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  In 1965 Leo Fender sold his namesake company to CBS Musical Instruments Division, as his health had been ailing and his doctor recommended that he retire. Saddened, Leo agreed and proceeded with the sale. Under the terms of the sale, Leo would remain a consultant to Fender for 5 years, and not directly compete with Fender for 10 years. Therefore, he would not be able to own another guitar manufacturing concern during that time.

By the late 1970's his agreement with CBS had expired. Leo then decided that, with his close friend George Fullerton, they would begin their own brand of guitars and basses. Already Leo and George had patented several new designs and developed some new instruments, with revolutionary features that musicians all over the world were soon to embrace.

However, the single most important ingredients in G&L instruments are the high quality tone woods and the hand craftsmanship.

G&L begins with the finest traditional tone woods, some still obtained from sources Leo had relied upon for decades. G&L uses Louisiana Swamp Ash, not just any ash wood available. They use Northern Alder, Canadian Hard Rock Maple, Indian Rosewood, African Ebony and Mahogany. G&L has a special in-house wood seasoning facility that gradually seasons wood over many months before production.

Using only the finest available tone woods is just the beginning of a beautiful G&L instrument. Most of the production methods at G&L date back 35 to 50 years, using proven hand craftsmanship techniques pioneered by Leo. It is these time consuming methods combined with the skill and care of their musician craftsmen that make the G&L instruments the finest in the history of Leo's work. Much of the tooling Leo used in the 50's and early 60's was faithfully recreated to allow the G&L craftsmen to achieve the very high quality standard that Leo demanded, which is much of the reason his early Fender instruments are so valuable in the collector market. Clearly, G&L instruments are the culmination of his engineering brilliance and attention to detail that spanned over 50 years.

These are the guitars Leo Fender believed to be his best at the time of his death.