Fender: The Sound Heard 'Round the World: Centennial Edition
Richard R. Smith (Fullerton, CA) is an internationally known expert on the history of electric guitars. Working closely with Leo Fender, Smith spent several years in the 1980s testing and evaluating prototype guitars. He has collected original Fender guitars for 30 years and has amassed the world's most complete collection of historic Fender documents. He is the author of The Complete History of Rickenbacker Guitars (Centerstream), Fender Custom Shop Guitar Gallery (Hal Leonard), and articles for Guitar Player, Guitar World, Guitar, and Bass magazines, among others. He also curated the Fullerton Museum Center's exhibition Sound Ideas Leo Fender's Patents, 1943-1991.