This is the first Clear Red finish I've seen on a G&L. Unlike my Clear Blue El Toro, the grain on this guitar isn't obvious unless I get it under bright light. Indoors, the finish seems darker than in these photos. The best description would probably be blood red.
For those who aren't familiar, the Cavalier was part of the G&L line in the mid-80s. The body is similar to the 'Hawk models, but the offset pickups were only used in the Cavalier and some X-body Interceptors. As with any of Leo's humbuckers, they are pretty bright sounding. Not shrill, but bright. When I did quick A/B with an '86 ASAT, my perception was that the Cav is a bit fuller sounding on all settings, with slightly more bottom end as well as in the highs.
This is the "E" version with active circuitry. I understand that few of these were made. The pre-amp changes the impedence, but doesn't boost the signal. I haven't installed a battery, so I haven't tried that myself.
The neck is from May '84 and the body is from April '83. If I'm not mistaken, Cavalier production started in May or June of '83, so this must have been one of the first bodies made. I remember some discussion on another recent thread about big differences in body and neck dates. This is one of them!
Ken
Unless this post fails, I have successfully managed to post a picture in this thread! 
Anyway, The reason I posted it was to show you a picture of a proto that has a pup similar to what ended up in the Cavaliers. Ignore the paint job, I was fooling around with an idea I had back then because this proto was only sealed like so many others that were meant to be test played only. I figured it could always be put back to original sealer if I got tired of the look. This is what generic products looked like back when they first appeared in So.Cal. Dale saw it and thought it was great. The covers were redrilled by George to accept the coil configurations.
