The Swinger was marketed as another cheaper, short-scale 'student' guitar, but never seriously promoted, with resulting low popularity.

[2] The Swinger and its cousin, the Custom, were both developed under the supervision of Virgilio 'Babe' Simoni, without the help or even involvement of Fender's R&D Department.

Records of Swinger production and sales are poor and it is unclear exactly how many were produced or which parts were used on each instrument.

[4] Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads used a Swinger in live performances, as seen in the concert movie Stop Making Sense.

Zac Pennington used a modified version of the guitar on tours with his project Parenthetical Girls.