It would be difficult to imagine rock & roll — both its sound and its spirit — without the contributions of Clarence Leo Fender.

Jimi Hendrix used a Fender Stratocaster to create his most distortion-drenched masterpieces. Jeff Beck employed a Fender Telecaster to play his jagged, quirky riffs with the Yardbirds. The late Stevie Ray Vaughan spun his muscular blues on a vintage Strat.

Following the Rolling Stones’ induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Keith Richards (a Telecaster man) thanked “God, for Leo Fender, who makes these instruments for us to play.”