Finally, A No Pickguard ASAT Bluesboy

[darwinohm]

I have not been looking for a guitar but today another Fender Tele went down the road. This one came home with me. I registered it and noticed that everyone had registered an Alder body, other than one Mahogany. I have been wrong on this very subject before but this looks like Swamp Ash to me. Correct me if I'm wrong. I have owned many Fenders with Alder bodies and I have never seen a Fender Ash body as good as this. It weighs in at 8.0 lbs and is as new. I am a lucky guy as Ginny thinks it is the best yet and she found out about it when I arrived home. This Spalted Maple is awesome. I think that Ginny is even more so!!!-- Darwin

[louis cyfer]

looks great. now there are 2. swap that pup ring to a chrome one though.

[darwinohm]

Louis, you are right! It will get a chrome ring-- Darwin

[Goat]

You just bought the guitar that haunts my dreams Darwin....

[blargfromouterspace]

Very nice! Spalted and flame in the one piece of timber!

I have an ASAT with wood grain very similar to that on the back and it is Alder. It weighs around 8lbs too.

[suave eddie]

It's hard for me to believe the back of that guitar is Alder....the grain is much nicer than what is to be expected.

I presume you did not get the "build sheet" with the specs?

[darwinohm]

Eddie, this was built in 2008 before the build sheet. Thanks-- Darwin

[gitman001]

Hey Darwin,

Another outstanding find! Congrats!

I hope it doesn't push the z-3 bigsby off the wall and out the door! I know a nice place where it could find some love

Enjoy the Bluesboy

Scott

[darwinohm]

Scott, none of my G&Ls are leaving anytime soon! My Fender count is now down to 11. Nobody said this was easy. I would love to have all three of you Sparkeys. -- Darwin

[astutzmann]

real beauty, how does it sound?

[yowhatsshakin]

Darwin!

Welcome to the spalted club. That is another beauty; nice score
And indeed, yours looks like an ash back. Mine is alder:

And lets throw in the front too:


- Jos

[darwinohm]

Alf, it has the beautiful Bluesboy tone. Anywhere from very bright on the bridge pu to sweet on the neck and anywhere in between. I am going to do an A/B with the alnico BB soon to see the difference. Thanks

Jos, I appreciate you posting you photo and that is more what I would expect Alder to look like. I think I have a sweet piece of Ash. I noticed a Mahogany with the Spalted Cap in the registry. These tops are very interesting and that is how Ginny described it. It is a stroke of luck to come upon these. Thanks again Jos!-- Darwin

[Lefty]

Nice catch Darwin!!

[meowmix]

Very nice Darwin.

Mine is Spalted Alder

[darwinohm]

Meow, beautiful Spalted Alder but look at the neck on that bass!!! Eye candy-- Darwin

[yowhatsshakin]

Me thinketh this thread could not be complete without throwing in a no pickguard ASAT Classic too:


And yes, a pertty straight figured Swamp Ash back on this one.

- Jos

[Elwood]

Meow, beautiful Spalted Alder but look at the neck on that bass!!! Eye candy-- Darwin

+1,
Is there a porn thread for your L2000 ?

elwood

[darwinohm]

Boy, I'm really likin' these no pickguard models. Louis, you live near Fender Ave. I think you need to do some convincing down there. Jos, that is a wonderful ash back. These spalteds are really interesting to look at. Mother Nature is amazing.-- Darwin

[Craig]

Boy, I'm really likin' these no pickguard models. Louis, you live near Fender Ave. I think you need to do some convincing down there. Jos, that is a wonderful ash back. These spalteds are really interesting to look at. Mother Nature is amazing.-- Darwin

Dave addressed this request last year, see Are there any "off menu" G&L options?

[NickHorne]

I'm hoping the new Asat Bluesboy 90 qualifies; that would be very nice with no guard!
Usual T-type control plate is fine, favourite even; hassle-free control customising.

[darwinohm]

Craig, thanks for your reminder about Daves post. It is rare to see a no pickguard special ordered model on a dealer wall. I would bet that many of the smaller dealers aren't even aware of the options that are not standard offerings. There are some large internet dealers that are savvy and do order what they want. The dealer I go to has a lot of G&L savvy. I wanted to order my Equatorial Mahogany Bluesboy with out a pickguard and was told by (I believe the distributor) that it wasn't an option because the pickup is mounted in the pickguard and that would be a complete custom build. So thanks for reminding me and I know that the dealer I go to has become much more aggressive in demanding what they want from the factory. I would have never had the Bluesboy Alnico pickup if it hadn't been for the dealer finally demanding it. This post is already much longer than I intended it to be but my mind goes into overdrive sometimes. So into the next paragraph.

I first of all, want to commend G&L for the new things that they have introduce to us in very recent times. They have really hooked me. I am a frugal buyer and almost always buy used, as in new condition, and my first priority is quality, as I perceive it, and then, will it likely to be a sound investment. I almost never buy something new. So if it is quality, looks great and feels right, I am a potential buyer, but buy it used. That is my story on economics 101.

Tonight, I went through my list of 45 guitars and sorted them as new/used. Most of the "other brands" other than the Taylor SB-2 were purchased used at a very reasonable price. I have 13 brands so that leaves Fender and G&L. Much to my surprise, I still own more Fenders than I realized. I have 15 Fenders and 8 of them were purchased new. Most of the new ones were purchased with used trade ins' that I had done fine on. They are all fairly unique by Fender standards. I did buy some new ones about 4 years ago when the prices were going up, really considering them as assets. They fooled me by lowering the prices a few months later because they found out that people were no longer buying. They have just raised prices again and I wonder how it will work. Enough on the big F.

When I traded for my first G&L I was blown away by the quality and everything about it. It had wow factor (Legacy). Now I started researching G&L only to find that not many people knew about them, and they were the best buy on the planet in the used market. So I start finding them here a there, and pretty soon, I had about 10 of them, all used. I then started to discover that they were starting to get some steam in the used market but I still was on the lookout for good used ones and I have owned over 20. In march of 2010, I stopped by AGB and they had this F-100 Return on the wall. It was spectacular. This really presented a problem as it was new. I bought it and said I won't do that again, while sitting here admiring and lusting over it. I remember telling Ginny that I had done well enough on some used ones to finally buy a new one. I bought some more used but in March of 2011 I had a meltdown when looking at the 30 Aniv Asat Classic. Out the door with me! So to make this long story shorter, I have purchased 8 of my current 15 G&Ls new since 2010. A good shrink would love a situation like this. I don't need a shrink to figure out why. They are building some very unique products, colors, woods, and finishes. AND YOU CAN"T FIND THOSE USED!!!!!!! Is that marketing or what?? They have reached deep into my pocket. It even makes me smile a bit. Boy, did I get lost here! Craig, I know that Dave is working on these special things but here is the bottom line. If they build what we like, we will buy it. I am living proof. Make it easy to get the little things that may be a bit different, but that we ask for. Get the message out to all your dealers that they at least need to ask the factory. Hope I didn't bore everyone to death!-- Darwin

[louis cyfer]

Boy, I'm really likin' these no pickguard models. Louis, you live near Fender Ave. I think you need to do some convincing down there. Jos, that is a wonderful ash back. These spalteds are really interesting to look at. Mother Nature is amazing.-- Darwin

Dave addressed this request last year, see Are there any "off menu" G&L options?

yet when, i believe darwin, was trying to order a bluesboy not long ago, he was told no pickguard is not possible. i had the same experience with the dealer and the factory rep when trying to place an order for a new g&l a little over a month ago.