FACTOIDS & TRIVIA

The Broadcaster and ASAT represent G&L’s first attempt to improve on the original Telecaster design. While these are excellent guitars, they were a bit warmer sounding than a Telecaster and did not capture the classic twang and bite associated with that model. According to G&L researcher/collector Gabe Dellevigne (via several sources who were “there”), Leo was not fond of the ASAT’s success mainly because it wasn't his idea. This is when he started working on a model that would become the ASAT Classic. Unbeknownst to Dale Hyatt, Leo started working on the new model with George Fullerton's help. The Classic was a big hit just as the ASAT before. The dealers had been pestering Dale nonstop on introducing more Tele and Strat style models and with the ASAT, ASAT Classic, and the late model S-500 and Skyhawk, they delivered. Introduced in 1990, this guitar utilized the neck and body of the ASAT, but had a different bridge and pickups. Leo opted to use a string-through-body bridge just as the Tele used, but with a refined 6-saddle design instead of the Telecaster’s 3-saddle design. He also designed the pickups to produce a lot of output and hand wound them, as on all G&Ls, using the same winding machine from his days at Fender Electric Instruments. In 1992, the ASAT Classic received a satin finished neck for improved playability and a 3-ply plastic pickguard in place of the powder-coated metal guard. According to G&L enthusiast Paul Bechtoldt, the pickups were wound a little hotter beginning sometime during the mid-1990s.  In 1999, the steel saddles were changed in favor of brass. The ASAT Classic is one of the few pre-BBE models still in production and remains one of G&L’s most popular guitars today. The example shown here is a very early example as is this maple body ASAT Classic.

 Body: Solid; 2-piece ash

 Finish: Cherry sunburst, nitrocellulose lacquer

 Neck: 2-piece maple, bolt-on

 Fingerboard: Maple; black pearloid dot markers

 Number of Frets: 22

 Pickguard: White powder coated aluminum

 Bridge: G&L ASAT Classic, steel, chrome

 Nut: Plastic

 Tuners: Schaller M6, chrome

 Pickups: Two, G&L Magnetic Field Design single coil with adjustable pole pieces

 Controls: Master volume, master tone, 3-way pickup selector switch

 Scale Length: 25 1/2 inches

 Neck Width at Nut: 1 5/8 inches

 Body Width at Lower Bout: 12 5/8 inches

 Body Depth: 1 5/8 inches

 Weight: 7.3 lb