FACTOIDS & TRIVIA

To Leo Fender, the G&L Comanche was the pinnacle of his guitar designing career. Using a Stratocaster style body as a platform, Leo installed his most innovative guitar pickups and electronics. The “Z-coil” pickups, at first glance, appear to be similar to the split coil pickups found his Precision Bass. Like the P-Bass pickups, the Comanche pickups are composed of two single coil sections which are combined to be hum-cancelling. The electronics give the player a broad spectrum of tones to use from humbucker and single coil to in-phase and out-of-phase. This particular model, the Comanche “V” utilizes a standard 5-way pickup switch for selecting the pickups in the following combinations: neck only, neck and middle, middle only, middle and bridge, and bridge only. Add to that an "expander switch" which combines the neck pickup and bridge pickup, plus bass and treble controls and the result is a very versatile guitar. In 1998, G&L reissued the 5-way switch version of the Comanche.

Body: Solid; 2-piece ash

Finish: Cherry Sunburst, polyurethane

Neck: 2-piece maple, bolt-on

Fingerboard: Rosewood; white pearloid dot markers

Number of Frets: 22

Pickguard: White powder coated aluminum

Bridge: G&L Dual Fulcrum Vibrato, chrome

Nut: Plastic

Tuners: G&L/Schaller, sealed, chrome

Pickups: Three, G&L Magnetic Field Design Z-coil humbucking with adjustable pole pieces

Controls: Master volume, bass, treble, 5-way pickup selector, expander switch

Scale Length: 25 1/2 inches

Neck Width at Nut: 1 5/8 inches

Body Width at Lower Bout: 12 5/8 inches

Body Depth: 1 5/8 inches

Weight: 9.1 lb.