The Fullerton Museum Center sits in a small Spanish Revival building on the eastern edge of downtown and runs a programme of rotating exhibitions on local history, regional art, and pop culture. The permanent collection has been built around the Leo Fender exhibit — celebrating the Fullerton-based engineer who invented the Telecaster, Stratocaster, and Precision Bass and helped shape the sound of 20th-century popular music.
The Fender exhibit alone draws guitarists and music historians from across the country; the collection includes original prototypes and personal items from Fender's workshop. The museum is also a regular venue for the city's free Thursday-evening summer concerts in the adjacent plaza. Closed Mondays.