New G&L Facebook page - CLF RESEARCH CO.

Post by **Craig** » Fri Apr 20, 2018 7:11 pm

Random stuff: Leo Fender’s receipt for getting his car filled up and washed on May 7, 1983.
The number 1959 is the year he first got a Union 76 credit card. Mine says 1993.

Post by **Craig** » Fri Apr 20, 2018 7:13 pm

You want some cool history? Here you go. Before the Music Man brand existed, first there was Tri-Sonix.

Post by **Craig** » Sat Apr 28, 2018 7:33 am

Fender promo shot of tweed cases like the ones made by G & G Quality Case today. Gerry Germain keeps the tradition alive at G&G.
Still made in Los Angeles. We go back a long time.

Post by **Craig** » Sat Apr 28, 2018 7:35 am

I just put some CLF Research guitar knobs on the 1984 Cavalier. Those are the original knurled knobs sitting on top.
I borrowed these CLF knobs from our 1980 natural hog F-100, but Johnny has Machinist Mike making more of the CLF guitar
knobs now. When those are ready I’ll swap the oldies back on the F-100.

Post by **Craig** » Sat Apr 28, 2018 7:37 am

Just got a little tool slice on my finger. After at least 27 years, this Bactine spray is still good. Thanks, Leo!

Post by **Craig** » Sat Apr 28, 2018 7:38 am

circa 1987 ad slick for the 2nd gen SC-3. You could rock a hot pink body with full matching neck and ebony board. G&L did the ‘80s well.

Post by **Craig** » Sat Apr 28, 2018 7:39 am

Front and back covers of the 1980 catalog.

Post by **Craig** » Mon Apr 30, 2018 10:40 am

1984 CLF Research employment agreement for George.

Post by **Craig** » Mon Apr 30, 2018 1:11 pm

CLF Research sisters: 1978 Sabre II and 1984 Cavalier.

Post by **Craig** » Mon Apr 30, 2018 7:27 pm

Generations of Leo’s tech and George’s style, each model was bold and forward looking when new.

y2kc · Post by **y2kc** » Tue May 01, 2018 4:48 am

These guitars were bold and forward looking when new but they have survived the test of time very nicely. George's designs were well thought out and look as fresh today as they did when they left the drafting table. These designs do not look dated or as if they are from the past. These are just my feelings based off of what other builders are building now.

There are exceptions to this in the pre-bbe line up but this Musicman and G&L are timeless.

y2kc

Danley · Post by **Danley** » Tue May 01, 2018 5:41 am

They have a really alternate universe vibe to me- forward looking but without any of the "standardized" hardware or formatting that so many present day guitars (I won't use the word "modern") always utilize. It's kind of like looking at a 90s Subaru and realizing how much more advanced it is than a lot of modern cars.

JagInTheBag · Post by **JagInTheBag** » Tue May 01, 2018 9:34 am

y2kc wrote:These guitars were bold and forward looking when new but they have survived the test of time very nicely. George's designs were well thought out and look as fresh today as they did when they left the drafting table. These designs do not look dated or as if they are from the past. These are just my feelings based off of what other builders are building now.

There are exceptions to this in the pre-bbe line up but this Musicman and G&L are timeless.

y2kc

I really prefer the SkyHawk control plate shape of all those advanced by George and Leo. To me, that is the only one that truly looks complete with or without a pick-guard. The Music Man one looks chunky and "stuck on", the F-100 less so. Additionally, I'd like to see a CLF offering but with certain cosmetic enhancements like countersunk control plates- things that show off the evolution of their manufacturing capability. Just my $0.02

Post by **Craig** » Tue May 01, 2018 8:29 pm

Twin Amp

Post by **Craig** » Thu May 03, 2018 11:41 am

Bassman Amp

Post by **Craig** » Sun May 06, 2018 7:07 pm

Posted this to the G&L page on Friday. Robert Poss and his modded SCs were inspirational to us when we developed the Fallout.
Just look at his SC-1 here. It’s so damn cool. His pickguard transformed the look and this guitar’s 35 years of life experience has faded its
vibrant G&L Viking Blue to a muted greenish hue. It’s so killer I can hardly stand it.

Post by **Craig** » Mon May 07, 2018 10:08 pm

Our 1982 F-100 E is originally equipped with an active preamp. Bassists who understand the functions of the L-2000 bass will get this.
The LP style toggle is the pickup selector. The red 3-way mini toggle controlled coils. The black 3-way mini toggle controls the preamp off/on/on
with treble boost. Hope I got that right.

Post by **Craig** » Wed May 09, 2018 2:04 pm

Photo 1: This building used to be Race & Olmsted, the tool and die company that made and maintained the stamping dies for Fender’s metal shop.
Photo 2: taken in 1997, a view down the alley next to what was the old Fender building (similar to the CLF Research building). At the end of the alley is the
big CBS building. The covered area is where the train cars delivered wood at CBS/Fender. The CBS building was demolished about twelve years ago.

Post by **Craig** » Sat May 12, 2018 8:38 am

“Five New Fenders” CBS/Fender brochure. I believe it was 1972.

Post by **Craig** » Mon May 14, 2018 7:13 pm

Such an appealing photo. I couldn’t play a decent note with it but I want it anyway. Edit: anyone know if this is a 1957 String-Master 4 neck?

Post by **Craig** » Wed May 16, 2018 3:00 pm

Our F-100 is looking nice tonight. On here I’ve called it a 1980, another time a 1981, but the truth is I don’t remember.
Now, I keep the preamp switch on when playing our black F-100. That’s really how these pickups were intended to be used.
My guess is Dale Hyatt, running sales, would get too much pushback from dealers with an active-only setup in a guitar.
That was a lesson learned from the Music Man days. But damn, it’s super cool with that preamp on.
This F-100 has no preamp at all.

Post by **Craig** » Wed May 16, 2018 4:43 pm

July 1, 1976 - Music Man price list with the new Stingray Guitar and Stingray Bass made in Leo’s new CLF Research factory on Fender Avenue.

Post by **Craig** » Thu May 17, 2018 6:03 am

circa 1983 promo sheet for the new Nighthawk. The name was changed to Skyhawk the following year.

Post by **Craig** » Thu May 17, 2018 7:29 pm

The grande dame of our collection is Tony’s ‘81 L-2000.

Post by **Craig** » Fri May 18, 2018 8:48 pm

May 12, 1980 invoice for instruments produced and shipped to Music Man, Inc

Post by **Craig** » Fri May 18, 2018 8:54 pm

Ideas were explored.

Elwood · Post by **Elwood** » Fri May 18, 2018 11:10 pm

Wow,
I didn't expect that, I really like everything about it,
...the sleek lines, and I bet the longer headstock gives it a unique voice.

Someone should string it up.

yowhatsshakin · Post by **yowhatsshakin** » Sat May 19, 2018 7:52 am

Elwood wrote:Wow,
I didn't expect that, I really like everything about it,
...the sleek lines, and I bet the longer headstock gives it a unique voice.

Someone should string it up.

Might be a little neck heavy though. Which may be the reason the headstock is so sleek, while still trying to preserve structural integrity. But with that 5th tuning machine so far out, it is a sizable torque.

- Jos

Elwood · Post by **Elwood** » Sat May 19, 2018 4:35 pm

Good points Jos,
Maybe a wide strap could counter that some.
It sure would look cool with a body like your ASAT Bass proto.
...very tele-ish

Post by **Craig** » Mon May 21, 2018 3:51 pm

May 5, 1981 - Red Wootten wrote to Leo and George to say how great his new L-2000 was. Over his storied career,
Red won the Academy of Country Music (ACA) Award for Best Bassist in 1982.

GVDub · Post by **GVDub** » Thu May 24, 2018 8:28 am

Craig wrote:
Fender promo shot of tweed cases like the ones made by G & G Quality Case today. Gerry Germain keeps the tradition alive at G&G.
Still made in Los Angeles. We go back a long time.

I did an interview with Gerry and a tour of the G&G factory just recently to promote some limited-run cases they were doing for GC/MF and Fender. Love that their newest industrial stiching machine for sewing the leather caps on the cases dates back to 1912. Good follks and excellent cases. Need to get a new one made up to replace the original Victoria-made case for my '52 Dual Pro lap steel.

FZTNT · Post by **FZTNT** » Thu May 24, 2018 9:48 am

[quote="Craig"]

You can barely see the skunk stripe on this neck...pretty cool.

Tom

Post by **Craig** » Mon May 28, 2018 11:01 am

Champ amp

Post by **Craig** » Mon May 28, 2018 11:03 am

circa 1983 neck features sheet by G&L Music Sales, Inc.

Post by **Craig** » Mon May 28, 2018 11:07 am

June 4, 1981. It's my birthday and I'm holding my new Tele dad got for me. I wanted a Strat, but that's another story and not as good as this one.

It was afternoon, and mom called dad to remind him to bring home a guitar for my birthday. As some of you know, my dad John was recruited by CBS away from Yamaha to become president of the CBS Musical Instruments Division, and hopefully sort out the bugs. Maybe we'll get into some of those stories from back in the day, but moving on....

Dad had hired Bill Schultz and some other guys from Yamaha. Bill really, really, REALLY wanted to come over to CBS from Yamaha, and dad hired him and installed Bill as president of the Fender/Rodgers/Rhodes unit within the Division.

On my birthday, dad calls Bill into his office and told him to get David (me) a guitar, whatever the latest thing is. Bill called Roger Cox, head of R&D, into his office and he tells him to get one of the prototype '52 Teles and bring it to his office. Roger went to Scott Zimmerman and John Page told them to get one ready for John McLaren by the end of the day. Scott said the neck is warped so they need to replace it, and Roger replied to just get one out of the factory because they've run the first ten.

My brother Johnny walked with Scott into the big CBS factory, went right to the polish department where they had a few of the new '52 Tele necks. Scott selected the best one and then the guys walked back to R&D in the the old building. Scott and either Steve Bolinger or John Page put the guitar together and into a prototype tweed case. Johnny was instructed to take it to Bill's office, not knowing anything about it being a guitar for me.

Trouble was, that they had put this Tele together for Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders, and had planned to put another neck on it before she came to pick it up in a few days. Didn't matter, Bill had given the order.

When Johnny brought the Tele to Bill's office, a new Super Champ was sitting there, one of the first to come off the line. Turns out, that amp was for me. Later that afternoon, Bill dropped by our house to bring the Tele and Super Champ.

So that night, I'm pumped because I knew I would getting the new guitar. It wasn't the Candy Apple Red "The Strat" I wanted, but hey, it was cool. So, I open my birthday present and Johnny realized that's the same guitar he'd been shuttling around the factory!

As for that Tele, Johnny has in his office. In Leo's lab Johnny found an old grey box labeled "old Tele pickups" and installed them in the guitar.

Post by **Craig** » Mon May 28, 2018 11:18 am

So here’s the Tele today. The thought just never occurs to me to take it out for a spin for old times sake. I think I’m gonna plug it in for a bit right now.

Post by **Craig** » Mon May 28, 2018 11:33 am

A prototype in Leo’s lab, perhaps 1983. We can see that he was developing MFD angled mini-humbuckers made with modified SC-2 pickup covers.
The neck and middle pickups are both the same size as the SC-2 neck pickup, so just the bridge pickup is longer as it is on the SC-2. 5-way selector, volume,
treble, bass (PTB). We also see the control plate is in raw prototype form, which leads me to believe this was built during the concept stage of the sister
models Nighthawk (3SC like S-500) and Cavalier. The Cavalier has just two angled mini-humbuckers. The bridge was probably unceremoniously taken for
some other project happening. I think I’ll bring this one back to life and take it for a spin.

Post by **Craig** » Mon May 28, 2018 11:42 am

Apropos of yesterday’s post with the prototype angled mini-humbuckers, check out our 1984 Cavalier which has the production version of those pickups.

Post by **Craig** » Mon May 28, 2018 11:48 am

That’s a lot of of dust from a long time in Leo’s lab. For the million times I bumble across it, I don’t recall ever plugging it in.
Anyway, the interesting thing going on here is the slug pole pieces in the bridge pickup. I believe the G&L Dual Fulcrum Vibrato with
Fine Tuners was already in production at the time of this test mule.

FZTNT · Post by **FZTNT** » Mon May 28, 2018 3:38 pm

Yum, Yum, Yum...love this guitar !!

Tom

ps. Thanks for sharing.

Post by **Craig** » Tue May 29, 2018 7:29 pm

Dealers had some trouble distinguishing between examples like our black F-100 E with active preamp versus the aged natural F-100 which was passive only (no preamp).

Occasionally I might get confused and have to check the old instruction sheet, which you might notice takes a bit of effort to process.
That said, there is an impressive range of cool tones to be dialed in.

Post by **Craig** » Wed May 30, 2018 8:16 pm

Guitarist, producer and long time member of The Doobie Brothers John McFee and session and touring bassist Pancho Tomaselli hanging out in Leo’s office.
The guys are holding our 1975 CLF Research Music Man prototypes.

Post by **Craig** » Fri Jun 01, 2018 10:43 pm

1982 S-500. The original version. Clear blue over swamp ash, ebony fingerboard. The original MFD guitar single coil pickup,
clearly an evolution of a Strat pickup and showcasing his new technology. Now excuse me while I go play it for a while.

Post by **Craig** » Mon Jun 04, 2018 11:22 am

Here’s a peek under the pickguard of the 1982 S-500. It looks much like the whole body did 36 years ago,
while clear coat on the rest of the body has aged making the color look more like teal.

Post by **Craig** » Wed Jun 06, 2018 6:49 am

“To Leo Fender: Thanks for favors years ago - Best Always, Quincy Snodgrass.”

Post by **Craig** » Wed Jun 06, 2018 6:50 am

A box of defective Stingray control plates in the lab. Leo liked to analyze what went wrong so he could make improvements.

Post by **Craig** » Wed Jun 06, 2018 6:51 am

I’ve just been cheese-grating my forearm on this rough-sanded mahogany. Well, not quite that bad, but kind of a rash.
This afternoon we were cobbling something together to test one thing, then later I remembered it’s a totally playable guitar.
Sounded like a good time to make some noise.

WitSok · Post by **WitSok** » Thu Jun 07, 2018 4:51 am

Craig wrote:
I’ve just been cheese-grating my forearm on this rough-sanded mahogany. Well, not quite that bad, but kind of a rash.
This afternoon we were cobbling something together to test one thing, then later I remembered it’s a totally playable guitar.
Sounded like a good time to make some noise.

Kind of lools like a Cavalier prototype...

DFV, pickguard, old school control plate, min-toggle switch.... Here's hopen!

Post by **Craig** » Thu Jun 07, 2018 7:02 am

Here is our 1986 Skyhawk in 3-Tone Sunburst over mahogany, ebony board and matching headstock. Imagine an S-500 of today looking like this and that’s pretty much the experience.
I think George really nailed the aesthetics for this body shape, introduced on the 1980 G&L F-100.

y2kc · Post by **y2kc** » Thu Jun 07, 2018 10:09 am

Craig,

I agree on George's F-100 body shape. The best variation of the strat shape. Big, beefy and sometimes just a tad on the weighty side. Great guitars.

Thanks for posting this stuff here.

y2kc