 2-year Fender warranty. The three-single-coil Stratocaster layout covers blues, rock, pop, country, funk, and indie, so a beginner won't outgrow it while they're still finding their sound.
Read the 7 Best Beginner Electric Guitars of 2026 guide →
Squier Classic Vibe 60s Stratocaster Electric Guitar
Fender-Designed alnico pickups deliver authentic vintage Stratocaster tone that ceramic pickups in entry kits can't match, and the fret work, neck finish, and hardware genuinely rival guitars costing twice as much. Ships through Amazon with a real Fender 2-year warranty.
Read the 7 Best Beginner Electric Guitars of 2026 guide →
Fender Squier Debut Series Stratocaster Electric Guitar
Amazon's #1 Best Seller in Solid Body Electric Guitars and an Amazon's Choice pick, offering the same Squier Debut build quality as our top kit at the lowest price of any genuine Fender-family guitar in the roundup for a beginner who already owns an amp.
Read the 7 Best Beginner Electric Guitars of 2026 guide →
Fender Squier Debut Series Precision Bass Guitar
A genuine Fender-family instrument -- Squier is Fender's own beginner brand, built to Fender's quality-control specs -- carrying the Precision Bass design, the most-recorded bass in history. The full 34-inch scale and slim neck build technique that transfers directly to any bass a player picks up later, backed by a real 2-year warranty.
Read the 8 Best Bass Guitars for Beginners of 2026 guide →
Fender American Professional II Telecaster
A genuine USA-built Fender made in Corona, California to the company's top production standard, with V-Mod II single-coils widely praised for their clarity and a Deep C neck profile that feels broken-in from day one. Ships through Amazon from an authorized dealer with full Fender warranty coverage.
Read the 9 Best Electric Guitars of 2026 (Every Budget & Skill Level) guide →
Squier Classic Vibe '50s Telecaster
Fender-designed Alnico single-coils deliver authentic Telecaster twang that owners describe as landing surprisingly close to a Fender-USA Tele for a fraction of the price, dressed in vintage-tint gloss maple neck and period-correct nickel hardware.
Read the 9 Best Electric Guitars of 2026 (Every Budget & Skill Level) guide →
Fender CD-60S Solid Top All-Mahogany Dreadnought Bundle
A solid mahogany top, not laminate, gives this dreadnought a warm, dark voice that sits well under a vocal, delivered as a complete bundle with a gig bag, clip-on tuner, strap, spare strings, and picks. An Amazon's Choice listing with a deep, consistent review base.
Read the 8 Best Acoustic Guitars of 2026 (Every Budget & Body) guide →
Fender Mustang LT25
Twenty amp models and dozens of effects across thirty presets give a new player a guided tour of nearly every classic tone for a fraction of what those amps cost individually, backed by one of the deepest, most trusted review bases of any amp in our roundup.
Read the 9 Best Guitar Amps of 2026 (Every Budget, Practice to Gigging) guide →
Fender Frontman 10G
With more than thirteen thousand owner ratings, it's very likely the single best-reviewed guitar amp on Amazon. A clean channel with that recognizable Fender sparkle plus a drive channel and basic EQ mean there's nothing for a beginner to learn and nothing to get wrong.
Read the 9 Best Guitar Amps of 2026 (Every Budget, Practice to Gigging) guide →
Fender Mustang Micro Plus
Plugs straight into the guitar jack and sends twenty-five amp models and dozens of effects to headphones for inspiring, full-sounding tone at zero room volume, with Bluetooth streaming to jam along to any song silently.
Read the 9 Best Guitar Amps of 2026 (Every Budget, Practice to Gigging) guide →
Fender Premium Picks Sampler - 12 Pack
The single most-reviewed pick listing in the whole category, with more than twenty-six thousand ratings at 4.8 stars and a #1 Best Seller badge. Classic Fender celluloid tone in the iconic 351 teardrop shape, with a thin/medium/heavy spread that teaches a new player their own gauge preference.
Read the 9 Best Guitar Picks of 2026 (Beginner, Acoustic, Metal, Jazz & Bass) guide →
Fender FT-1 Professional Clip-On Guitar Tuner
A genuine name-brand clip-on at a true budget price, with a crisp color display that auto-rotates depending on which way it's clipped and a firm spring clamp that grips the headstock securely. Fast, accurate chromatic tuning for guitar, bass, and ukulele.
Read the 10 Best Guitar Tuners of 2026 (Clip-On, Pedal, Strobe & More) guide →What earned Fender the recognition
- The Fender FA Series Dreadnought Bundle is one of the products we rated highest in our beginner acoustic guitar testing, and three more Fender acoustics (the California Debut Redondo CE, the FA-25N nylon-string, and the CD-60S All-Mahogany) earned places among our top picks alongside it
- Fender-family instruments were among the products we rated highest in three more categories: the Squier Debut Precision Bass in beginner bass guitars, the Squier Debut Stratocaster Kit in beginner electric guitars, and the Fender Premium Picks Sampler in guitar picks
- Founded in 1946 by Leo Fender in Fullerton, California, Fender is celebrating its 80th anniversary in 2026, alongside the 75th anniversary of both the Telecaster and the Precision Bass, two of the most-recorded instrument designs in music history
- Fender products earned our recommendation in every guitar-gear category we cover: acoustic guitars, beginner acoustic guitars, beginner electric guitars, electric guitars, bass guitars, guitar amps, guitar picks, and guitar tuners, the broadest footprint of any brand in our guitar coverage
- Squier, Fender's own beginner and budget subsidiary, is built to Fender's own quality-control specifications and backed by genuine Fender warranty service, which is why it repeatedly earns our entry-level recommendation across acoustic, electric, and bass categories