F100 vs Doheny V12 vs whatever question

I feel like I'm tipping the balance of expected replies given the subforum I'm posting in here, but I have some questions and gotta start somewhere...

I have for a while been thinking about adding a 2HB guitar to my small collection. On the electric side, I have a 3 bolt Legacy and a mid-2000s Bluesboy. I have been casually been thinking the various 2HB guitars in the G&L lineup and have really been paying attention to the Doheny V12, but not anywhere near to pulling the trigger yet. And that's in no small part due to the fact that I don't have a dealer locally to try one out, but that's never really stopped me before.

Anyway, I'm in my local shop today picking up the ASAT after a little work and what do I see hanging right above it, but a Series I F-100. Guy says it's an '81 if I recall correctly. In part because I was on my lunch break, and in part because I knew I'd do something rash in the moment, I didn't pull it down to look at it or play it, so there's that.

So I guess the question is this: knowing I want to fill a gap with a guitar that's a little more muscular, full, and dark compared to my 2 guitars with single coils in the bridge, and knowing that I can watch a bunch of well-recorded Doheny demos, what do the fine folks here think about the F100* in that context?



*What I know about this specific F100: cosmetically good to excellent from a couple of feet. Body looked great, some of the bridge hardware looked a little dirty. Clear finish on ash, rosewood fretboard. Dunno if it's active or passive electronics, as I didn't know what to look for in the moment. Supposedly all original. Also supposedly been there a while, a couple years or more.

It just now caught my eye that I registered for this forum 10 years and 2 days ago. And this is my first thread and post. What a horrible lurker I've been!

Just my .02

1. Anytime you can locate an item you've been wanting/seeking/admiring, then serious efforts should be made to "reasonably" acquire said item.
2. Historically, G&L Guitars have been quite good "values", and underpriced compared to their quality level.
3. Given, this particular item may have been at this store for a "while", then a "reasonable" or maybe better than "reasonable" price can be achieved.

Definitely worth another visit and evaluation. IF, this fills a void in your collection and can be had for a reasonable priced, then to me - it is a done deal.

I have been fortunate over nearly 60 years to have acquired many guitars/amps/pedals/mics/PAs etc. Have also sold off many. BUT - when an opportunity arises to acquire a long sought after item - man, you just need to go for it.

Valuable advice that I 100% agree with. That said, I haven’t been looking for an F100 and other than immediately recognizing it and knowing how it started the G&L product line, I know nothing about them. Obviously, I should go back and play it, but in the meantime I’m looking for honest feedback from people that know and love (or don’t love) this model.

Most of you YouTube videos I’ve seen sound not good. I suspect that’s because the modern concept of high quality, professionally recorded reviews is far too new.

hopefully you'll hear from a few of the other F100 owners.
mine's an '81, series 1 (12 in fretboard radius, ebony board, low flat frets like an old les paul), all passive, body clear gloss over mahogany.
a relatively slim neck with a skunk stripe on the back. the two small switches are coil split, and out of phase mode.
it plays beautifully (something about a 40 yr old guitar...) sounds like no other gtr you've heard.
there are a nice variety of different tones in this gtr. pleasant surprises. it can be very mellow and jazzy, bright, or hard edged through the right amp at a good volume. you don't know unless you try...

Challenger has 3 beautiful F100's and a V12 Doheny. Perhaps he can compare/contrast the two

Thanks! I guess what I’m thinking now is that my only real answer will come from going and playing the thing. What I was sort,of secretly hoping for was for someone to convincingly talk me out of it!

I’m thinking there’s a good chance that something’s wrong or off about it. The guy says it’s been hanging on the wall there for four years.

I own both a passive F-100 and Doheny V12. At one time, I had three F-100’s at once. I kept my favorite one and sold the others to make some room. I’ve owned four vintage F-100’s over the years and each had a slightly different sound. Definitely a good idea to try before you buy. There can be a lot of variability in the early G&L’s. The pickups are wound by hand and bodies cut by hand, so each has its own feel. The fact that the vintage F-100 has been there for 4 years would lead me to believe it is either over priced, the store has very little traffic, or it doesn’t sound optimal. I love the F-100 for the humbucking modes. The F-100 sounds powerful and clear with the humbucking MFD’s. The split coil has a bass enhancing circuitry that sounds bass heavy in a muffled muddy sort of way. Works OK for individual notes, but doesn’t sound good at all for chords and rhythm. I would not recommend an F-100 for a single coil sound. But, you have that covered. I would recommend an F-100 for an HH guitar with the comforts of a Leo Fender double cutaway guitar. When you try out the F-100, you will know if it is the right fit for you.

The Doheny V12 is incredible with full humbuckers and split mode. The V12 can also have one of each at the same time. There is not a bad sound for any of the pickup settings. With the PTB on the V12, you can sculpt the sound even more. The V12 pickups actually sound quite similar to the F-100 pickups in the humbucking setting. Where the V12 surpasses the F-100 is with the switching options and coil splitting, in my opinion. Newer G&L’s are very consistent in sound and quality. I would have no reservations in buying a new G&L without playing it. I bought my V12 over the phone from a dealer I’ve used for a few new G&L purchases.

So, try the F-100 and if it feels like the one and the price is reasonable go ahead and take the HH plunge. If the F-100 doesn’t speak to you, there will always be a V12 available that I know will not disappoint you.

Thanks. This is super helpful. A couple thoughts, briefly…


It is either over priced - $800 with original case; doesn’t feel out of line.

the store has very little traffic - it is a smaller shop in a smaller city. Maybe not that small though.

or it doesn’t sound optimal. - a very strong possibility.

Update: I went and played the guitar.

First, the physical condition. It looks new other than the finish is worn off the bridge posts and volume knob. The control plate might have a little surface pitting. The body finish, the neck and the headstock looked nearly flawless. Even the spring cavity cover on the back was unmarked. Now, for some dumbass reason I was in the back of this shop wearing sunglasses, so I didn’t give it the millimeter-by-millimeter examination, but I’ve picked up brand new guitars with more shop wear.

Playability: the neck was straight, the frets were good but could use a polishing, action was nice and low. There was a little fret buzzing but the tech in the shop and I both agreed a quick setup would take care of that. The bridge springs were cranked down so the tail of the bridge sat against the body, and whoever did that fixed the action by raising the saddles. Stupid looking work, but hey, I’ve done worse on occasion.

I expected a heavy instrument, but it was anything but. I’m terrible at estimating weights, but I’d confidently say it was lighter than my ‘95 Legacy or my ‘05 ASAT. The guitar was decently loud unplugged. Sounded nice in that state,

Plugged in though, because when I showed up a couple guys were already demoing instruments, I didn’t get to plug in, but I did get the tech briefly to play through the amp he had at his workbench. All the switches and knobs worked, or at least could be said to do noticeable things. Neither he nor I could remember the exact control scheme, although we both laughed at the extremely strong bass response when the little black switch was toward the tail of the guitar.

On one hand, I came away thinking that I would be foolish to pass up a rarity in outstanding condition at such a low price,but on the other hand, I don’t think it’s quite what I’m really looking for to round out my collection. I certainly did not in the moment get the “gotta have it” feeling. I’ll probably try it again when the shop is less busy and I can spend more time listing to the tone but it’s no rush.

This place is supposedly a G&L dealer, so I was kind of hoping that they’d have a Doheny HH or V12 to compare with, but no such luck.

If it was a passive F-100, the little black switch is the phase switch. Towards the neck is both pickups out of phase with each other and towards the bridge they are in phase with each other. The small red switch is the humbucking and coil split. Towards the neck is coil split with a bass enhancing circuitry and towards the bridge is regular humbucker mode. Both of my micro switches stay towards the tail end of the guitar. I don’t care for the bass enhancing circuitry or out of phase sound.

The price is very reasonable, actually on the cheap side. I rarely see them for under $1000 anymore. But, G&L’s are not necessarily a good buy to speculate and try to flip. If it doesn’t speak to you, I’d pass on it regardless of how good the deal. Now, if you go to sell it you will get a 1099 from reverb, eBay or PayPal for a cumulative merchandise sale over $600 starting in 2022. Sounds like you should save up for the V12.

A couple other options are an ASAT Deluxe or Fallout. The ASAT Deluxe would give you a classic alnico HH sound. Not quite as articulate as a V12, but will sound familiar to you as alnico pickups have been around awhile. The Fallout is a P-90 humbucker Combo that is very versatile and would compliment the two guitars you have quite nicely.

Out of all the G&L’s in my collection, three of my favorites are the Legacy Special, Doheny V12 and the Fallout. Those are the ones that have received the most play time. My wife recently bought me an Espada and so far I’ve been quite impressed the that one. I think the McLaren’s have a good grasp on the MFD technology now and have done a tremedous job designing the V12 and Espada pickups. I guess I’m also a fan of Paul Gagon’s since he designed the Legacy Special and Fallout pickups.

Last edited by Challenger on Mon Jan 24, 2022 9:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Thanks, you’ve been incredibly helpful.

I think at this point I’m gonna leave this one hanging up on the wall. I wasn’t looking for one of these, and shouldn’t get caught up in the rarity and interesting backstory it has. I have a bad habit of becoming a collector of ‘interesting’ items that I otherwise rally don’t use. It’s how I ended up with a Lintotype for several years. When my wife and I moved down here a few years ago, I like to think I learned my lesson editing down 20 plus years of accumulated stuff.

I like your thinking around the ASAT Deluxe, and will put that in the mix with the Doheny twins, the V12 and the HH. Got a trip to Italy coming up next month and will probably get serious about the hunt after that.

In the meantime, if anyone wants a line on a really sweet looking F100 Series I, there’s one hanging at Jensen Guitar and Music in Santa Barbara, CA. If someone else buys it, then I won’t have to!

The interesting thing about F-100s right now is that they seem to be easier to find and often cheaper than any other Leo-era G&L I can think of. A few years ago, the cheapest vintage G&L probably would have been an original ASAT or a SC-3, but there are actually more F-100s on Reverb right now than either of those. I have a very nice F-100 but it is not a daily driver for me, it's more like a character guitar for overdubs.

For those that have been dying for resolution, I've narrowed the search down to an maple/mahogany ASAT Deluxe and a Korina Collection ASAT Deluxe II. I found a good example of each used, so now need to decide which direction to go. And if that F100 is still at the local shop this Christmas, well, I'll go and get that too.

... and by 'narrowed down to these two' I mean also a V12.

This is a challenge.

One of my G&L's is a Blue V12 I bought just over a year ago. They did a great job with these. The pickups are excellent in all positions. It almost makes my S-500 redundant. I can't offer a comparison as I have never played or seen an F-100 or Asat deluxe in person. I agree it is a tough choice though. Please post when to let us know what you end up with.

One of my G&L's is a Blue V12 I bought just over a year ago. They did a great job with these. The pickups are excellent in all positions. It almost makes my S-500 redundant. I can't offer a comparison as I have never played or seen an F-100 or Asat deluxe in person. I agree it is a tough choice though. Please post when to let us know what you end up with.

Thanks, will do. I'm going to post this to the current model section as well, but I have a question for you and your experience with the V12.

So my goal here is to round out my arsenal with one last guitar (HA!) to complement my ASAT and my Legacy. Naturally, you'd think about a Les Paul maybe, but for various reasons I don't actually want an LP, I just want something that loosely fits that space. An ASAT Deluxe fits that space and I don't think it's hard for any of us to imagine what that would be like as anyone here has a real good idea of what a guitar with 2 PAFs sounds like. But can the V12 play in that same space as well?

I've heard that you can get a PAF-like tone by rolling off the bass and treble controls a bit, and then when you roll them back on, you have that huge variety of other tones and options to play with. Does that sound like what you've experienced?

My concern is that I get a V12, and find no matter how cool it is, that it doesn't do the sounds that an ASAT Deluxe will do, and then I gotta get another guitar.

I've heard that you can get a PAF-like tone by rolling off the bass and treble controls a bit, and then when you roll them back on, you have that huge variety of other tones and options to play with. Does that sound like what you've experienced?

I usually have the bass and treble rolled off to about 75 % when I'm playing in series on the V12. They compare well with my 61 SG RI which has 57 classics in it. I would say the V12 sounds a bit brighter ( very , very slightly ). Maybe more articulate would be more accurate. I played the Aerosmith version of Train kept a Rollin on it recently and it nailed the rhythm tone very well. I would say that yes , the PAF tones are there if you want them. It plays nice with all the amp profiles I use.

Please post when to let us know what you end up with.

Well, it’s a terrible photo and I clearly need another guitar stand, but today is NGD…

Last edited by Pork Rind on Sat Mar 12, 2022 5:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Congrats! You are going to love the V12. The OST finish is a classic look.

Your new V12 looks fantastic. Let us know your impressions. Enjoy it !