It looks like a prototype, but I'm not convinced by the letter. If Larry and Fred are reading this, I'd love to hear their perspectives on two questions:
- Did Dale personally build prototypes for testing? The letter makes it sound like he did it at home (i.e., "the next morning I brought it in with me").
- Is the letter typical of the way he would have communicated something like this (e.g., word processed and unsigned)?
KenC wrote:It looks like a prototype, but I'm not convinced by the letter. If Larry and Fred are reading this, I'd love to hear their perspectives on two questions:
- Did Dale personally build prototypes for testing? The letter makes it sound like he did it at home (i.e., "the next morning I brought it in with me").
- Is the letter typical of the way he would have communicated something like this (e.g., word processed and unsigned)?
This base is from the estate of Mr Hyatt. I know many of the instruments in his possession ended up at Acme Guitars in St Louis, including this one. So it is legit.
Hope this helps,
- Jos
P.S. S/N for this instrument I have in documents I saved: B021354
According to the letter, Leo's last day in the factory was March 19th, which happens to be the date stamped on my ASAT Bass's body. Not that the bass needed anything to make it more special to me...
And speaking of the baritone (or six string bass, as Mr. Hyatt called it), I would still love to see it go into production. AFAIK it would be the only US-built production baritone on the market. I'd wait in line to buy the first one, even with a microwave tag on the headstock!
According to the letter, Leo's last day in the factory was March 19th, which happens to be the date stamped on my ASAT Bass's body. Not that the bass needed anything to make it more special to me...
And speaking of the baritone (or six string bass, as Mr. Hyatt called it), I would still love to see it go into production. AFAIK it would be the only US-built production baritone on the market. I'd wait in line to buy the first one, even with a microwave tag on the headstock!
Ken
Jos is correct. I was at Dales a few years before he passed when I first saw this guitar. He also showed me the letter he typed. The reason for the letter was to expel the rumors about the Baritone being the last guitar Leo had worked on.This particular guitar spent a while in the field with one of the test players before being returned.
Dale did assemble several prototypes. He wore many hats at G&L in the latter days.
