NGD: George's ASAT Classic w/gold Fine-Tuner Vibrato

Hi gang,

Little quiet this weekend. Lets see if that can be changed.

Today's featured guitar is one that appears in 2 books, might have been at Leo's funeral (statements differ), and has ultra-rare appointments.

For those of you who can get their hands on either of George Fullerton's books will be able to find a picture of the guitar in color on the 14th page of the color insert of "Guitar Legends, The evolution of the guitar from Fender to G&L" or in B/W on p.116 of "Guitars by George&Leo: How Leo Fender and I Built G&L Guitars"[. In the former, George points out another Black ASAT Classic with gold hardware (S/N G029273, no vibrato) was shown at the funeral. According to the sales log, that guitar was only finished very shortly before Leo passed away. Others have claimed it was actually this guitar, finished 10/25/1990. It will be hard to find irrevocable evidence either way, so feel free to form your own opinion.

Some history now. In May 1990, I think specially for the July Summer NAMM show that took place in Chicago, a guitar with S/N G026896 was built which had the same appointments as this guitar. That guitar is one of the first ASAT Classics ever built since that model was introduced during that expo. It has a maple body finished in Black, gold Leo Fender signature on bass upper bout, white enamel aluminum pickguard, gold 3rd generation Leo Fender Fine-Tuner Vibrato, gold pole pieces, gold control plate with gold single volume and tone control, 3-way pickup selector, hard-rock #2 maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, and gold plated tuning machines. Only a couple of months later, George took possession of this copy:



Lets take a picture tour around the body which, with its APR 15 1990 date stamp, is from the same month at S/N G026896:









On to the neck which has a SEP 26 1990 date stamp:



And some more stuff, tags front and back and COA:


This guitar has the same electronics as you'll find on any ASAT Classic and ASAT Special nowadays, but when the model was introduced it was a departure from what the ASAT came with. It is a very cool sounding guitar. I'm no dive-bomber so I use the vibrato sparingly. It just adds some nice warble to certain licks.

- Jos

Jos,

That is a cool guitar. It has a very formal look with the gold hardware. How is the weight on that beauty?

Please tell us what you are playing today from that massive collection.

y2kc

Spectacular Jos. I am a real fan of gold hardware and I am trying to visualize that maple body with a transparent Red!

Jos, does it have a 6.8K resistor on the tone pot?

Bedankt!

Well Jos,

Now that's a cat of a different color, and a mighty fine gold color it is! Big congratulations and keep up the search for more, cuz we all know

YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY ASAT'S

Hey Jos,

Sweet Axe…. thanks for the visual tour. Any sonic diff between this one and Buck Owens??

Speaking of - does the BO have the 6.8K resistor?

and finally... what's the grey thing at the claw end of the copper spring?

Cheers,
KF

Beautiful !! ... simply beautiful , I think they could sell that DF option now if it was available .... BTW , very interesting on your comparison of the electronics

Jos, does it have a 6.8K resistor on the tone pot?

Bedankt!

Hi Greg,

Nope, doesn't look like it. I only see a 200pF (that is if I read code 201 right) cap on the volume and .022μF on the tone. Here's a couple of pics:


Graag gedaan jochie!

- Jos
P.S. You should tell us more about the significance of the presence of a 6.8K resistor

Hey Jos,

Sweet Axe…. thanks for the visual tour. Any sonic diff between this one and Buck Owens??

Thanks KF! And not a lot if any difference sonically between the Buck Owens and this guitar.

Speaking of - does the BO have the 6.8K resistor?

That they sound so similar might have to do with both guitars have the same electronics, a 200pF on the volume and .022μF on the tone. See this post on the Buck Owens page for a pic and what I found in the process of looking under the hood this evening.

and finally... what's the grey thing at the claw end of the copper spring?

That is a piece of rubber about half a spring length long. When you pull it out, the spring sings like you are bowing a saw; beautiful! I guess it is to dampen any unwanted resonance. I'll just leave it there.

Talk to you later buddy.

- Jos

Beautiful !! ... simply beautiful , I think they could sell that DF option now if it was available .... BTW , very interesting on your comparison of the electronics

Thanks Fumble! See my responses above.

- Jos

Ah, interesting Jos... So I s'pose that's what the rubber bits are for that are found in the height adjustment springs on Leo-era ASAT's…

Re 6.8k resistor - agreed. Greg please do tell.

Cheers,
KF

how cool

I love the fine-tuner vibrato

it's smooth and tuning is still spot on with regular use.

The resistor changes the taper of the pot. It was used on ASATs and ASAT Classics until about October 1990 when it was removed. It didn't seem to affect tone much on the ASATs, but in my experience, the early ACs with the resistor don't have the same "bite" as the later ACs (until the pickups were re-worked in the late 1990s... but that's a different story).

GG

Thanks Greg! Your knowledge and website are stellar

Cheers,
KF

Another fine example of a great guitar. I learn more about my own ASAT with these posts. Great collection, I look forward to seeing more.

Another great guitar Jos.

Where do you find these things and do you get them for a reasonable price? I know there are many more WOW WOW WOW guitars out there as G&L did so many custom builds. Hope one day to find a few myself. I do have some nice examples and rare birds but WOW, you seem to sniff these things out like nothing I have seen.

Congrats, that's one of the best looking ASAT's I have seen, classy and well preserved. It's almost like an ASAT wearing a fancy Tuxedo walking the red carpet or the like. Simply stunning.

Tom

It's almost like an ASAT wearing a fancy Tuxedo walking the red carpet or the like. Simply stunning.

Tom

Close amigo..


Here's the Gbase skinny on thet way cool guitar...
https://www.gbase.com/gear/g-and-l-asat ... on-owned-1

One thing I just noticed is that this guitar has the fine tuner vibrato bridge but it also has a somewhat un-needed element of the traditional box steel bridge. How often did they do this, gold or not, and what is the story behind this setup?

Again, super hot looking guitar!! If I could order a brand new one just like this I would today. And I really don't care for modern ASAT's.

Tom

Looks like the box / ashtray bridge is there to carry the bridge pickup. I suppose they could have accomplished that with a different pick guard, but it wouldn't have looked as cool.

One thing I just noticed is that this guitar has the fine tuner vibrato bridge but it also has a somewhat un-needed element of the traditional box steel bridge. How often did they do this, gold or not, and what is the story behind this setup?

Tom

It was a standard option for the Signature Series ASAT Classic in 1990.

Here's another one in our Gallery: Album: Andrew Campbell's 1991 ASAT Classic Signature.

We also have nine listed in the G&L Registry, too. See: ASAT Classic Signature in G&L Registry.

Very interesting, thanks Craig. This at least give me hope of finding one for sale some day. The provenance of this one is very cool, but I just like the look of it. I know they sound good, so it's a slam dunk if I ever find one to buy. They no longer offer gold hardware on any model, correct? It also sucks that they discontinued the yellow, that's become one of my favorite colors.

Tom

Where do you find these things and do you get them for a reasonable price?

Tom,

On the former: everywhere. But boy, it's a large investment, mainly in time to search around and getting to know people!

On the latter, yes, but you have to be a "ruthless" negotiator

They no longer offer gold hardware on any model, correct?

Correct. G&L stopped offering gold hardware as an option early last decade because of rapidly rising gold prices.

Happy hunting Tom!

- Jos