Hello from South Korea

[philipjkim]

Hi, I'm Philip and live in Seoul, South Korea.

First of all, I'm very pleased to be an owner of G&L guitar.
I got to know G&L via tdpri.com a couple of weeks ago, then listened to some demos of G&L guitars from youtube.
The most appealing one was ASAT special, so I searched for that model. Unfortunately there's no G&L dealer in South Korea currently.
So I looked for the used ASAT specials very carefully. God helped, I found someone sell USA ASAT special for very reasonable price. (about $600)
There're no hard case, manuals, guarantees, or even wrenches for adjustment at all. But the sound was absolutely stunning.
I'm not a professional musician, but I play guitar every Sunday morning in church. Marshall MG50FX in my church sings very well with my guitar. Thanks Leo!

p.s.: I'd like to know my guitar in detail. Where can I ask the question about my guitar? What I can produce would be a couple of photos.

[meursault]

[meursault]

Hi ! By the way... and welcome !

[john o]

welcome philip! gotta love the asat special. i presume that's yours in the avatar, nice.
there's alot of knowledge on this forum between the participants and the search function.
everybody likes pictures so post some of yours when you get a chance.

[philipjkim]

Thanks for your hospitality.

Here goes some photos for my ASAT special:

- Whole guitar (aerial-view)


- Bridge and bridge pickup


- Control plate


- Head


- Tuners

I think the tuner for 1st string is abnormal. When I changed strings, 1st string got loose terribly repeatedly when tension exceeded certain level.
Also, I found 1st string terribly loose a couple of days after tuned. Other strings are OK.

- Neck heel


- Neck (side-view)

I see some skid mark upper side of the neck.

- The biggest crack on body



I hope someone tell me when (year) my guitar was born via these pics.

[KenC]

Hello Phillip! Welcome to G&LDP. I'm more knowledgeable about G&Ls from the 1980s, but it looks like yours is probably from the mid '90s. It is definitely from no later than '97, according to the serial number format and three-bolt neck plate. It has a Cherryburst finish over a swamp ash body. The fretboard appears to be a very dark rosewood. The model is ASAT Special.

I hope this is helpful. I'm sure somebody more familiar with BBE-era ASATs will chime in with more details.

Ken

[WitSok]

Looking at the registry, +/- 250 range around your serial number I found '94 to '95. So mid 90's as Ken said.

Great looking ASAT BTW!

Dan

[meursault]

Hooooo !! It's a 3-bolt... too bad for the crack but it looks really cool !!

[Fumble fingers]

Hooooo !! It's a 3-bolt... too bad for the crack but it looks really cool !!

X2 .... I don't even care about the crack , that just means it's a player , I really like the players , haven't played a worn G&L that I didn't absolutely love

[meursault]

I don't care as well... my asats are second hand from mid '90s with a couple of scars but look terrific, to my taste at least ^^... my SC2 is brand new... love it anyway!

[philipjkim]

Thanks for the information about my guitar.

Yesterday I went to the guitar repair shop in my town. The luthier told me that the inner gear of 1st string tuner has worn, so the string get loosen repeatedly.
Also, string height is too low near the 1st fret because of the nut, so I decided to replace the nut (bone) and the tuner (Gotoh locking).

He said:

This guitar is great. First, the wood of body is one of the best quality I've ever seen. Second, the clean sound is really beautiful. I've never seen this kind of pickups before. I wanna buy this guitar for +1000USD.

So I recommended to buy a new one via amazon.