Dan Smith RIP. (Former Fender CEO)

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GassageGassage Frets: 30826
edited September 2016 in Tributes
A mate of mine, John Hill, can put this better than I

A great friend and colleague, a legend in the guitar world, DAN SMITH Vice President and chief navigator of the unpredictable monolith that was Bill Schultz's Fender, the master of making the magic happen, the true saviour of the biggest brand in music who could craft a guitar from a tree into a musical instrument and who truly loved the brand that changed the world, has gone to that great gig in the sky.

Dan could do everything from guitar design to brand communications, fro
m finance and marketing strategy to engineering and he didn't ask anyone to do anything he couldn't do himself and frequently did do himself! Dan was a great guitar picker and sang like Lou Rawls, he even persuaded his father who had retired from Kodak production engineering (at a cruelly beleagured time for Fender) to re-engineer the entire guitar production process in Fullerton.

Dan is with his heroes now and although he was from Rochester New York, through his considerable acheivements in the golden state he became California's own and a true guitar hero that the entire guitar community will mourn along with his wife Sylvie and his Fender custom shop master builder son Jason. My thoughts and prayers are with you Sylvie &
Jason Smith and in admiration of a truly great man. Many of us Brits will be thinking about Dan on this sad day and he will be remembered at the David Gilmour concert tonight at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

*An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.

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Comments

  • guitars4youguitars4you Frets: 14038
    tFB Trader
    Thanks for the update and I recall what he did to help the re-build from the early 80's onwards

    John Hill - is that the same John Hill use to work for Ivor Arbiter and Paiste amongst others - tall guy with a beard I recall
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  • GassageGassage Frets: 30826
    Thanks for the update and I recall what he did to help the re-build from the early 80's onwards

    John Hill - is that the same John Hill use to work for Ivor Arbiter and Paiste amongst others - tall guy with a beard I recall
    Yup that John Hill

    *An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.

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  • dindudedindude Frets: 8534
    Yes a very important man in Fenders history, mucho respect.
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  • RIP
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  • guitars4youguitars4you Frets: 14038
    edited September 2016 tFB Trader
    Gassage said:
    Thanks for the update and I recall what he did to help the re-build from the early 80's onwards

    John Hill - is that the same John Hill use to work for Ivor Arbiter and Paiste amongst others - tall guy with a beard I recall
    Yup that John Hill
    that is a name from the past - think he might have handled Ensoniq as well in the early days - He might remember me and my dad from Wishers In Derby - say hi

    I recall him at Paiste when they arranged a few promotional shop tours that included the big gong from the end of the video for Bohemian Rhapsody - we had it in the shop window for about 1 month - Hit it and all the windows vibrated like a J200 top
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  • Jason Smith, Masterbuilder, is his son I assume ?
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  • GassageGassage Frets: 30826
    Jason Smith, Masterbuilder, is his son I assume ?
    Yup

    *An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.

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  • impmannimpmann Frets: 12649
    Sad news. 
    RIP
    Never Ever Bloody Anything Ever.

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  • Sad news indeed - RIP
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  • With the greatest respect.
    R.I.P.
    My wife asked me to stop singing Wonderwall.
    I said maybe.....
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  • Pretty much the saviour of Fender - a very important figure in their history. In the late 70s, they were churning out the worst guitars in their history - since the early 80s the company has seen a remarkable renaissance.

    Smith, Schultz, et al had the vision to return it to greatness again.

    Definitely one of the industry good guys. RIP.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71963
    RIP :(.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • MossMoss Frets: 2409
    Really sad news

    One of the big names of the industry and the man who saved the greatest guitar company of all time (IMHO etc.)

     :'( 
    Stop crying, start buying
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  • Sad. Always had a hankering for a Dan Smith strat. 
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  • Strat54Strat54 Frets: 2331
    RIP. Without Dan Smith there might be no Fender today as we know it. What it needs now is another visionary.
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  • stratblxstratblx Frets: 0
    Thanks for the update and I recall what he did to help the re-build from the early 80's onwards

    John Hill - is that the same John Hill use to work for Ivor Arbiter and Paiste amongst others - tall guy with a beard I recall
    John didn't work for Arbiters he worked for Fender USA which is why Arbiter didn't like him reporting back the lack of customer service or setups and repairs in the UK. From what I remember yes 6' 6" and he did artist relations and brand for Paiste and he helped setup Paiste America and then Fender. He lived in London for a while and researched all the patents and intellectual property for the CBS sale of Fender in the British LIbrary which is where I first met him and he went to raise the $22m to build the Guitar Factory and return production to America. He reported to BIll Schultz and Bill Mendello and worked closely with Dan Smith the man who saved Fender indeed. John was an intellectual property lawyer and a marketing guru he was the guy who brought in all the British guitar gods to help Fender and he was the first person pre Smith and Schultz who cared about Fender and made the Becks, Claptons, Townshends, Gilmours, Knopflers, Stings, Pages, Howes, Summers, Blackmores, Edges and Murphys of this planet feel that at last someone cared about Fender and he was the first person from Fender that had ever talked to them and he made them all shareholders and signature model candidates. He wrote a book about it and passed away a few years ago I heard. 
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  • guitars4youguitars4you Frets: 14038
    tFB Trader
    stratblx said:
    Thanks for the update and I recall what he did to help the re-build from the early 80's onwards

    John Hill - is that the same John Hill use to work for Ivor Arbiter and Paiste amongst others - tall guy with a beard I recall
    John didn't work for Arbiters he worked for Fender USA which is why Arbiter didn't like him reporting back the lack of customer service or setups and repairs in the UK. From what I remember yes 6' 6" and he did artist relations and brand for Paiste and he helped setup Paiste America and then Fender. He lived in London for a while and researched all the patents and intellectual property for the CBS sale of Fender in the British LIbrary which is where I first met him and he went to raise the $22m to build the Guitar Factory and return production to America. He reported to BIll Schultz and Bill Mendello and worked closely with Dan Smith the man who saved Fender indeed. John was an intellectual property lawyer and a marketing guru he was the guy who brought in all the British guitar gods to help Fender and he was the first person pre Smith and Schultz who cared about Fender and made the Becks, Claptons, Townshends, Gilmours, Knopflers, Stings, Pages, Howes, Summers, Blackmores, Edges and Murphys of this planet feel that at last someone cared about Fender and he was the first person from Fender that had ever talked to them and he made them all shareholders and signature model candidates. He wrote a book about it and passed away a few years ago I heard. 
    Yes I recall him as a big guy - Well over 6'  - I think I first knew him during his days with Paiste

    Shooting from the hip and a fading memory bank, did he not then work for Ensoniq for a while ?
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  • Thanks for the update and I recall what he did to help the re-build from the early 80's onwards

    John Hill - is that the same John Hill use to work for Ivor Arbiter and Paiste amongst others - tall guy with a beard I recall
    Yeh but no but yeh as they used to say on Little Britain, John was working for Fender USA and he spent 50% of the time in Britain and the rest in the USA and setup the marketing and advertising for Paiste America taking the line away from Fender USA and then setup the Artist Programme that saw him signing all the Britpack luminary guitarists from the UK who rebranded and revived Fender when the rest of the world hated Fender and the artists that still played Fender used 50s and 60s pre CBS instruments, John extended his into marketing and brand direction into record labels, producer and artist management, and technology startups whilst continuing with his artist relations work 
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  • JetfireJetfire Frets: 1687
    Holy necro bump!
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  • mrkbmrkb Frets: 6637
    Jetfire said:
    Holy necro bump!
    Give stratblx his due he’s only ever made two comments (both in this thread three years apart). It must mean a lot to him! ;) 
    Karma......
    Ebay mark7777_1
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