F100 F-100 Series 1 Series 2 thread

[Danley]

Greg Gagliano's site claims the different bodies were used around the same time as the updated necks; believe Craig confirmed the bodies of early F100s were slightly larger than other G&Ls.

Claims they received a standard top-loader bridge rather than the F100 hardtail unit :

http://www.ggjaguar.com/84f-100.htm

[Katefan]

Hmmm.... that could definitely be the case. Having said that, while GG's site is Fab I wouldn't take everything on here as law. He lists that F-100 (and other G&L's of that era) as having polyester finishes while we know in fact from Fred Finisher who worked in the spray dept that they were spraying nitro til the late '85 and possibly even a bit later...

[KenC]

However, I would like to know how many F-100's are out there with Hex poles prior to 1982, just to pick a date out of the air. No particular significance on that date, but it was thought for a long time that the early? ones had slot poles and sometime later? they changed to hex poles. For that matter, does anyone have say, a 1982 F-100 with slotted poles?

Tom

I've owned an '80 and an '81, and both had slots. The '81 was early in the year (Dec '80 body and Jan '81 neck). My G-200 is from Nov '81 and of course has hex polepieces. Every guitar I've owned with MFDs from that date on has hexes.

Basses were a different story. The earliest L-1000s had hex polepieces that took a larger wrench than the more recent ones do. Those pups transitioned to slots by the time L-2000s were in production in July '81, still had slots January '82, and had smaller hex polepieces by September '83. Those dates are based on instruments I own now or have owned in the past.

The Schaller pups used on the original Rampages and Superhawks had one row of fixed polepieces and a row with slots.

So, there were hex polepieces before slots on the basses and slots after hexes on guitars. It just wasn't on the F-100 model, to the best of my knowledge.

I would guess there was a brief overlap at some point where an F-100 could have left the factory with either hexes or slots, depending on whichever pickups were closest at hand.

Ken

Edited to correct a typo.

[yowhatsshakin]

For that matter, does anyone have say, a 1982 F-100 with slotted poles?

Mines: 1981 slotted poles, 1982 hex poles.

Mines: 1980 - slotted pole pieces; 1981 (February or later) - slotted pole pieces; 1981 (October or later) - hex poles. And none of the covers have the Pat. on them.

- Jos

[yowhatsshakin]

What intrigues me is the claimed smaller (Invader type) body shape on post-'84 models... Would love to see one.

I've never seen one of those...mine (posted above) is an '85 model, but has the same body shape as the earlier models, I think...

Me neither...I had an '85 Invader and it had the same size body as an old school F-100 as far as I can tell...

Jos?

My Invaders are 1986 and 1987 and have the contemporary (S-500/Skyhawk) body shape.

- Jos

[cho]

I wasn't aware there was a difference between the F-100 and Skyhawk body styles. My '85 F-100 is the only pre-BBE era F-100 I have, so perhaps mine is the updated body style.... What exactly its the difference between the two body styles?

[Danley]

It's subtle; searching the forum, Craig indicates 13" vs. 12 7/8" across on the lower bout. Feel like measuring mine now too... The non-string through saddle lock is what I really would be curious to see.

I made a post a bit down where I unscientifically compared some bodies:

http://www.guitarsbyleo.com/FORUM/viewt ... 22&t=15333

[cho]

Thanks for linking to your post. I can definitely see a difference between the SC-3 body and the others, but I can't really see a difference between the F-100 and the Skyhawk. I will measure my '85 F-100 lower bout tonight.

[Danley]

Funny the SC3 actually went through four body revisions (GG site shows one that shares a body with the Legacy) - My guitar on page two of this thread is actually different/wider than the non-pickguard model pictured in my other post (same as a later Skyhawk.)

[Danley]

Bumping this thread again to keep the F100 knowledge condensed - and avoid hijacking another thread where Jos posted a link to pictures of internals of MFD pickups.

Any idea why Leo/G&L used two bar magnets side-by-side in each F100 pickup, rather than a single bar magnet with the north/south poles set to span the pole pieces? Does having separated north and south magnets change the behavior of the pickup, or was that the intent?

[Old-Player]

Hmmm.... that could definitely be the case. Having said that, while GG's site is Fab I wouldn't take everything on here as law. He lists that F-100 (and other G&L's of that era) as having polyester finishes while we know in fact from Fred Finisher who worked in the spray dept that they were spraying nitro til the late '85 and possibly even a bit later...

I worked with Leo in 79-80, developing the F-100 series prototypes. All the finished ones we worked on were Nitro. I left in 81, so I can't speak to any other models after that.

[Katefan]

Wow, lucky guy! Would be cool to hear about your experiences and time with Leo.
Recently I was on GG's site and he has updated it and now lists nitro-cellulose as the finishes. My natural ASAT Signature (Feb '90) has heaps of weather checking all over the body so it is indeed nitro.

IIRC, after 1987 or so they started using polyurethane undercoats with nitro top coats much like they did with earlier on with the MM Stingrays and Sabres.
Perhaps Jos can chime in on this...

[FZTNT]

Hmmm.... that could definitely be the case. Having said that, while GG's site is Fab I wouldn't take everything on here as law. He lists that F-100 (and other G&L's of that era) as having polyester finishes while we know in fact from Fred Finisher who worked in the spray dept that they were spraying nitro til the late '85 and possibly even a bit later...

I worked with Leo in 79-80, developing the F-100 series prototypes. All the finished ones we worked on were Nitro. I left in 81, so I can't speak to any other models after that.

Hey mister, I have a very rare F-100 prototype from early 1980 before they really became G&L. No serial number and confirmed to be on page 4 of the 1980 catalog. I need to go back and look at my notes. It also has some signatures and dates in the neck pocket and heel. You may well be one of them. Perhaps you can give me additional info about this guitar too. Have a look at the pics I have. I have additional pics and COA,s from Geoff Fullerton. If you can add any history it would be welcomed.
Tom

[yowhatsshakin]

Wow, lucky guy! Would be cool to hear about your experiences and time with Leo.
Recently I was on GG's site and he has updated it and now lists nitro-cellulose as the finishes. My natural ASAT Signature (Feb '90) has heaps of weather checking all over the body so it is indeed nitro.

IIRC, after 1987 or so they started using polyurethane undercoats with nitro top coats much like they did with earlier on with the MM Stingrays and Sabres.
Perhaps Jos can chime in on this...

Katefan,

That is the same info I have from reliable sources. At G&L, everything before 1986, with few exceptions, was all nitro. This included sanding sealer, color coats, and top coats. The exceptions? Well, they did do some experiments with other finishes but the results were not as good, if not disastrous.

The drawback is that keeping all that nitro around was not without danger and the time it would take to finish an instrument was substantial. This is main reason they started using catalyzed polyurethane base coats in 1987. The products used were similar as used in other industries, like the automotive industry. The idea as that with these coats, they could forgo the sanding sealer and due to the relatively fast hardening, a nitro top coat could be applied after only a short delay. This process stayed in place all the way until Dale retired in November 1991.

- Jos

[Katefan]

Cheers Jos! You have a such a wealth of information.

KF