Rare Bridge

How rare and what is this bridge called?



Tom

Never seen this combination. Certainly nothing that is currently offered. I'm not sure what the purpose was here, just wanted the fine tuning feature? It looks like bridge has been locked down to the body. You can see two Phillips screws obe either side of the saddles. So it insn't going to function as a vibtrato bridge. I'm thinking it is a project guitar. If it was a prototype or rare factory build I would expect the FT-DFV to be functional.

Dan

Never seen this combination. Certainly nothing that is currently offered. I'm not sure what the purpose was here, just wanted the fine tuning feature? It looks like bridge has been locked down to the body. You can see two Phillips screws obe either side of the saddles. So it insn't going to function as a vibtrato bridge. I'm thinking it is a project guitar. If it was a prototype or rare factory build I would expect the FT-DFV to be functional.

Dan

Dan,
I think I have seen this bridge on other guitars before, just can't find the posts about it. And yes, the DFV part does work. Here's a pic of one of my invaders with the leo fine tuner bridge and those two screws are there. I think they screw the bridge to the term block underneath.



If you look at a regular DFV I think the screws are under the saddles. I don't have a real good picture of it but here's a pic of my S-500 where you can see the screws under the saddles.



Tom

Stand corrected then.

I would bet that Jos has a ASAT with this bridge and can shed some light on it.

Tom

This bridge was a standard option for the ASAT Classic Signature Series, see this Page from the July 1, 1990 Price List:


Also, see these posts: Fine-Tune Bridge and Album:Andrew Campbell's 1991 ASAT Classic Signature.

We also have 9 Signature ASAT Classics and 1 ASAT Classic Custom (pre-2002) with the Leo Fender Fine Tuner Vibrato in our G&L Registry.

Hope this helps.

Yes, I was looking for an old post of mine and I came across a post that I now remember this from.
Jos doe indeed have this guitar in black with gold hardware and there was a post about it.

how do I post links to other posts?

Tom

Hey Tom,

Seems like you have found George Fullerton's ASAT Classic with Leo Fender Fine-Tuner Vibrato on my site already. And that's the full "I'll need to take a deep breath before I start uttering these words" name too, although it is abbreviated to Leo Fender Vibrato on the price list.

From the arced front of the bridge plate and the absence of a second boss for an arm on the bass side, this is clearly the 3rd generation of the LFFTV. These bridges were available after mid-1987 and went through 3 iterations (the 1st with the straight from edge and 2 bosses is shown on your Interceptor) before landing on this version. Of course what is special here is that it still has part of the steel box bridge typically used on an ASAT Classic. These bridges are fairly rare all in all. And they were no longer offered after BBE took over. One should not find a production guitar after 1991, rather this will be an "employee" guitar built out of spare parts.



Great find!

- Jos

Last edited by yowhatsshakin on Sat Mar 11, 2017 7:26 am, edited 1 time in total.

Thanks Jos. So a G&L Vibrato would be the regular DFV and the Leo Fender Vibrato is this odd combination.

BTW, this guitar is a production 1991 ASAT signature model complete with paperwork showing the serial number and signed by Phyllis Fender. It was on EBay recently and was ultimately sold for $700.

Wish I had seen it, that's a great deal, it's totally mint.

Tom

That is a nice one, and what a great price! Was this guitar originally yellow, or do you think it was a blonde that has just yellowed with age?

Thanks Jos. So a G&L Vibrato would be the regular DFV and the Leo Fender Vibrato is this odd combination.

Correct Tom. The DFV on an ASAT looks like this:


Also notice that in 1990 and 1991, all ASAT Classics were Signature models and, according to the price list, available with optional Leo Fender Vibrato but not DFV.


Then when BBE took over, the ASAT Classic no longer was available as a Signature and the vibrato as an option was removed:


- Jos

So according to the '90 and '91 price lists you could by a Skyhawk or Comanche with this exact bridge? Never seen one have you? Only ASATS and that is only yours and this one which is indeed Blonde.

Tom

So according to the '90 and '91 price lists you could by a Skyhawk or Comanche with this exact bridge? Never seen one have you? Only ASATS and that is only yours and this one which is indeed Blonde.

Tom

On the models quoted it would look like this:

You show the 1st generation on you Invader; this is a 2nd generation on an Interceptor, and the 3rd generation can be seen on the ASAT shown above as well as the ASAT Classic featured in this thread. Just want to make sure that it is understood that when as Leo Fender Vibrato is featured on an ASAT Classic the steel box was modified to allow room for the 2 posts but it is not as such part of the vibrato.

Hope this helps,

- Jos

So, Jos, are you saying the DFV bridge (on the OP's guitar) is a separate unit from the pickup box plate? It is hard for me to tell from the picture...

If that is the case, then the modified box plate is the most unique part of this guitar, not the DFV bridge! But what a great combination! I wish my Classic had that!

So, Jos, are you saying the DFV bridge (on the OP's guitar) is a separate unit from the pickup box plate? It is hard for me to tell from the picture...

If that is the case, then the modified box plate is the most unique part of this guitar, not the DFV bridge! But what a great combination! I wish my Classic had that!

Of course what is special here is that it still has part of the steel box bridge typically used on an ASAT Classic.

Howdy cho,

I used the above quoted statement in one of my earlier posts and now I realize that is not the clearest it could be. It suggests the bridge plate is in one way or another connected to the vibrato unit. This would be incorrect. The best pic I have right now is for my ASAT Classic Signature with Leo Fender Fine-Tuner Vibrato (previously owned by George Fullerton) but it is not all too clear. Click on it for a larger version.

But you can see the lip on the back of the bridge plate has been removed and where the posts go in to the body the plate has 2 kind of quarter circle cut-outs to make room. So yes, they are 2 separate units and the bridge plate and Leo Fender Vibrato are not connected.

I will try to make better pics later today.

- Jos

My first pic at the top of the page is quite clear. It is a shortened version of the Leo Fender Fine Tuner with patent. Then a cut off Box steel bridge is added assumably only to mount the bridge pickup. I think there were earlier incarnations of this setup including this from another post:



Tom

Here pics showing the modifications to the steel box and how it sits together on an ASAT Classic. Notice the felt spacers in the cut-away corners of the steel box.:



- Jos

Yes, that's exactly what the guitar in the OP pic has and looks like but not gold.

What do you think of the cut off DFV bridge plate I posted.Any thoughts?

Tom

Yes, that's exactly what the guitar in the OP pic has and looks like but not gold.

What do you think of the cut off DFV bridge plate I posted.Any thoughts?

Tom

Check the other post.

Ok, found it. This was a production guitar in 1989 and '91.

Here s some info from GregG's website

Tom

I had owned one guitar in the past, a skyhawk, which had Leo Fender fine tuners on it. Nice find.

the Fine Tune DFV is nice for tuning stability for sure. One thing that I wonder about is why Leo opted for such a SMALL inertia block for that trem system. You physically cannot make a smaller inertia block (for strings going through) than the one on the FT-DFV