New G&L Facebook page - CLF RESEARCH CO.

Post by **Craig** » Fri Jan 19, 2018 3:26 pm

This was recently posted on the G&L Facebook page:

Are you a fan of Leo Fender? Follow the new CLF Research page. We'll share the story of what Clarence Leo Fender did after selling Fender to CBS,
but there will also be Leo's photos and artifacts going back to the early Fender company days. CLF Research is the thread that connects all three of
Leo's brands: Fender, Music Man and G&L. This should be fun.

About CLF Research

CLF Research was founded by Leo Fender in January 1966, following the completion of his sale of Fender Musical Instruments to CBS in April, 1965.
At CLF Research, Leo continued design and engineering support to CBS/Fender, later designed and manufactured instruments for his Music Man brand
and finally for his G&L brand. Located at 2548 Fender Avenue in Fullerton, California.

I will add to this thread when posts and photos are added to this new G&L Facebook page

.

Post by **Craig** » Fri Jan 19, 2018 3:29 pm

1966 CLF Research letterhead. CLF stands for Clarence Leo Fender. The address was on Elm Avenue in Fullerton.
Leo had moved his office, lab and private workshop out of the CBS/Fender company building and into the Elm Avenue building.
He moved CLF Research again to his new development on Fender Avenue in 1972.

Post by **Craig** » Fri Jan 19, 2018 3:33 pm

On July 5th, 1966, Leo signed a lease for the Elm Avenue building. Soon after, Leo's office, lab and private workshop were moved
from CBS/Fender to the Elm Avenue building, the new home of CLF Research.

Post by **Craig** » Fri Jan 19, 2018 6:04 pm

Leo completed development of the Fender Electric XII after CBS had taken over Fender management in 1965.
This development mule is among the examples of Leo's work for CBS/Fender at CLF Research.

Danley · Post by **Danley** » Fri Jan 19, 2018 6:33 pm

Didn't know about that address. I live pretty close, I might drive by.

cho · Post by **cho** » Sat Jan 20, 2018 9:58 am

If G&L came out with a XII model like that, I would buy it in a heartbeat!

Post by **Craig** » Sat Jan 20, 2018 7:39 pm

Leo worked on a 3-bolt neck with micro tilt for Fender acoustics.

Post by **Craig** » Sun Jan 21, 2018 7:49 am

The caption reads: "This is a rear view of Bandmaster Amp with back panels removed, showing terminal board construction.

Danley · Post by **Danley** » Sun Jan 21, 2018 8:08 pm

cho wrote:If G&L came out with a XII model like that, I would buy it in a heartbeat!

Could totally settle for the Fender version. Love the bridge on those, no one else would have thought to make them string through with the sustain block and intonation for each string; no one except Leo

Post by **Craig** » Tue Jan 23, 2018 9:23 am

Leo's circa 1973 photo shows a typical example of one of his Fender Avenue buildings under construction.

Does this location still exists? If it does, what is it now?

CLF Research Yes, all of the Fender Avenue buildings exist and are occupied. Each building is divided into 10 units,
each with office space in front and warehouse space in the rear. The Fender Avenue development was an income property for Leo.
Some buildings were retained by Leo for his factory operations.

Post by **Craig** » Tue Jan 23, 2018 3:27 pm

GHS Strings supplied special strings to CLF Research, including G&L "Hot Rounds" brand. This letter to Leo from GHS Sales Manager Dave Holcomb is regarding samples.

Elwood · Post by **Elwood** » Tue Jan 23, 2018 9:49 pm

Cool, thanks Craig for relaying the info from FB.
I've wondered how close vintage Boomers are to 'Hot Rounds'.

Here's my stash...

Post by **Craig** » Tue Jan 23, 2018 10:02 pm

In 1967, Leo was still working as a consultant to CBS/Fender and carried out his development work from CLF Research, formed the prior year.
This pickup was among a random lot in one of his drawers labeled "pickups".

Post by **Craig** » Wed Jan 24, 2018 11:26 am

Now that we are coming in Leo's lab and office more, we decided we have to at least vacuum the floor.
For 27 years these rooms have been closed, so the cleaners don't go in here.

Post by **Craig** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 2:06 pm

Leo in the process of inventing a new vibrato which pivots on two posts. The completed design would be introduced later in the new G&L brand.

Post by **Craig** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 2:07 pm

Leo's circa 1968 Telecaster development work for CBS/Fender. In future posts we will discuss its features.

Post by **Craig** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 2:09 pm

Leo Fender to Fender Salesmen on CBS/Fender letterhead and dated June 4, 1968. That the letter was not on CLF Research letterhead suggests a warmth and active participation with his former company.

Post by **Craig** » Mon Jan 29, 2018 10:37 pm

In Leo's lab, his "breadboard instruments" were used to quickly test new pickups and their position.
In this case, a twin MFD single coil arrangement mounted on a wooden board, with pickup selector switch,
series/parallel switch, volume and tone pots on a separate plate.

This example seems to have been with him a long time, considering the Fender era bridge, Music Man era neck
and G&L era MFD pickups. These "breadboard instruments" were workhorses, perhaps with neck swaps over the years.
We suppose this one started out with a late '60s Fender neck.

Post by **Craig** » Tue Jan 30, 2018 8:51 pm

Leo Fender's circa 1978 CLF Research envelope. The graphic features a Music Man Stingray guitar which he designed and
manufactured at his CLF Research factory here on Fender Avenue.

Post by **Craig** » Wed Jan 31, 2018 9:13 pm

CLF Research guitar humbucker mounted in body section shows mounting and adjustability

FZTNT · Post by **FZTNT** » Thu Feb 01, 2018 1:41 pm

How would you adjust the pole heights on a pickup like this? Or can you, it looks like some are higher than others?

Tom

Post by **Craig** » Thu Feb 01, 2018 8:49 pm

FZTNT wrote:How would you adjust the pole heights on a pickup like this? Or can you, it looks like some are higher than others?

Tom

This is a pre-MFD so the poles pieces are not adjustable. Only the three mounting screws are adjustable, to raise/lower the pickup.

Post by **Craig** » Thu Feb 01, 2018 8:50 pm

G&L L-1000 control plate drawing by George Fullerton (GWF) and approved by Leo Fender (F).

FZTNT · Post by **FZTNT** » Fri Feb 02, 2018 11:17 am

Craig wrote:
FZTNT wrote:How would you adjust the pole heights on a pickup like this? Or can you, it looks like some are higher than others?

Tom
This is a pre-MFD so the poles pieces are not adjustable. Only the three mounting screws are adjustable, to raise/lower the pickup.

I wonder then, if they were purposely made with the center two poles in each row raised?

Tom

Post by **Craig** » Fri Feb 02, 2018 5:17 pm

CLF Research prototype Magnetic Field Design (MFD) bass humbucker. We believe this is late 1978 to early 1979.

Post by **Craig** » Fri Feb 02, 2018 8:29 pm

A CLF prototype which spent decades tucked away in one of our lofts. AUG 21 1977 is stamped in the neck pocket.
It appears to be a Stingray with two roughly cut pockets for large humbuckers.

y2kc · Post by **y2kc** » Sat Feb 03, 2018 7:15 am

George and Leo were a powerhouse of design. Leo could not have had a better partner.

Keep this stuff coming. It is always nice seeing these gems.

y2kc

Danley · Post by **Danley** » Sat Feb 03, 2018 7:26 am

Wow, so CLF was where pre-EB Musicmans.... Musicmen... Were made. For some reason I thought the amps at least were made somewhere in Anaheim.

EDIT: Guess it was just their PO...

John C · Post by **John C** » Sat Feb 03, 2018 9:43 am

Danley wrote:Wow, so CLF was where pre-EB Musicmans.... Musicmen... Were made. For some reason I thought the amps at least were made somewhere in Anaheim.

EDIT: Guess it was just their PO...

Music Man did have a separate amp factory somewhere else in Southern California; only the instruments were made by CLF Research.

From a "business case" perspective Music Man (the company) was owned by Tom Walker (former Fender Sales employee), Forrest White (former Fender plant manager) and Leo Fender. Actually it was founded by Walker and White; they took their initial amp design to Leo for a review at CLF Research circa 1973 - at that point Leo's 5-year consulting deal with CBS/Fender was over, but he was still under the 10-year non-compete until the end of 1974.

Leo offered some suggestions to the design, then decided he liked their business plan and became an "investor/silent partner" until his non-compete was over. In January 1975 he was announced as a full partner. When they decided to go into the instrument business they set up an OEM deal where Leo & Company would design and build the instruments at CLF Research then ship them to the Music Man corporation, who would pay CLF for each instrument. Then of course Leo would get paid again when Music Man sold the instruments to their dealer network.

It worked for a few years; Leo had a falling out with Walker and White over finish blemishes in the instruments - dealers started rejecting instruments for finish flaws, but under the contractual relationship between CLF and Music Man CLF was responsible for repairing/replacing any instruments rejected by either the MM instpectors at the amp factory or by dealers, but MM would pay CLF for warranty repairs (so Leo was only paying for 1/3 of the post-sale warranty repair costs but 100% of pre-sale rejected instruments). I don't think MM was really inspecting them unit after the dealers started rejecting them.

That pissed Leo off so he pulled out of the partnership with Music Man in 1979 but the CLF Research OEM contract for the instruments (which was now 4 models - StingRay and Sabre basses; StingRay and Sabre guitars) continued. It was at this point in time that Leo & George decided to create the G&L line; they were made along-side the Music Mans for a while there in 1980/81.

The end of the CLF Research/Music Man relationship reads like depositions in a high-stakes divorce in that each blamed the other side for what happened, but by the end of 1981 CLF Research was only producing G&L instruments and Music Man had to go elsewhere for instrument production. Eventually Leo retired the CLF Research name. Music Man wound up going bankrupt in 1984 (by that time Walker and White had also parted ways and only Walker was running the company), eventually being sold to Ernie Ball. Ernie's son Sterling had worked for Music Man as a bass tester for a few years (Tom Walker was a good friend of Ernie and was Sterling's godfather) and convinced his father to buy the intellectual property - but they of course didn't buy the Music Man amp factory; they put the guitars back into production in EB's shuttered Earthwood guitar factory (in another "small world" EB had employed George Fullerton for a few years to set up the Earthwood factory; George of course returned to CLF Research when EB pulled the plug on the Earthwoods).

FZTNT · Post by **FZTNT** » Sat Feb 03, 2018 12:13 pm

What year was this advertisement from?

Tom

Post by **Craig** » Mon Feb 05, 2018 2:30 pm

circa 1976 - neck sanding in the CLF factory.

Post by **Craig** » Mon Feb 05, 2018 8:16 pm

Leo's circa 1968 - 1969 Telecaster development work for CBS/Fender. This experimental bridge has fixed saddle height
relative to the plate but the plate can be raised and lowered on two machined posts. Note the saddles go through the plate.
In a few minutes we'll show the back side and talk about that.

Post by **Craig** » Mon Feb 05, 2018 8:17 pm

Rear view of Leo's 1968 to 1969 Telecaster development concept. Two main points here. First, the string pull makes the saddle act as a lever,
forcing the bottom side of the saddle against the body end grain. About 10 years later he found a more efficient way to transfer more string energy
with his Saddle Lock bridge introduced on his G&L brand. Second, Leo was developing on-board active circuits powered by 9 volts (6 AAA batteries).

Post by **Craig** » Tue Feb 06, 2018 9:53 pm

November 19, 1969 drawing shows string bender installation.

Post by **Craig** » Thu Feb 08, 2018 10:05 am

Even Leo resorted to writing "STRAT-TYPE" when developing the MFD single coil pickup introduced on the original style S-500 in 1982.
The proportions were Strat-like but the ends were rectangular with radiused corners.

FZTNT · Post by **FZTNT** » Thu Feb 08, 2018 1:02 pm

It would appear as if there is a screw in the center between the pole pieces. Is that what it is? If so, has anyone seen a guitar with this exact pickup in it?

Pretty cool stuff, thanks for posting and please, keep em coming.

Tom

EDIT: Well, I did some quick looking around and have discovered that the ASAT Classic and it's variants have a bridge pickup with this hole in the center. I still wonder what its function is.

Tooslowhand · Post by **Tooslowhand** » Thu Feb 08, 2018 1:48 pm

I have no real idea, but maybe it helps them wind the bobbin?

Post by **Craig** » Fri Feb 09, 2018 8:07 am

Circa 1979 prototype Magnetic Field Design guitar humbucker.

FZTNT · Post by **FZTNT** » Fri Feb 09, 2018 12:21 pm

This is further evidence that G&L used hex pole pieces before the slotted ones. I was told they basically used whatever they could find at the local hardware stores. The pole pieces could change from week to week. This shows that just because it has hex poles, it's not an early guitar.

Interesting stuff...

Tom

Post by **Craig** » Sat Feb 10, 2018 12:36 pm

George Fullerton's sister, Shug Atkinson, was hired to wind pickups.

FZTNT · Post by **FZTNT** » Sat Feb 10, 2018 2:54 pm

Geoff Fullerton told me that Shug wound the pickups on my F-100 prototype. That was the first I had heard of her and at first thought he was referring to a sister of his. He later corrected me that Shug was his Aunt.

Tom

Post by **Craig** » Sat Feb 17, 2018 11:45 am

December 31, 1962 receipt from Race & Olmsted. Four sets of machined pickup winder parts included: block, pulleys and bearings.
Leo likely needed to make more winders as the Fender business was growing. We will talk about Race & Olmsted more as we go along.

Post by **Craig** » Sat Feb 17, 2018 11:46 am

1976 photo of Leo's mobile home he lived in with his first wife, Esther, until she passed away in 1979. Though he was a wealthy man,
he lived a modest lifestyle aside from his yachts. The Mercedes 450SE was a luxury gift for Esther.

For our followers outside the US, a mobile home can be transported to a new location rather than selling the house and buying another.
The space the home sits on was typically rented. This concept enjoyed some popularity, mostly in the 1950s and 1960s.

Post by **Craig** » Sat Feb 17, 2018 11:53 am

Telecaster body shape and control plate, Saddle Lock bridge, two slanted single coil pickups and pickguard concept sketch likely by George.

Post by **Craig** » Sat Feb 17, 2018 11:55 am

The Lab was the center of Leo's creativity. He moved it from Fender to CLF Research in 1966.

Post by **Craig** » Sat Feb 17, 2018 11:56 am

1982 - Leo Fender gives one of his new G&L guitars to the legendary Freddy Fender. Freddy took the stage name "Fender" in part because he loved Leo's guitars.

Post by **Craig** » Sat Feb 17, 2018 11:57 am

January 24, 1972 - CBS memo from Dave Gupton to Fender Salesmen introducing the new natural finish, which became known as Natural Ash.

Post by **Craig** » Sat Feb 17, 2018 11:57 am

This is the photo which accompanied the 1972 CBS memo posted earlier today.

Post by **Craig** » Sat Feb 17, 2018 11:58 am

Strat pickup mounted on test board. To see how Leo used his test boards, scroll down to the breadboard instrument we posted earlier.

Post by **Craig** » Sun Feb 18, 2018 9:03 am

1976 cutaway view shows truss rod action on early Stingray guitar. "LC" is Lloyd Chewning, another ex-Fender man to join CLF Research.
Lloyd continued as plant manager here until he passed away in 1992 if I remember correctly.