The G&L Dual-Fulcrum vibrato

The G&L Dual-Fulcrum® vibrato uses two pivoting points rather than the six wood screws attaching the a vintage type tremolo. Leo Fender† created this design to yield a much smoother, "silky" feel and allows the player to bend notes up as well as down. Unlike similar looking copies, the DF vibrato uses a hardened steel bridge plate, pivoting on knife-edge bolts set into massive brass inserts anchored into the body. The bolts themselves are machined from billets of cold rolled steel, then heat treated for hardness and finally plated.  The handling of the vibrato is improved with the addition of a machined aluminum machined tremolo arm that uses a single locking Allen screw, pressing a nylon insert to allow quick installation and removal, smooth feel, and also allow the player adjust the amount of resistance on the arm. Further, Leo designed the string saddles to improve intonation and reduce string breakage. Learn more...


The G&L Saddle-Lock bridge

The G&L Saddle-Lock® bridge, is used on all many ASAT® models, as well as the full range of G&L basses. This design was revolutionary for a number of reasons. The most significant feature is a small Allen screw on the side of the bridge, which presses all the saddles together so they resonate as though they were one single mass. This eliminates the loss of string vibration energy caused by side-to-side saddle movement inherent in other designs. Further, the strings no longer needed to be routed though the rear of the body for optimum sustain as well as allowing the strings to enter directly through the rear of the bridge. For G&L 5-string basses, the Saddle-Lock bridge employs a string-through-body configuration. Testing revealed that the increased break angle on the low B string yielded a more focused sound when routed through the rear of the body.

The bottom side of the bridge has a large protrusion which fits into a route in the body. The protrusion fits snugly against the end grain of the body wood, allowing the highly resonant bridge to transfer much more of the string vibration energy directly to the core of the body, yielding much greater sustain than his earlier fixed bridge design. Again, Leo's innovative saddle design was used to minimize string breakage. Learn more...


The G&L non-compression truss rod

Our contemporary, non-compression design incorporates a secondary, flat-sided rod which bows away from primary rod. Unlike a vintage truss rod, this design does not compress the neck longitudinally in order to function; compression is undesirable because it tends to distort the curvature of the fingerboard. Operation is both fluid and accurate with the articulation of the neck, the "relief", being very consistent across the length of the neck.Learn more...


The G&L Magnetic Field Design pickups

The Magnetic Field Design® pickups use a ceramic bar magnet installed underneath each coil, with soft iron adjustable pole pieces to transfer the magnetic field to the surface of the pickup. By contrast, traditional Alnico type pickups, such as used in the Legacy and George Fullerton models, use nonadjustable Alnico pole pieces leaving the only adjustment being pickup height. The Magnetic Field Design has this adjustment, but further offers individual adjustment of each pole piece, letting the player effectively adjust the output of each string on each pickup. Magnetic Field Design yield about twice the output per wind, making the pickup quieter while allowing a greater overall output. The sound of Magnetic Field pickups is slightly warmer with a broader frequency response. One major Nashville session guitarist remarked that the G&L S-500 with Magnetic Field single coil pickups sounded as balanced and "sweet" as his favorite old vintage Alnico equipped axe. The difference is that the S-500 sounds that good right into his amp without all the EQ tweaking of his mixing console that made his other guitar sound so good. When he ran his S-500 though his studio rig, he was truly amazed at the rich and warm, yet clear and sparkly sound. Learn more...


Plek Pro Fret Analysis and Dressing for USA models

Next to the tone, playability is one of the most important characteristics of a musical instrument. To ensure all G&L USA guitars and basses are the ultimate playing experience, every US-made G&L instrument goes through the PLEK System. With the PLEK Pro the end result is the ideal string action for each instrument. The PLEK Pro first uses a calibrated index probe to scan each neck to determine curvature and the precise height of each fret. This procedure is performed while the neck is under tension to accurately simulate how the neck will respond when tuned to pitch. The computer in the PLEK Pro then determines the exact amount of fret material needed be removed from each fret to achieve a perfectly level playing surface. Learn more...

† The personal name, likeness and signature of Mr. Clarence Leo Fender are property of G&L Musical Instruments / BBE Sound, Inc. and may not be used in any commercial capacity without prior approval. For commercial enquiries regarding the use of the "Leo Fender" name, likeness or signature, please contact us. G&L is not associated with Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.