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Doc Kauffman (born Clayton Orr Kauffman May 4, 1901, died June 26, 1990) was a lap steel guitar,
Les Paul 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.
Doc Kauffman (born Clayton Orr Kauffman May 4, 1901, died June 26, 1990) was a lap steel guitar, 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 gu ...
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 chiefelectric 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 gu ...
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 rang ...
.'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.
Fender Legacy
In the early 1940s, Doc Kauffman andLeo 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 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