The place to discuss, post photos, video, and audio of the G&L products (US instruments, stomp boxes, etc.) produced after 1991, including the amps & gear we use with them.
An as new, 2008 Asat Blues Boy, followed me home today. It is 3 color Sunburst with a maple fingerboard. I will post pictures when I get a chance but I removed the neck to see which neck it had. The body date is Feb 1 2008 and there are notes on the neck by person who built it but no number as to neck type or the date it was built. I can tell you that it is a 12 inch radius and is .850 at the first fret and .960 at 12. It feels different (larger) and it could be a modern U or V. I like it. The neck pocket is tight as the neck had been trimmed to fit. The fretwork and neck in general is perfect. I have set it up for low action, low relief and it is buzz free.
The quality is as I would expect from G&L. I would suggest that those of you who want all the neck and pocket info to save you time as it may not be there. I would really like to know which neck that I have. It is CLF49588. The neck/string alignment is perfect and the strings are also aligned perfectly with the pickup poles. She is sweet and I plan on using her for a gigger. I usually have not been happy with pickup pole alignment on some of my Fenders as they can be all over the place. This is my G&L number 11 and they continue to be rock solid on build and quality. What more can I say other than they are the best used buy on the planet. I am becoming a believer!!! Darwin
Congrats Darwin! As you know, you never can have enough ASAT's!
Here's the information on the G&L website on available neck profiles. And as you can see, your numbers do appear in the table but not together in a single entry. The thickness at the 1st seems to indicate Modern "U", but the thickness at the 12th is either Classic "C", Vintage "C", Vintage "V". wide "C", or extra wide "C". But the radius would eliminate the Vintage varieties. So heck if I know Hope there is no typo in the table somewhere.
Ginny and I have been under the weather, but I had a chance to take some pictures:
As I had mentioned, it is like new. I am uncertain of the neck and Jos, I had used somewhat the same logic that you applied on the neck size. It is definitely different than the other G&Ls that I have and they are all number 1 necks. This may be a V or U. Either way I like it at it feels a bit larger and it does have the 1 5/8 12 in radius. That alone surprised me as I believe that the Bluesboy comes with a 7 1/2 standard. It must be a special order. I am becoming more uncertain of the body wood also. I registered it as an ash but could this be an alder? It is heavy and it is one of the most resonant bodies , unplugged , that I have owned. It sings. Within a month is should re-emerge as a Bluesboy Bigsby F type. Let me know what you think of the wood type. It sure is tame for an ash woodgrain. -- Darwin
darwinohm wrote:I registered it as an ash but could this be an alder?
Looks like alder to me. Compare it to this ash bodied Bluesboy. There is a bit more grain visible even if the grain is exceptionally straight for ash in that top.
Nice guitar Looking forward to how it looks with the Bigsby!
darwinohm wrote:I registered it as an ash but could this be an alder?
Looks like alder to me. Compare it to this ash bodied Bluesboy. There is a bit more grain visible even if the grain is exceptionally straight for ash in that top.
Nice guitar Looking forward to how it looks with the Bigsby!
I vote for alder too. In fact, I'd just about bet the farm on it (if I had a farm to bet).
It's a beaut, Darwin. That burst and tort guard are particularly nice together. And yeah, I'd say that's as close to showroom condition as you're likely to find on the used market. Nice score.
Thank you all for your input on the wood. The consensus is that it is alder. I was hoping Craig would have an opinion. I carefully measured the neck today with a Micrometer instead of the Caliper that I used last Friday. The neck measures to be a #1 or classic C. It had me fooled and I could have sworn it was different from the others that I have. Turns out that the Americans that I have are all the same size necks. I ordered the Bigsby today so I will post the project when I do it. This one is really a keeper. By the way, when did G&L change the size of the marker dots on the side of the neck. They have gone to a smaller dot and I prefer the larger size dot on the earlier 2000 models. This is especially noticeable on the maple fretboard. I hadn't noticed the change on the rosewood.-- Darwin
Darwin, I have the #1 neck on two of my ASATs and they feel different. It's a slight difference, but its there. I put it down to the hand sanding part of the construction. Enjoy it!
Nice Bluesboy, congrats. Most definitely alder in that one.
The side dots seem to be different on some of my G&LS. Not sure if they are model specific or not. On the rosewood finger board Legacy 2HB the dots are not on the rosewood but on the maple of the neck and are fairly large black dots.
darwinohm wrote:Thank you all for your input on the wood. The consensus is that it is alder. I was hoping Craig would have an opinion. I carefully measured the neck today with a Micrometer instead of the Caliper that I used last Friday. The neck measures to be a #1 or classic C. It had me fooled and I could have sworn it was different from the others that I have. Turns out that the Americans that I have are all the same size necks. I ordered the Bigsby today so I will post the project when I do it. This one is really a keeper. By the way, when did G&L change the size of the marker dots on the side of the neck. They have gone to a smaller dot and I prefer the larger size dot on the earlier 2000 models. This is especially noticeable on the maple fretboard. I hadn't noticed the change on the rosewood.-- Darwin
Hi Darwin,
I do agree with the others that it is Alder. I had updated your registry entry to reflect it earlier.
I'm not sure when the changed the size of the side marker dots. I'll see if I can find out.
Craig wrote:
I'm not sure when the changed the size of the side marker dots. I'll see if I can find out.
Stay tuned.
Hi Darwin,
I contacted Steve Grom and he replied:
The change to the smaller side dots happened before my time and none of the guys here in the shop seem to remember when or why.
I will tell you that we have gone back to larger dots (the same size Fender uses, but a little smaller than early G&Ls) and we make that change about a year ago.
I've never been a fan of the small side dots ... and as we are getting older, seeing the dots (at all) has become a challenge.
Darwin
Hope there is no typo in the table somewhere.
-- Darwin
Looking forward to how it looks with the Bigsby!