Mike Lewis, a longtime employee at Fender who most recently served as Vice President of Product Development in the company’s Custom Shop, died March 6.
Lewis’ music career began in 1969, when his first professional gig was backing Chuck Berry on an opening slot with the Rolling Stones. A year later, he began working as a session player in New York City, where he was also involved in the off-Broadway scene and played venues such as Carnegie Hall and Madison Square Garden.
In the mid ’70s, Lewis moved west and played in bands in Los Angeles and Santa Cruz. Several years later, he moved to Virginia, where he opened Charlottesville Music and became a Fender dealer.
In 1991, Lewis was hired by Fender to work in telephone sales and joined the company at its new headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was quickly moved into product development, where as Marketing Manager in 1992/’93 he led the team working on the DeVille and Vibro-King amps, the latter with a circuit designed by Bruce Zinky. After moving into guitar development, he guided design of the Lone Star Stratocaster, the company’s first production version with a humbucking pickup. When the company assumed control of marketing, production, and distribution of Gretsch guitars in 2002, Lewis strived to ensure that the brand’s instruments remained true to the originals; he and Senior V.P. of Marketing (later Senior V.P. of Business Affairs) Ritchie Fliegler took a particularly good-sounding 1959 6120 to a medical imaging lab for scans, hoping to learn its secrets.
In the years that followed, Lewis assumed multiple roles; after learning to write code, he spearheaded development of Fender’s first online store and oversaw its website.
Veterans on the shop floor especially appreciated Lewis’ deep understanding of the company’s history.
“Mike was my first real boss as I became his assistant and worked on launches for the Lone Star and Roadhouse Strats as well as the Jimmie Vaughan signature model,” said Chris Gill, who retired as Director of Sales Operations in 2022, after 30 years with the company. “He was a sensei in many ways and taught me to understand products and marketing. He studied everything with a deep passion. He was my true mentor, and most of all, my trusted friend.”
“Mike was an artist; he was a gifted guitar player, but he was also an expert photographer and fine-painter,” Fliegler added. “When [former Fender CEO] Bill Schultz would talk to Mike and the rest of our gang – we called ourselves the Black Sheep Squadron – he’d say, ‘I’d rather teach you guys business than try and teach business guys about what a guitar is. You’ve spent your lives loving these and using them. Your depth of knowledge is impossible to impart.’
“When Mike had conversations with Billy Gibbons, Jimmie Vaughn, or whichever superstar player, it was certainly business, but it was also a peer-to-peer conversation about instruments, problem solving, and shared experiences.”
“Mike’s strong vision, cultivated over decades as a player, shaped his approach,” said Justin Norvell, Fender’s Executive Vice President of Product. “His wealth of experience, perspective, and wisdom became the foundation he brought to Fender. He didn’t just work here, he lived and embodied the spirit of the brand.”
This article originally appeared in VG’s May 2024 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
