Counterfeit Parts Etc

Here are some pics of things I have seen for sale on Ebay. Any idea how these come to be? How likely am I to come across a counterfeit 1991 ASAT commemorative guitar?

Here are some pics of things I have seen for sale on Ebay. Any idea how these come to be? How likely am I to come across a counterfeit 1991 ASAT commemorative guitar?

Tom,

I can speak somewhat to the Commemorative stuff. Far fewer were build than what numbers may indicate. The neck plates of the Commemorative ASAT guitars have "of 1000" stamped on them. But after G&L received a cease and desist from FMIC after Leo's passing, it announced that 350 guitars and 150 basses would be produced. Hence, neck plates on the ASAT Commemorative basses have "of 150" on the neck plate as they were produced way late. No bass was build before Dale Hyatt retired from G&L in early-November 1991, like all were built in 1993.

But that is still an overestimate in my opinion. My believe is that less than 250 guitars and less than 25 basses were produced. So there were a lot of decals that were now surplussed. These scattered all over the place: with employees (former and current), visitors, sales reps, who knows. And yes, these surplus items are offered for sale. Whether they are enabling potential counterfeits is a discussion for a different place. In my opinion, it is much harder to counterfeit a Commemorative versus a Broadcaster. The former has the triple-binding, exquisitely figured swamp ash body, wonderful Cherryburst finish, all gold hardware including bridge and neck plate, gold plated strings, and gold emblazoned COA; the latter just the all-Black look and an inspection sticker. In all, it would take quite a bit to build a Comm that even looks reasonable on the outside.

- Jos

; the latter just the all-Black look and an inspection sticker.

And, don't forget the serialized neck plate (BC#####).

This all makes a lot of sense really. Thought I would ask though. People suck sometimes. I suppose my ASAT Three is more likely to be fake than the Comm I just bought. They say these have birdseye necks but the 4 or 5 I have seen pics of look to be the rock maple seen on most necks?

This all makes a lot of sense really. Thought I would ask though. People suck sometimes. I suppose my ASAT Three is more likely to be fake than the Comm I just bought. They say these have birdseye necks but the 4 or 5 I have seen pics of look to be the rock maple seen on most necks?

The '97 and '98 price lists don't specify a birdseye neck for that iteration of the ASAT III, and my '87 ASAT III has no birdseye in the neck. OTOH, the model that was called an ASAT Classic Custom in the '90s is described on the price list as having a birdseye neck. If I look at mine under the right light, I can make out about a patch of birdseye near the pocket and another patch on the back of the headstock. They weren't necessarily the heavy birdseye that could be ordered as an upgrade on standard G&L models.

Ken

Maybe some confusion here. I was referring to the Commemorative ASAT with birdseye neck, not the ASAT III which is also not quite what I was referring to exactly. My ASAT Classic Three Pictured below has a beautiful birdseye neck. The ASAT commemorative I just bought has more of a flame or rock maple looking neck. The G&L description of the Comm edition does say Birdseye but i imagine there were variations. I do not consider this to be birdseye.


ASAT Commemorative neck

ASAS Classic Three neck