Doc Kauffman (born Clayton Orr Kauffman May 4, 1901, died June 26, 1990) was a

lap steel guitar The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional ...

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

engineer, inventor and pioneer of the world's first patented guitar vibrato system. The patent for ''"Apparatus for producing tremolo effects"'' was applied for in 1928 and officially granted to Doc Kauffman on January 5, 1932.

Rickenbacker Legacy

During the 1930s, Doc Kauffman served as chief

s designer for

Rickenbacker Rickenbacker International Corporation is a string instrument manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California. The company is credited as the first known maker of electric guitars – a steel guitar in 1932 – and today produces a range ...

.'The Soul of Tone, Celebrating 60 years of Fender Amps' by Tom Wheeler Having invented and patented the first mechanical vibrato unit, Kauffman adapted it for use on the

Electro-Spanish Ken Roberts Manufactured by Ro-Pat-In Corporation, Rickenbacker, the Electro-Spanish Ken Roberts is considered the pioneering "grandfather" to the modern electric guitar as it was the first commercially produced, full-scale (twenty-five inch) electric guitar ...

model as the instrument's standard bridge. This resulted in the first electric guitar sold with a vibrato system as a stock feature, and strongly influenced the subsequent development of electric guitars in the 1940s and 1950s – most notably the tailpieces of the Fender

Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously ...

and by Bigsby. Electro-Spanish Ken Roberts Model

Fender Legacy

In the early 1940s, Doc Kauffman and

Leo Fender Clarence Leonidas Fender (August 10, 1909 – March 21, 1991) was an American inventor known for designing the Fender Stratocaster. He also founded the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In January 1965, he sold Fender to CBS, and later foun ...

would enter a business partnership, forming the K&F company in 1945. K&F only lasted 3 years, having produced amplifiers and lap steel guitars in small quantities. After Kauffman left, K&F was transformed into the Fender Electric Instrument Company. Kauffman and Fender remained friends until Kauffman's death in 1990. Doc Kauffman considered Leo Fender such a close friend, that Leo was listed as next of kin, after Doc's children, in Doc's final will & testament. Leo died just one year after Doc in 1991.

Les Paul & Gibson

Les Paul Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype ...

and Doc Kauffman struck a friendship in the 1930s. Les would later utilize the Kauffman Vibrola on his prototype "Log" guitars developed in the 1940s. Les favored the Vibrola to such a degree, he removed the stock bridge on his brand-new 1952 signature Gibson model and installed a Vibrola.

References

Fender people 1990 deaths American people of German descent 1901 births {{US-business-bio-stub