I recently acquired a black ASAT, serial number G046930. The neck has a production stamp from Feb 22nd, 1996. I thought it was a Special because of the MFDs, but as opposed to the ASATs I've seen so far, this one sports black tuners and black hardware, (including the saddle lock bridge). The neck is quite slim tapered, slimmer than I expected from a Tele style guitar and feels rather delicate. Measurements show a nut width of 1 5/8" and a radius of about 9". And it is quite heavy. From the old 1996/97 catalogue (page 2) I can see that there were ASATs and ASAT Specials, the former having the black hardware as opposed to the chrome appearance of the latter. Does anyone know if there are any significant differences other than this, which strikes me as purely cosmetic?
I was also wondering if anyone has more insight into construction details like the neck shape and thickness, the nut material (can't decide whether it's bone or plastic, it sure doesn't smell...), the bridge material (is it zinc? the scraped off part of the bottom for the ground connection sure seems to suggest that it is...) and what sort of wood was used. The neck is a maple/rosewood but because of the weight I'm not too sure about the body, it would definitely b too heavy for swamp ash.
Many thanks in advance for the info, it is greatly appreciated!
Greetings from Germany!
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