I think I just discovered an Early Leo Era Prototype with split coil Jumbo MFD’s

[offsetjc]

I think I just acquired an early G&L prototype

I know Leo was working on split coil pickups in the early days of G&L and I’ve never seen pickups like these in a production model. Body was clearly never routed for anything else, no pickguard and no stamps of any kind. Love that it came with an (insanely rare in its own right) 1984 Cavalier neck with a white headstock dated 41 years ago to the day- what are the odds of that?! This looks to have a similar aesthetic to other early g&l prototypes after a cursory search. Apparently the last owner did a quick check with G&L and the s/n on the neck plate doesn’t have a match in their registry.

Can anyone shed some light on this amazing guitar?!

https://imgur.com/a/rlO7Nb8

[Craig]

I think I just acquired an early G&L prototype

I know Leo was working on split coil pickups in the early days of G&L and I’ve never seen pickups like these in a production model. Body was clearly never routed for anything else, no pickguard and no stamps of any kind. Love that it came with an (insanely rare in its own right) 1984 Cavalier neck with a white headstock dated 41 years ago to the day- what are the odds of that?! This looks to have a similar aesthetic to other early g&l prototypes after a cursory search. Apparently the last owner did a quick check with G&L and the s/n on the neck plate doesn’t have a match in their registry.

Can anyone shed some light on this amazing guitar?!

https://imgur.com/a/rlO7Nb8

I sent your link of the photos and this post link to Dave McLaren and asked if he had any idea on this G&L prototype.

Here is a photo of one of the drawings for the G&L Wild Horse but it has the DFV bridge. It is dated 1/29/83. Dean Coy and I took this
at the G&L factory in 2009. It is the closest looking drawing to your guitar which we have.



Hopefully Dave can find the exact drawing for your prototype and fill in some history on it.

Stay tuned.

[Craig]

I sent Dave a copy of the blueprint for the Wild Horse and just heard back from him:

That’s it! I forgot the Wild Horse name on it. The pickups are basically split-coil jumbo MFDs,
sort of continuing on the original concept split-coils for the first MM guitar which looked nothing like
the production Stingray guitar. Thanks for the pic, Craig!

Very cool prototype you got there!

I added "Wild Horse Prototype" to the G&L Registry Model list, so please do add it to our G&L Registry.

[Craig]

Here are some additional closeup photos of the blueprint:

[tomanche]

Incredible. Simply incredible!

[offsetjc]

Craig- this is absolutely INCREDIBLE!! Thank you so much for sharing those pictures and your knowledge- it's the missing link I've been waiting for! So I guess this must be the lost G&L Wild Horse The pots date to 83 and the neck date is April 1984 so the timing certainly fits! I cant wait to hear what Dave has to say. Let him know I'm super close to the G&L factory and would love to bring it by for a reunion!