String tree missing on ASAT special

hi

just bought a new ASAT special at a very good price off ebay, however I've just noticed there's no string tree - perhaps this is why i got it so cheap. Just a manufacturing mistake? It doesn't seem to affect the sound at all. Worth getting one put on?

I take it that there's no screw hole in the headstock for a string tree? If not, and it has staggered/graduated height Sperzels, it may not need one, and could have been custom ordered that way. However, I haven't seen one without it, even if it wasn't necessary. Sperzels? Hole/No hole?

Sperzels = machine heads? Please excuse my ignorance! You're right that there's no screw hole for the string tree. The machine heads look the same as in stock photos of the Asat special.

Yes, Sperzels are a particular brand of tuning machines. Staggered means that if you look at the posts of these machines (the parts the string wraps around) the high-E tuner is shorter that the low-E tuner creating more downward pressure at the nut for those strings that still have a considerable amount of string between nut and tuner. Here's a link to the Steward-MacDonald site describing these tuners.

Nope, the posts are not staggered. The guy I bought it from seems to specialise in damaged new stock - he sold another ASAT about a month ago that had a faulty pick-up selector switch, but he was at pains to point out there was nothing wrong with the one I bought. It does appear perfect, apart from the missing string tree.

Nope, the posts are not staggered. The guy I bought it from seems to specialise in damaged new stock - he sold another ASAT about a month ago that had a faulty pick-up selector switch, but he was at pains to point out there was nothing wrong with the one I bought. It does appear perfect, apart from the missing string tree.

It does not sound like you bought it from an autorized G&L Dealer, so you would not be able to get this omission (if it was not ordered by a dealer without the string tree) taken care of under the G&L Warranty.
However, you might want to contact the Service department via email, letting them know how you acquired the guitar and include a picture of the headstock. No promises but there is a good possiblility that they will
send you a string tree and screw. The contact info is on the Support page of the main G&L website.

Hope this helps.

I emailed G&L and they are sending me a string tree, what legends!

The guy said it was most likely ordered that way, they get orders like that sometimes.

Thanks for all your help everyone!