G&L
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G&L is a guitar design and production company founded by Leo Fender and George Fullerton in the late 1970s, after Fender left the company he founded and that still bears his name. G&L instruments are similar to the classic Fenders, but with some modern innovations. They are hand built on Fender Avenue, in Fullerton, California. They are not widely distributed but are highly regarded by studio musicians.
In 1991, after the passing of the late Leo Fender, Fender's wife, Phyllis Fender, made the decision to pass the management of G&L to BBE Sound under the management of John C. McLaren in an effort to expand and develop the company even after Leo's death. George Fullerton remains as a permanent consultant in this new relationship, and Leo's wife Phyllis remains as Honorary Chairman of G&L.
G&L produces several distinct models of guitar & bass products including the following instruments:
Summary of Guitar Styles
ASAT - Similar design to the telecaster; offered as a solid-body instrument as well as a hollow-body instrument
Comanche - Similar design to the stratocaster, but utilizes a pickup known as the Z-coil which incorporates G&L's patented Magnetic Field Design, along with the G&L Dual Fulcrum vibrato (see below)
George Fullerton Signature model - Similar design to the stratocaster, utilizes the G&L Dual Fulcrum vibrato (see below)
Invader - Uses a Floyd Rose bridge locking vibrato system, with a locking nut
Legacy - Similar design to the stratocaster, with design considerations derived from older stratocaster models from the 1950's and 1960's such as a 3-way pickup selection switch instead of the more modern 5-way pickup selection switch
S-500 - Similar design to the stratocaster, utilizes the G&L Dual Fulcrum vibrato (see below)
Summary of Bass Styles
ASAT
JB-2
L-series
SB-2
G&L guitars offer several design innovations to differentiate them from other guitar production companies, including:
The Dual-Fulcrum vibrato has two pivot points which promote a sound quality that is more mellow than a traditional bridge, such as a traditional six-screw mounted vibrato. The vibrato is capable of allowing a player to bend notes up and down. The player can adjust the amount of resistance on the vibrato arm.
The Magnetic Field Design pickups use a ceramic bar magnet instead of the traditional Alnico pole-piece pickups that are typically non-adjustable, per-pole. In the Magnetic Field Design pickups, each individual pole is adjustable which allows a player to adjust the pickup output per string as opposed to the entire pickup as a whole.