Patent drawing · Clarence L. (Leo) Fender and Clayton O. (Doc) Kauffman · Filed 1944, granted 1948
Leo Fender's 1944 guitar pickup patent drawing
This tee carries the drawing from a US patent filed by Leo Fender and his partner Doc Kauffman on 26 September 1944 and granted on 7 December 1948, for an electric pickup unit shown fitted to a guitar. US patent documents are public domain, so the drawing can be printed freely.
History
Before the Telecaster and the Stratocaster, Leo Fender ran a radio repair shop in Fullerton, California, and with Clayton 'Doc' Kauffman formed K&F Manufacturing to build lap-steel guitars and amplifiers. The patent they filed in 1944 covers a pickup unit in which the strings pass through the magnetic field of the coil, an early version of the idea that would carry Fender's later instruments.
Kauffman left the partnership in 1946 and Fender Electric Instrument Company was founded the same year; the solid-body Esquire and Broadcaster followed in 1950. The 1944 drawing is the earliest patent in that lineage and is reproduced here as it appears in the US Patent and Trademark Office's records, with its header, figure numbers and the inventors' signature block.
What the print shows
The patent's drawing sheet printed in black line on a white tee (or white line on black): a full-length elevation of a guitar with the pickup unit at the bridge, flanked by sectional and plan details of the pickup and its mounting, numbered as in the original. Above are the patent's issue date, the inventors' names and the patent number, below the attorney and inventor signatures.
Source and licence
Source: United States Patent and Trademark Office (via Google Patents).
Licence: Public domain. Text and drawings of US patents are not subject to copyright and may be reproduced by anyone; the patent itself expired decades ago.
The listing title's '1944' is the filing year; the grant date printed on the sheet is 7 December 1948.
Available sizes and prices
Unisex T-shirt Etsy listing 4516416592
From $24.99, priced per size and colour on the listing. Printed to order on a Bella+Canvas 3001 unisex tee, or on a Gildan 64000 budget tee: your choice on the listing.
Buy
- Fender Guitar Patent (unisex t-shirt): buy on Etsy, from $24.99.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the Fender guitar patent on this shirt?
- A US patent for an electric pickup unit filed by Leo Fender and Doc Kauffman in September 1944 and granted in December 1948, before the Fender company existed in its later form.
- Is a patent drawing copyrighted?
- No. Drawings and text of US patents are public domain, so this one can be printed on a shirt without a licence from anyone.
- Which shirt blank is used?
- Your choice on the listing: a Bella+Canvas 3001 (4.2 oz combed ring-spun cotton, retail fit) or a Gildan 64000 Softstyle budget tee. Both carry the same print.
- What colours are available?
- White, printed in dark ink, or black, printed in white ink. Sizes and the price per size are on the Etsy listing.
Sources
Published 20 Oct 2026; prices are the live Etsy prices as of 20 Oct 2026. The work is public domain; this page's text is © ThinkDotCo and may be quoted with a link.