Mark Kendrick is revered for building iconic Fender guitars and basses, and is respected for his attention to historical detail and willingness to push the creative envelope. He is a second-generation Fender man (his uncle handled “field services” for Leo in the mid-‘50s) who started in the Custom Shop in 1990.

In the decade he’s been at Fender, Kendrick has amassed a stellar list of players for whom he has built instruments, including Marty Stuart, Sting, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Keith Richards and many, many others. In late 1997, he built a custom one-off gold Stratocaster® for Eric Clapton. Many of the instruments Kendrick crafted are now housed, in fact, in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, and at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tenn.