Description
The CLF Research S-500 revisits a pivotal moment in Leo Fender’s history on Fender Avenue, blending late-1970s design cues with modern refinement. This Honeyburst example wears its finish over a swamp ash body, paired with a 3-ply parchment pickguard and a Caribbean rosewood fingerboard for a warm, resonant look and feel.
John R. McLaren reworked the MFD single-coil pickups specifically for this model, altering the coil bobbin aperture, pole piece length, and wire turns to coax out a softer, sparklier tone while retaining the smooth strength S-500 players expect. The project grew out of Dave McLaren’s #Project1979s500 build, developed openly with the CLF Research community, and it shows in details like the machined CLF knobs and a headstock shaped after the original G&L design, now fitted with Kluson Vintage tuners and a period-correct “go faster” logo.
Playability runs deep too. A bolt-on Vintage Tint Gloss maple neck carries the G&L Modern Classic profile, a 9.5″ radius, and a 1 11/16″ nut width, topped with 22 medium jumbo nickel frets and a bone nut. The 25.5″ scale and Dual-Fulcrum vibrato with forged brass saddles deliver stable tuning and expressive pitch control.
Controls go beyond a standard setup: the five-position pickup selector works alongside a Passive Treble and Bass (PTB) circuit for independently sculpted highs and lows, plus a mini-toggle expander switch that unlocks neck+bridge or all-three-pickup combinations.
- Bolt-on construction, 25.5″ scale
- Reworked Leo Fender-designed G&L MFD single coils
- Swamp ash body, Caribbean rosewood fingerboard
- G&L Modern Classic neck profile, 9.5″ radius, 1 11/16″ nut
- Dual-Fulcrum vibrato with forged brass saddles
- PTB tone circuit and expander switch
- Includes G&L deluxe gig bag
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