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 age 16. He had risen to Product Manager by the mid Sixties, and was both skilled and well-liked within the company. The Swinger used excess parts from the Fender Bass V and Fender Musicmaster, with the Bass V pickup routing hidden under the pickguard. Between 300 to 600 Swingers were produced, and the model never appeared in any Fender literature.
The Fender Swinger has become a vintage guitar and a collector's item.
Read more about this topic: Fender Swinger
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