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New Old G&L Design: "CLF Research Espada"

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  • #1

    New Old G&L Design: "CLF Research Espada"

    According to G&L this design was built off of scrapped plans that Leo came up with back in '69. It appears to be a "modern" take on the Tele with long pole split coil pickups, PTB wiring, series/parallel between the coils, and a low impedance mode with an optional treble boost. The bridge is a "Saddle-Lock" design that claims to be more efficient at transferring energy to the body, which I think is odd. To me all that looks to do is kill sustain.

    Click image for larger version Name: EspadaNat1200.jpg Views: 1 Size: 20.4 KB ID: 5852554

    Any thoughts on this design? It looks pretty cool to me, but I don't know any particulars about the pickups or neck yet.
    Last edited by Chistopher; 08-06-2019, 07:01 PM.
    You will never understand How it feels to live your life With no meaning or control And with nowhere left to go You are amazed that they exist And they burn so bright
    Whilst you can only wonder why
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  • #2
    Re: New Old G&L Design: "CLF Research Espada"

    I think it’s pretty awesome - a couple years ago G&L posted pictures of Leo’s original prototype and its restoration, the stuff they’re doing of late (this, the Skyhawk, The Doheny V12) is pretty appealing.

    The saddle lock bridge is the same as on almost any hardtail G&L Guitar since 1980 ; in part the purpose is to prevent the saddles from being able to wiggle/vibrate independently and lose energy; once you tighten it, action and intonation are locked. It also has a boss into the body to firmly embed itself; its a pretty great design, maybe my favorite bridge.
    Last edited by Silence Kid; 08-06-2019, 10:38 PM.
    Originally posted by King Buzzo
    I love when people come up to me and say “Your guitar sound was better on Stoner Witch, when you used a Les Paul. “...I used a Fender Mustang reissue on that, dumbass!

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    • #3
      Re: New Old G&L Design: "CLF Research Espada"

      The prototype for his was on one of the Andertons (I think) vids - Lee and, again I think, Danish Pete visited the G&L offices and saw Leo’s office, etc. interesting to see it released.


      Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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      • #4
        Re: New Old G&L Design: "CLF Research Espada"

        Block inlays are pretty sexy. I kinda like the more rounded telecaster look (never been a fan of regular telecasters . . . although we're all used to them now, they're among the ugliest electric guitars ever built).
        Join me in the fight against muscular atrophy!

        Originally posted by Douglas Adams
        This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

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        • #5
          Re: New Old G&L Design: "CLF Research Espada"

          I think they know that anything tied to 'designed by Leo Fender' will probably sell. That being said, I kinda dig it. The wood finish makes it look very 70s, but it would be pretty cool with solid colors.
          Administrator of the SDUGF

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          • #6
            Re: New Old G&L Design: "CLF Research Espada"

            First good looking "retro" design I've seen in a long time. I'd rock that in all its bare wood glory!

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            • #7
              Re: New Old G&L Design: "CLF Research Espada"

              reverse the stagger on the pups and im in!

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: New Old G&L Design: "CLF Research Espada"

                Being a G&L user and proponent for almost 25 years, I want to like it...but I don't. It's just not visually attractive to me. The control plate is a dumb shape, the pickguard is unattractive, and the clear finish and black block inlays (two things I despise aesthetically) just make it that much worse.

                Such a shame. All it needs is a better pickguard and control plate shape.
                Last edited by ItsaBass; 08-08-2019, 12:14 AM.
                Originally posted by LesStrat
                Yogi Berra was correct.
                Originally posted by JOLLY
                I do a few chord things, some crappy lead stuff, and then some rhythm stuff.

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                • #9
                  Re: New Old G&L Design: "CLF Research Espada"

                  Originally posted by ItsaBass View Post
                  Being a G&L user and proponent for almost 25 years, I want to like it...but I don't. It's just not visually attractive to me. The control plate is a dumb shape, the pickguard is unattractive, and the clear finish and black block inlays (two things I despise aesthetically) just make it that much worse.

                  Such a shame. All it needs is a better pickguard and control plate shape.
                  I'm a black block-lover, ask my Jazz Bass. I do think it would look better (more 'G&L' too) minus a pickguard. I'm pretty ok with the fact that no Telecaster is visually attractive to me (yet I have two.) So maybe I'm giving the shape leeway for that reason; it does look better for me with the rounder-radiuses edges though.

                  What I dislike about the plate is, it goes up higher than where you'd logically place any controls. Looks like it's only available in burst and natural right now, and I would take the maple/natural first:

                  Originally posted by King Buzzo
                  I love when people come up to me and say “Your guitar sound was better on Stoner Witch, when you used a Les Paul. “...I used a Fender Mustang reissue on that, dumbass!

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: New Old G&L Design: "CLF Research Espada"

                    Originally posted by Chistopher View Post
                    According to G&L this design was built off of scrapped plans that Leo came up with back in '69. It appears to be a "modern" take on the Tele with long pole split coil pickups, PTB wiring, series/parallel between the coils, and a low impedance mode with an optional treble boost. The bridge is a "Saddle-Lock" design that claims to be more efficient at transferring energy to the body, which I think is odd. To me all that looks to do is kill sustain.

                    [ATTACH=CONFIG]100290[/ATTACH]

                    Any thoughts on this design? It looks pretty cool to me, but I don't know any particulars about the pickups or neck yet.
                    It seems like the neck pickup(s) would have to have different windings in order to remain balanced. If they were identical, it would likely be too bass heavy and unbalanced. Given that G&L would never produce an imbalanced guitar, I'm curious to know what they did.

                    mythicguitars.com

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: New Old G&L Design: "CLF Research Espada"

                      Originally posted by ItsaBass View Post
                      Being a G&L user and proponent for almost 25 years, I want to like it...but I don't. It's just not visually attractive to me. The control plate is a dumb shape, the pickguard is unattractive, and the clear finish and black block inlays (two things I despise aesthetically) just make it that much worse.

                      Such a shame. All it needs is a better pickguard and control plate shape.
                      Crap I didn't even notice the control plate..... now I do.... now I hate it too....

                      mythicguitars.com

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                      • #12
                        Re: New Old G&L Design: "CLF Research Espada"

                        Originally posted by MythicGuitarCo View Post
                        It seems like the neck pickup(s) would have to have different windings in order to remain balanced. If they were identical, it would likely be too bass heavy and unbalanced. Given that G&L would never produce an imbalanced guitar, I'm curious to know what they did.
                        I'm thinking it's something in the opposite direction from that. If they wound each coil differently they would diminish the hum cancelling effect. Especially with single coils I don't think there would be too much issue with a slight movement in the coil causing excess bass.
                        You will never understand How it feels to live your life With no meaning or control And with nowhere left to go You are amazed that they exist And they burn so bright
                        Whilst you can only wonder why

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: New Old G&L Design: "CLF Research Espada"

                          You guys are nit-picking. It has all the charm of an old Peavey T-60 with the sleeker style of a modernized Tele:

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                          • #14
                            Re: New Old G&L Design: "CLF Research Espada"

                            The control plate ruins it.

                            Sent from my BlackBerry using Tapatalk

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                            • #15
                              Re: New Old G&L Design: "CLF Research Espada"

                              I like it!

                              Bill
                              When you've had budget guitars for a number of years, you may find that your old instrument is holding you back. A quality guitar can inspire you to write great songs, improve your understanding of the Gdim chord while in the Lydian Mode, cure the heartbreak of cystic acne--and help you find true love in the process.

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