Interesting ASAT...

Hey Ya'll,

Here's some pics of my '90 ASAT Classic that I bought it off eBay in 2012. I tracked down the original owner last year who bought it from Dale Hyatt at the fire sale in '93 and he told me a few things about it. Apparently it spent a fair amount of time in Leo's Lab... Its a curious instrument in that it has some prototype features but its not a prototype. It has a #4 ASAT neck which has a 1 3/4" nut width which took a bit of time to get used to… tho now like others on here I find the extra real estate a good thing. The maple body just has a sander seal finish and is very resonant. Curiously, the bridge pickup lacks the stamp on the top of the bobbin and the Schaller humbucker was in split coil configuration (grounding wire in effect). It sounds much better in full humbucking mode and complements nicely with the bridge pickup. The bridge pickup is clear and cutting and capable of some nice tele twang…


Here are the pics -









Cheers,

KF

KF, that is an interesting guitar. I like the mineral streaking in the maple body. Is the sanding sealer still covering the body or has it worn through. The body sure looks clean. You have some pretty interesting guitars!

It would have been nice if they still had the bullet nut on the truss rod. There would not be problems with wrenches fitting into them. They are in plain sight.-- Darwin

that's another cool guitar !! ..... that number 4 does take some getting used to , but I bet it feels better than my Rampage's 4 as it's thicker than mine , the Rampage is a little thinner than I like if I was ordering a new one but still feels Leo era great .... once I got used to it I was surprised how quick I could adapt back to the number 1

How cool is that? I love how many unique, possibly one off, configurations there are floating about.

Are those locking tuners? For whatever reason, Ive come to really like the vintage post tuners. They used to drive me crazy, but now I dislike any other system.

Very nice!

Cheers Guys.

Darwin, the sanding sealer finish is worn thru just right on the bridge and a bit on the edge where your right arm rests. Yeah, it looks good in the pics but I've put my fair share of dings and marks in it. I hear you… seems the the bullet disappeared circa '91 - think it may have been Dale's idea to do so - so as to un-highlight the 3 bolt neck aspect which freaks a lot of folks out.

Hey FF, true that. It was a surprise to me when I re'cd the guitar as it wasn't mentioned in the listing. I dig it now but for the first year or so it was a struggle. Busking it last 'summer' while travelling put an end to that… now I can switch back and forth no problem.

Homesick_et, Cheers - yeah, think there's a fair amount of them out there and cool when they surface. No, they're not but originally it had them… the previous owner put the tapered chrome ones on there - which I dig but I put these on to cover the extra holes. I like the feel of them but don't like that the string ends are exposed… they snag and tear up the interior of my gig bag…

Funny, how so many of Leo's appointments were forward thinking and useful…

Cheers,

KF

KF,

That is another wonderful Leo-era guitar. You definitely know how to pick them!

Like you, I have come to appreciate the old #4 necks. It took a while to get used to the one on my Superhawk, but my big old bass player fingers have a lot more room to move around on it.

Do you know whether your Schaller pickup is the same as a Superhawk/Interceptor neck pup?

Ken

[quote="Katefan"]Hey Ya'll,

Here's some pics of my '90 ASAT Classic that I bought it off eBay in 2012. I tracked down the original owner last year who bought it from Dale Hyatt at the fire sale in '93 and he told me a few things about it. Apparently it spent a fair amount of time in Leo's Lab... Its a curious instrument in that it has some prototype features but its not a prototype. It has a #4 ASAT neck which has a 1 3/4" nut width which took a bit of time to get used to… tho now like others on here I find the extra real estate a good thing. The maple body just has a sander seal finish and is very resonant. Curiously, the bridge pickup lacks the stamp on the top of the bobbin and the Schaller humbucker was in split coil configuration (grounding wire in effect). It sounds much better in full humbucking mode and complements nicely with the bridge pickup. The bridge pickup is clear and cutting and capable of some nice tele twang…

Cool guitar. However, It was not bought from or had anything to do with Mr. Dale Hyatt.
Dale Hyatt retired from G&L on Nov. 4 1991 and didn't have anything to do with G&L after that date.
I personally know this from many conversations with Dale on one of my many trips to visit him at his home in Texas.
Again, cool guitar. If you care to send me the serial number I may can enlighten you further.
Regards
HLG

Hey KF,

I recall that on fleabay and thought it was an interesting guitar.

Post any more information that comes available,

Dale did have a couple of fire sales before he left G&L. So maybe the person is off by a year or two. The HG-2 prototype in my possession was sold during one of these events. I wish I could have paid for it what the original owner paid …

- Jos

Cheers for the replies. I lost a dear friend last week and still reeling from the news…

I was thinking of posting of a vid of a performance from early last year featuring this ASAT in action but (sadly) I have another purpose for doing so now.

Please see my other post.

HLG - I hear what you say tho I tend to believe the original owner and think what Jos suggested may in fact be true.

There is conflicting info regarding this ASAT. According to Gabe its not in the entry log and Dale didn't recall it, but I don't have reason to disbelieve the original owner. He shared that it was a test instrument for a well known musician - I'll leave it at that. Regardless, its a Fab instrument and an interesting one…
I will post the S/N in the near future.

Cheers,
KF

Hey HLG - the S/N is G026677.

While you're at it can you check this one? S/N G018867.

Thanks!

KF

Here is some past discussion on this ASAT: G&L Bluesboy Prototype?.