Hello from San francisco

hi. i don't own a g&l yet. i'm here to learn more and get recs. i have 2 strats and a parker fly mojo. i'm hoping to sell all 3 and get 2 new (to me) and better guitars. actually the parker is amazing in it's own right. it's just too modern for me. the strats are too much work!

there is a 1986 asat near me for sale. $850. i might see it tomorrow. http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/msg/4004193790.html

is that a reasonable price? he says it's in good condition aside from cosmetics. then there are 3 86s on ebay right now with buy it now at $1700. all in very good condition. i'm not a collector so i don't care. i just want something that plays and sounds great. here goes another week of my life to gear.

I would jump on that .... I want to get a early ASAT or Broadcaster too , I have a 1998 ASAT Classic and early ASAT would compliment it well , the early ASAT's and Broadcasters have a metal pick guard

I think $850 is a great price for an '86 ASAT. It's a good price for any ASAT in decent condition, but many G&L fans consider an unmodded '86 to be the cream of the crop. I own two '86s, and share that opinion. A lot of folks consider the Broadcaster to be their "Holy Grail" model. Production of Broadcasters and ASATs overlapped in the spring and summer of '86, so it was luck of the draw whether one got all black finish and Leo's autograph (a Broadcaster), or a plain headstock and ASAT decal. These almost all came with maple bodies, which IMO work exceptionally well with the large MFD pickups. The blonde finish seems to be less common than black, which also adds some points.

I saw in your other post that you have been looking for a Strat-type guitar, and were considering a Tele-type as a backup. You can get a lot more versatility out of an ASAT than a Tele, IMO. There are a lot of options for a G&L with three pickups, a vibrato and a five-way switch. When it comes to a Tele-inspired guitar, it would be hard to make a case than anything beats an ASAT, and especially an early one. Not to mention the whole aspect of Leo Fender most likely being in the building when this guitar was made...

I hope this is helpful. I will try to respond to your other thread tomorrow evening.

Ken

the early ASAT's and Broadcasters have a metal pick guard

Eric,

Actually, the Broadcasters and earliest ASATs have single-ply plastic pick guards. The metal guards hit production toward the end of '87, although earlier examples have been reported. One of my '86 ASATs (from May/June, IIRC) has a metal guard and chrome trim, and another G&LDPer scored a Broadcaster with a metal pick guard last year. I have read about some ASAT IIIs from the very beginning of '87 having metal guards and chrome trim as well.

Metal pickguards dated back to 1982 on the S-500 and were on the SB-1 in early '86, so it makes sense (to me at least) that there could have been some experimenting or prototyping with metal guards from the beginning of Broadcaster/ASAT production.

Ken

thanks you guys. that ad has been up for over a week now. maybe a few weeks. real slow market i guess. that's what i'm seeing selling mine too.

great, now i have to get up at 6:30 am to go see it. they guy is a contractor and leaves early!

Will Ray sure likes the metal pick guard , I didn't realize the early one were plastic but Ken you are for sure one of the guy's on here that make this site so special with your knowledge on the early models

oh, how will i know this thing is 86"? i hear the serials aren't telling? and he doesn't list one. bet he won't be keen on me pulling the neck. neither will i.

anything else i should look for? or look out for? thx

oh, how will i know this thing is 86"? i hear the serials aren't telling? and he doesn't list one. bet he won't be keen on me pulling the neck. neither will i.

anything else i should look for? or look out for? thx

Here's the Ad Slick for the 1986 ASAT:



Also, here's a list with details of the production version of the ASAT models: List of Regular Production ASAT-style guitars (USA).

Hope this helps.

thx craig! will now comb over specs and pic. this seller is asleep now i think.

dunno if this will help, but here's a shot of my '86 ASAT.
The one in the CL ad looks right to me.
welcome cporro !

thx!

yeah, it looks right to me too. but i don't know g&ls!

did these really come with a trem bar option? looks like they did. no? http://www.ggjaguar.com/86asat.htm

what can expect in terms of tone and playability when compared to a new asat?

right now i'm playing a 95' strat plus deluxe that's been pleked. it plays good. not great i'd say. i'm taking it tomorrow as a comparison. also taking some feeler gauges, capo, and a fine ruler for some measurements. i've been burned before thinking a set up could fix the ills of a neck. now i'll only buy stuff that plays well out the gate.

k, sleepy time. thanks again for all the help. will let you know how it goes.

what can expect in terms of tone and playability when compared to a new asat?

It will be pretty similar. Nothing has changed with this model since 1986, other than some changes in the production and finishing processes. If this one is maple (like many if not most from '86 and '87), you may find the tone to be a bit more focused than the current ash and alder instruments. That's been my experience, anyway. The pickups were hand wound in the 80s, so there a bit more variability between the tone of different instruments from that period compared to today.

i've been burned before thinking a set up could fix the ills of a neck. now i'll only buy stuff that plays well out the gate.

These are incredibly stable guitars. I've pulled quite a few 80s G&L from their cases after months and had them perfectly in tune. The '86 SB-1 that arrived yesterday had been boxed up in San Diego and spent a week with FedEx - and played wonderfully (and still in tune) when I received it in Maryland last night. The only issues that I always check for with older G&Ls are ski-jump (an upward bend in the fretboard around the 19th fret due to improper use of the neck tilt), and truss rod function. I've only had one early G&L instrument out of two dozen have a truss rod problem (a frozen nut on an '81 L-1000 bass). A bottomed-out truss rod can often be made functional with a washer or two below the nut, but it's always good to recognize the problem before buying.

oh, how will i know this thing is 86"? i hear the serials aren't telling? and he doesn't list one. bet he won't be keen on me pulling the neck. neither will i.

anything else i should look for? or look out for? thx

The big differences cosmetically between an '86/'87 ASAT and later production are the small font logo (which this one has) and a single-ply plastic pickguard. By the end of '87 the logo was in large block letters, and the the pickguard was metal with a black crinkle finish. The earliest ones also had a rectangular metal string retainer (like a box over the strings). By '88 they were typical black plastics "T"s. The finish on this ASAT is also period-correct. The standard options for these first ASATs were black, blonde and sunburst. Tuners, knobs, control plate and neck plate will be black - smooth on the tuners and knobs, and crinkle on the plates. Everything else that is metal should be chrome IIRC.

Serials are all over the place. Going from memory, one of my '86 ASATs is G017xxx and the other is G021xxx or G023xxx, even though the necks and bodies are all dated within a month of each other (I'm going from memory here - you can see the exact numbers in my profile).

did these really come with a trem bar option?

I've never seen an early one with the G&L fine tuner vibrato, but one of mine has the optional Kahler.

Ken

what can expect in terms of tone and playability when compared to a new asat?

right now i'm playing a 95' strat plus deluxe that's been pleked. it plays good. not great i'd say. i'm taking it tomorrow as a comparison. also taking some feeler gauges, capo, and a fine ruler for some measurements. i've been burned before thinking a set up could fix the ills of a neck. now i'll only buy stuff that plays well out the gate.

k, sleepy time. thanks again for all the help. will let you know how it goes.

See this post in our G&L Knowledgebase: pre-BBE ASAT vs. '07 ASAT Special: Differences?

well you'll be disappointed (and maybe i will be too in a few days) to hear i passed on the guitar. it was as advertised. i looked for the ski jump at the end of the fretboard. and i think i saw some. i also noticed the micro tilt adjustment? had been used. the neck wasn't 100% flush with the body. but damned if i could hear it while playing. no buzzing, no problem bending (this was a 7.25" i think). that was good.

the frets were kind of D shaped. square-ish. that surprised me.

there was rust in the pole pieces on the pickups, rust on the saddles, rust on the frets too i think. at first i thought it was finger crust (not that finger crust wasn't on it) but i couldn't scrape it off. it was dirty and the strings were old and dull as jazz. that did not help. i got to wonder how it got rusted? one of the pots had a bit of noise.

it had the chips as in photo. and some worming not in photo.

the neck was super close to flat. just a wee bit of concavity. i measured with feeler gauges.

the screw that pushes the saddles together was missing. and...yeah those threads were rusted.

i really wish the thing was cleaned up. i didn't want to insult the guy. he was super nice. but the impression i got was the inside of it might have cob webs, dust, and rust.

did i do the right thing? not sure. i told him i may come back. i see the same guitar mint sold on ebay for 1700.

after that i went to a shop and played 4 or 5 g&ls. s500, legacy, asat, asat special. also 2 teles.

based on sound. i preferred the s500 over the legacy. and the asat over the s500. so leaning asat now. too bad i do some trem stuff. guess i need 2 guitars. and will now research how bridge design effects tone. : )

damn, half a day gone and 60 miles of driving.

one last thing. this really threw me for a while. none of the guitars played as well as my strat. then realized a few things. i have elixirs on and i think they have a lot less friction. also i use fast fret...so there is some of that residual. currently i have .013s on. lastly i bet all these store guitars had old-ish crustful strings. so my guitar was nice and smooth and the others were like playing rubber.

If you really like an ASAT and a trem, here is one solution.


or this is another. Either is totally awesome!-- Darwin

those sure are purty. thx.

the question i have now, is the fixed bridge essential for that tele sound? today at the shop one of the guys helping me plainly said yes it is.

cporro, people will tell you a lot of things. My experience is all I can tell you. In 2005 I bought a new Fender American Deluxe Tele. I used it for a few months and then installed a F-Bigsby with a Jazzmaster style bridge. It still sounded like a Tele afterwards and I could not tell the difference, and if anything it had better sustain. I sold it to a pro musician and he thought it was the best tele he had ever heard. I also installed a Bigsby on his bandmates American Deluxe Tele with the same opinion. I have two G&L Z-3s, one, the Bigsby shown and the other with the saddle lock. They both sound like Z-3's. There is nothing else I can tell you. So I would not necessarily agree with what the store person told you, or maybe he hears something we don't.-- Darwin

cporro, people will tell you a lot of things.

true dat.

one peace of advice i got some time ago, from a place like this, was to play unplugged and just listen to the sound. i think this i pretty stuff. you have to develop an ear for it. they sound radically different but which one is better?

one time i picked out an acoustic just by tapping on them all hung on the wall. the one with the nicest tap sound was my guy. sure i played it too but it had the purdiest resonance. that might be a good tip... or total bs. : )

sounds like your experience confirms what questionable sales person says. we could wait for science to confirm but will most likely be dead by then. back to hunches. : ) thanks.