K&F Lap Steel Guitar, c.1943

This circa 1943 K&F Lap Steel guitar was created by Clayton “Doc” Kauffman (1901 – 1990), a former guitar designer for Rickenbacker, and Clarence Leonidas “Leo” Fender (1909 – 1991), a radio, record player and amplifier repairman. The pair began working together in 1943, repairing and producing instruments under the name K&F Manufacturing. In 1946, Kauffman exited the partnership, and Fender renamed the company the Fender Electric Instrument Company.  

This lap steel features a metal tag with a version of K&F logo that only appeared on first half-dozen K&F guitars, thereafter featuring a stenciled logo. The pickup is also different from other early K&F guitars, with a pickup bobbin shaped as a straight bar, similar to a modern Stratocaster, rather than individual pole pieces common to other K&F instruments. The magnet itself is large and “V”-shaped with the Ford Motor Company’s logo embossed on it. These atypical features indicate that this guitar is possibly a prototype or very early production model—possibly the first Fender-built guitar still in existence.