1969 G&L Leo Fender
Tri-Sonic Prototype
BY CHRIS KIES
Some of the best seek-and-find gear stories tart somberly by someone passing away
and their family and friends having to sort
through the deceased’s arachnid-filled attic
or overflowing garage. This story has already
graced PG’s “Guitar of the Month” [“1965
Fender Jazz,” June 2010]. But what do you
find in the most heralded guitar builder’s
workshop when the head luthier in the sky
comes calling? In the case of Leo Fender and
G&L, a 1969 Tri-Sonic R&D prototype
covered in 20 years of dust, dirt, and grime.
“It was in ’ 91, one week after Leo’s
funeral, and I was cleaning out Leo’s lab
when I found it in a small loft just to the
left of the front door of his shop,” recalls
Gabriel Currie, a G&L employee at the time
who was working in the neck department.
“I found the slab body and the original templates dated ‘1969,’ and I showed what I had
found to the plant foremen John Rodriquez
and John McLaren Jr. I asked if I could
keep it and they looked at each other and
nodded—it was mine and the first thing I
thought was, ‘Shit, I have to somehow finish
building it and hear how it sounds’ [laughs].”
And that’s exactly what he did.
When Leo Fender’s 10-year, no-compete
clause expired with CBS (who bought
Fender in ’ 65) and things with CLF
Research and Music Man went awry, Fender,
George Fullerton, and Dale Hyatt started
G&L in 1979. Bringing everything full
circle—Fullerton and Hyatt hired Gabriel
Currie in 1988. While with G&L, Currie
worked in the mill, the wood shop where
he was selecting blanks, gluing, milling, and
routing all the guitar and bass bodies. With
all his expertise gathered at the plant, the
eager Currie began plotting his next moves
to correctly, and more importantly, comple-mentarily finish building an instrument
started in the late ’60s by Leo Fender. So
Currie took to a private stash of ’60s parts
and pieced the guitar together, even including a rare lefty trem bridge.
The beaten and battered Tri-Sonic (
nicknamed Grandpa) has a one-piece ash body
that was originally routed for two Z-coil
pickups—which were eventually implemented on the ASAT Z- 3—and one of Leo’s
prototype trems. The back of the guitar has
a battery pocket (perhaps active electronics
were in the works) and the beginnings of a
B-Bender slot. Currie made a maple neck
at G&L, but it broke during a gig at Al’s
Bar in 1993 so he made the current maple
neck—currently on its third refret—at Tak
Hosono’s shop (Hosono now oversees the
Ibanez Custom Shop). Other parts implemented on the guitar are CTS pots, nickel
Kluson tuners, and a single-ply pickguard.
Right now the guitar is loaded with three
Amalfitano vintage-voiced alnico 2 single-coils, and Currie says it plays and records
better than any guitar he’s ever had or heard.
In addition to being an instrument with
a historical legacy and holy grail-esque vibe,
the Tri-Sonic prototype helped push Currie
to start his own guitar company, Echopark
Guitars, in 2010. “I’ve wanted to build rep-
licas of this guitar for years, but I wanted
to do it in the most reverent and accurate
way possible,” says Currie. “The Grandpa
has been my muse [laughs]. I’m currently
using it as a template for my Tryphonic line
that uses the same slab-body construction
and I added Victorian rose textile patterns
on the guitars’ tops, which are silk-screened
between the nitrocellulose lacquer coats.
That guitar [original Tri-Sonic] has blessed
me with inspiration in guitar building,
countless jams with friends and heroes—I
just feel lucky it found me.”
Have an axe that would make a great Guitar of
the Month? Then email pics and your instrument’s
story to us at gotm@premierguitar.com.
