Which wood has been used on my 1990 asat

[NoneSensePreacher]

Hey guys!
I’m an absolute new comer in both this forum and the gnl guitars.
So, as the title suggests, i’ve just bought a 1990 made asat.
But here’s the thing, bcoz it has a vertical wood grain (correct me if i’m wrong)
I can not distinguish which wood was used for the body part.

According to the forum’s serial registry, i could figure out
that most of its early 90 asats natural finish was done by an ash body.

But somehow,
my stupid short-lived tree hugging knowledge tells me
it’s not an ash bcoz of this vertically straight headed grains.

Can anyone explain and tell me about my asat’s body wood please!

[suave eddie]

Sure looks like ash to me and very nice at that.

[NoneSensePreacher]

Hey! Thanks for the reply!

Doesn’t ash have more swirly/gnarled grain?

[suave eddie]

Others can chime in here but I'm fairly certain you have a nice looking straight grain ash body. They do vary quite a bit.

Check these examples: https://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&auth ... CAc&uact=5

[Elwood]

Some really nice Ash.

[SUaPYG]

The grain pattern in wood is dictated largely by how it is milled. Flat or plain sawn results in a flame or cathedral look. Your swirly grain perhaps? Quarter sawn boards have much straighter grain, much like your guitar. Quarter sawn boards are much more stable than flat sawn. The reason the grain patterns are different has to do with the angle of the cut and the growth rings of the tree.
Your guitar is quarter sawn ash.

[NoneSensePreacher]

Thank you for the explanation SUaPYG
I really appreciate it!

Now my brain is cleansed with a better idea!

[tomanche]

I'm guessing that if you look at the body's butt end (by the strap pin) and the neck heel, the seam where the two halves of the body join will show that the ash grain lines form a "V." One of the many things I appreciate about Leo Fender was that he explored every aspect of a guitar's construction and tone. He felt that having the grain oriented so the lines run the length of body helped to transmit string vibration from the bridge through the body. (That's why the saddle-lock bridge has a boss that mounts/extends into the body wood.) Most G&Ls I've seen have the grain joined symmetrically at some angle in the body halves.

There's variation in the angle of the "V" and how tightly spaced the grain lines are, depending on where in the quarter-round of the log the cut of wood came from. Some guitars I've seen from the late 80's, especially ASAT Classic Signatures, have beautifully tight, straight ash lines on the top and bottom. (See this example at ggjaguar's website: http://www.ggjaguar.com/ac-90.htm.) On other guitars, sometimes the "V" angle results in grain lines running along the length of the sides, too.

GGJaguars' website has an example of a flat-sawn or slab-sawn body that gives the "cathedral" look, with wide grain spacing.
http://www.ggjaguar.com/91shsig.htm

You have a beautiful guitar! Congrats!!

[SUaPYG]

To add a bit more to the discussion. If the boards used for the body are matched and form a V at the joint the boards were rift sawn. True quarter sawn wood would exhibit a perfectly vertical look as true quarter sawn results in the growth rings being 90deg to the saw blade or band. Rift sawn is between flat sawn and quarter sawn, hence the V.

[NoneSensePreacher]

Thanks for the explanation guys i really appreciate it!

As you guys told me, it has a v shape on top and the bottom end





To add a brief review and a question,
The sound is amazing! (I don’t think i can go back to any other guitars i have) the neck is slimmer than i thought. And lastly, the pickups output is somewhat weaker than my expectation (which fits me really well).

One other curiosity i have is the bobbins number,
It states 4220069. Does it mean anything?

[Craig]

Thanks for the explanation guys i really appreciate it!

As you guys told me, it has a v shape on top and the bottom end





To add a brief review and a question,
The sound is amazing! (I don’t think i can go back to any other guitars i have) the neck is slimmer than i thought. And lastly, the pickups output is somewhat weaker than my expectation (which fits me really well).

One other curiosity i have is the bobbins number,
It states 4220069. Does it mean anything?

PAT. 4220069 is the patent number for Leo Fender's Magnetic Field Design pickups. See this Album in the Gallery: Album: D4220069.
Also, see: The G&L Magnetic Field Design pickups.

Hope this helps.

[tomanche]

Beautiful end grain!

If the output is weaker than you want, you can move the pickups closer to the strings (as I'm sure you know). The MFD pickups are designed and spec'ed to be closer to the strings than is typical for other single coil pickups. So, pressing the string down at the 22nd fret, the spec is 2/32" from the top of the pickup to the bottom of the E/6th string, and 1/32" from the top of the pickup to the bottom of the E/1st string.

Whenever you halve the distance, the output is doubled.

And, you can raise/lower each pole piece to affect each string's output and string-to-string balance.