Help Identifying that G&L Asat Classic body is USA Made?!

[Johnny Canuck]

Hi. I'm a long-time G&L fan and owner of some nice Asat's, Legacy/S500's and Comanche guitars. I recently won an Ebay auction for what was billed as a "1997 Asat Classic Hotrod", which featured a Seymour Duncan mini-humbucker in the neck instead of the MFD. The guitar arrived 24 hours ago and this afternoon I had a chance to take it out of the case and try it. It sounds great - the SD SM-1n neck pick-up complements the stock MFD bridge perfectly. However, I was surprised by a few things which have led me to believe that the body may not be a genuine USA G&L, even though the listing specified the guitar as being "hand made in the USA." The neck is definitely a genuine USA made Asat Classic neck.

So I'm hoping that someone here can asisst me in identifying whether an Asat Classic body is USA made or not. Here are the things that lead me to suspect that its not a USA made body:

1. The guitar it significantly heavier than my other G&L Asat Classics, which leads me to believe its not Swamp Ash or Alder but may be Basswood (Tribute series).

2. Missing Trademark #1 - The bridge "ashtray" plate should have "Asat Classic" stamped between the back 2 bridge pick-up mounting screws but its blank.

3. Missing Trademark #2 - Similarly, the 4 screw neck plate should have the G&L logo stamped into it but it too is blank.

Is it possible that the items above may be missing the G&L logo/wording but still be authentic?

Also, is there any way to specifically authenticate whether a body is USA made? Any specific signs to look for such as in the neck pocket? I'm reluctant to take the neck off but will do so if necessary to verify the origin of the body. I should mention that the guitar body is gloss black.

Any guidance or advice you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Marti K

[guitar_ed]

Hi Marti,

I think that you are going to have to take the neck off. If there is a date in the neck pocket, it's MI-USA. If there is no date, it's MI-Asia.

As for the bridge plate & neck plate, those are easy to remove & replace for what ever reason, so are not decisive in this question. Though they do raise questions.

edg

[Johnny Canuck]

Thanks EDG! That's exactly the kind of clue I was looking for in order to confirm/authenticate the origin of the body.

As a related question, if it is a Tribute (or other brand or no-name) body with a USA neck, how will that affect the value of the guitar? Would that place it midway between the value of a used USA and Tribute model? I bought it on the basis of if being 'hand made in the USA" and paid accordingly.

I appreciate any info anyone can provide or suggest. I'll take the neck off later tonight to check.

Thanks! Marti K

[Ches]

You can't use weight as a guide. I saw a 9 lb. USA semi-hollow Legacy a year or two ago. Heavy doesn't indicate country of origin!

I think it's a legit USA body for two reasons.

1. I don't think a USA neck from the late 90's would fit on a Tribute.
2. If it's the black ASAT on ebay, it has a plastic piece on the back instead of individual brass ferrules for the strings to feed through. USA models have the plastic, while Tributes have brass ferrules.

[Craig]

A few comments:

If it is 1997 built, then the blank neck plate could be stock. Mid-1997 was when
G&L switched from the 3-bolt to 4-bolt neck and they initially used blank neck plates.
See When and why did G&L switch to a four-bolt neck?, which is in the G&L Knowledgebase's General G&L Questions sub-forum.

You cannot make the generalization that if there is no date stamp in the neck pocket, then it is non-USA built.
It is quite possible that the neck pocket date was removed if the pocket needed sanding as part of the neck installation to insure a proper fit.

I agree with Ches that it is not likely that a USA neck of that vintage would fit properly on a Tribute body. However, the
guitar has been modded, so it is quite possible that the neck pocket could have been re-worked to fit the neck.

Once you get it sorted out, please do add this instrument to our G&L Registry.

Hope that the outcome is what you are expecting and paid for.

Hope this helps.

[Johnny Canuck]

Thanks for your additions Ches and Craig (and EDG). This has been extremely helpful. I popped the neck off and in fact there is a date stamp of "April 30 1997" as well as a pencil scrawled comment that looks like "Spila mod 03 2010" - I presume the date on which the neck pick-up mod was made.

And yes, it does have the plastic piece on the back for the strings so I'd say conclusively its a USA Asat body (whew!).

I have 3 bolt Asats that pre-date the switch to 4 bolt necks as well as a 4 bolt neck Asat from 2000 and every one of them has the "Asat Classic" ashtray plate as well as "G&L" on the neck's back plate (whether 3 or 4 bolt), so I was somewhat concerned when this one didn't have either. I appreciate your collective wisdom and am much relieved

I'll add my Asats, Legacies, S500, Commanche and "Legasat" to the registry in short order. The "Legasat" is a 3 bolt legacy body (h/s/s) with a 3 bolt Asat neck, one volume, five way switch and a single coil/series/parallel switch on the humbucker - very cool!

Thanks again guys!

Marti K
Vancouver, BC