It is "G&L" not "G by L" ....when the question comes up people explain G&L means "George and Leo" and even if someone clarifies the history and this change the clarification references "George & Leo" so Leo could never get away from G&L representing its founders George & Leo.
George & Leo and Guitars by Leo
George Fullerton and Leo Fender, started G&L Musical Instruments in 1980.
Around 1986, the meaning of G&L was changed from “George and Leo” to “Guitars by Leo”. This change was prompted by Leo[*].
[*Reference information provided by member GPD]
Last edited by Craig on Fri Mar 29, 2013 10:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
Updated based on GPD info
Last bumped by Craig on Fri Jan 17, 2014 10:05 am.
It is "G&L" not "G by L" ....when the question comes up people explain G&L means "George and Leo" and even if someone clarifies the history and this change the clarification references "George & Leo" so Leo could never get away from G&L representing its founders George & Leo.
George & Leo and Guitars by Leo
George Fullerton and Leo Fender, started G&L Musical Instruments in 1980.
Around 1986, the meaning of G&L was changed from “George and Leo” to “Guitars by Leo”. This change was prompted by Leo[*].
[*Reference information provided by member GPD]
Last edited by Craig on Fri Mar 29, 2013 10:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
Updated based on GPD info
Last bumped by Craig on Fri Jan 17, 2014 10:05 am.
Here is the specific quote from the reference I posted:
Guitars by Leo:
Around this same timeframe, the meaning of G&L was changed from “George and Leo” to “Guitars by Leo”. This change was prompted by Leo. Leo actually wanted to change the entire brand name, however, Dale saw no good reason to do this as it took years to establish the brand and all marketing, advertising, decals, and many hardware components would have to be changed with associated artwork and tooling costs to consider. Dale came up with the idea of changing the meaning so to avoid this cost and headaches…thankfully, Leo agreed. The trademark was indeed registered and if you called the office the phone was answered, “Hello, Guitars by Leo.” Some have refuted the reality of this but it indeed was the case.
Since this information comes from Gabe Dellevigne, who was a close friend of Dale Hyatt, I have no reason to doubt it's historical authenticity.
I am just saying that the change did not fit the name. Time has proven it didn't work. Legally it might have removed George from the paperwork but people still think of the origin of the "G&L" when there is an opportunity to describe what a G&L is.
And they "forgot" to tell George Fullerton about that change of meaning? In his book he wrote that "Guitars by Leo" was just brought up by some uninformed journalists.
Miles Smiles wrote:And they "forgot" to tell George Fullerton about that change of meaning? In his book he wrote that "Guitars by Leo" was just brought up by some uninformed journalists.
I was aware of the COA description and waited until I could confirm with Dave that BBE was responsible to creating
the COA. I have now completed the G&L Musical Instruments, what does G&L stand for? post.
The history is laid out clearly and it explains why things are the way they are currently........nice work clarifying all of that Craig.
The part that never made sense was Leo trying to change G&L to mean Guitars by Leo. An ampersand does not mean by. It means and. To remove George from the picture they could have called it Guitars and Leo and it would have made sense. Guitars and Leo could be the title for a biography, autobiography or documentary on Leo Fender. It speaks of his passion.
This also should dis-spell the notion, that some have, that BBE was responsible for changing the meaning to Guitars By Leo, when in fact,
BBE changed it back to the original meaning of George and Leo.
