Leo Fender in History of Rock & Roll
Leo Fender (1909–1991) was an American radio repairman and inventor who improved the design of early solid-body electric guitars and introduced the first "precision bass" guitar.
In 1952, Leo Fender and business partner Doc Kaufman produced a better sounding version of both the Rickenbacker and the Les Paul solid-body electric guitar. Their design was fairly simple and could be inexpensively produced. The Fender guitar became the first relatively cheap electric model on the market and remains today the preferred instrument for many musicians.