G&L USA CLF Research Espada Jet Black w/gig bag

G&L USA CLF Research Espada Jet Black w/gig bagNote: This guitar is available for Local Pick up (preferred). Please contact the store at 651 451 8878 before ordering to arrange shipping. They say CLF Research Espada: 50 Years in the Making Espada started development in the late 1960s at Leo Fenders new CLF Research company, exploring his ideas for a bold, next generation two pickup guitar for his namesake company. In late 1969, styling for the new model was nearly complete before the project was

Note: This guitar is available for Local Pick-up (preferred). Please contact the store at 651-451-8878 before ordering to arrange shipping.

They say...

CLF Research Espada: 50 Years in the Making

Espada started development in the late 1960s at Leo Fender’s new CLF Research company, exploring his ideas for a bold, next-generation two-pickup guitar for his namesake company.  In late 1969, styling for the new model was nearly complete before the project was suddenly abandoned.  However, Espada’s blueprints and R&D artifacts remained deep within CLF Research archives.  The styling was beautiful, featuring an all-new body shape, pickguard design, and visually dominated by a new sword-like control plate.

Fast-forward nearly half a century and brothers Dave and John McLaren set about visualizing how Leo may have evolved his original concept. With Leo’s original blueprints and R&D artifacts in hand, the CLF Research Espada was completed in the spirit of his original pioneering vision, leveraging his later technological developments for performance and versatility.

For example, today’s Espada applies Leo’s Magnetic Field Design to his long-pole split-coil prototype pickups of 1967-1968, now made even more versatile with a series/parallel switch for thicker, rounder sounds or thinner, sparkly sounds. Leo’s Saddle Lock bridge technology, completed ten years after the project was abandoned, also solved a major technological design goal for the original Espada project: an efficient means of transferring more string energy directly into the grain of the body.

Today’s Espada features a modern G&L Micro Preamp powered by a single 9v battery, controlled by a mini-toggle switch with positions for off (passive output), on (buffered lo-Z output), and on with high frequency boost, equally useful for cutting through thick fuzz as it is showcasing the shimmering harmonics the pickups are capable of producing. Today’s Espada would not be complete without Leo’s G&L Passive Treble and Bass (PTB)* controls, always on and ready to work in conjunction with the other controls…and your own imagination.

• CONSTRUCTION: bolt-on
• SCALE: 25 1/2"
• PICKUPS: Espada MFD split-coil hum-cancelling pickups
• BODY WOOD: Alder
• NECK WOOD: Natural Satin Hard-Rock Maple with Rosewood fingerboard
• NECK PROFILE: G&L Modern Classic with 9 1/2" radius
• NUT: 100% natural bone
• FRETS: 21 medium jumbo
• TUNING KEYS: Kluson
• BRIDGE: Leo Fender-designed G&L Saddle-Lock bridge with forged brass saddles
• CONTROLS: 3-position pickup selector, volume, treble, bass (PTB system), series/parallel switch, 3-position pre-amp mode switch.
• INCLUDES: G&L Deluxe Gig Bag