1986 G&L ASAT Vintage Electric Guitar 100% Original Sunburst Maple Body, Leo Fender w/ ohc

Up for sale, a 1986 G&L ASAT in excellent, 100% original condition and perfect working order. An early example of the ASAT model, this guitar features a solid maple body with an uncommon highly figured broad central third, with flame figuring present on both the top and back, framed by the three-tone Sunburst finish.

An interesting anomaly in G&L's early history, the maple-bodied ASATs are a particularly rare and short-lived breed, coming on the heels of G&L's Broadcaster model which had an exceedingly short production run. As such, this early ASAT features a body most likely crafted from the left over maple stock from the Broadcaster run! Snappier than an ash or alder-bodied ASAT, this maple-bodied instrument is both collectable and sonically pleasing, with a smooth top-end snap.

As the third instrument company founded by Leo Fender, G&L's instruments benefit from Leo's decades of experience at Music Man and (of course) Fender. Produced at the same Fullerton, CA factory as the early Music Man guitars, this ASAT is the culmination of years of electric guitar innovation and design. The direct descendant of the Telecaster, the ASAT boasts the familiar trappings associated with that instrument, but with an updated feature set. Weighing in at 8lbs 9oz, this guitar has a smooth treble response, spanky midrange, and punchy low end that translates well through the pickups. Sporting the Leo Fender-designed MFD "Magnetic Field Design" ceramic magnet pickups, this ASAT delivers a wider frequency response when plugged into an amplifier compared to a traditional Tele-style pickup, with a grunt in the lower midrange that can only be described as "tough" sounding, in a very good way. The all maple construction results in an instrument that has a big, round acoustic voice with ample top end cut and presence. Professionally setup here at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar with 10-46 strings, this guitar plays very well with low action and solid intonation.

ASAT is a military abbreviation for "anti-satellite," and the name was suggested by author Richard Smith after he read an article about the Air Force's ASAT missile. Both Leo Fender and G&L co-founder Dale Hyatt reportedly liked the image of a guitar shooting down things in space, and hence the name "stuck".

The maple neck has a slender C shape with slight shoulders and an effortless feel, measuring .792" deep at the 1st fret and .901" at the 12th. The original 22 medium jumbo Jescar nickel-silver frets are in fantastic shape, with just a touch of uniform wear on frets 1-4, extending exclusively under the plains strings up to fret 6, with no wear further up the fretboard. The truss rod is responsive in both directions, the neck is straight, and the guitar plays cleanly in all registers with no buzzing or dead spots. The scale is 25 1/2“ long and the bone nut measures 1 5/8" in width. On the headstock, the G&L ASAT logo is intact and clean, along with the "by Leo Fender" text only seen on the earliest ASATs. The original black Schaller-made tuning machines turn smoothly and hold pitch well.

Electronically, everything functions as it should, with the MFD pickups wired to a three-way pickup selector and Master Volume and Tone knobs. The CTS pots date to the 10th week of ‘86, and the neck stamp dates September 3rd, 1986. Cosmetic wear includes some expected light scratches and chips on the top, mostly on the bass-side lower bout edge as well as the back edges of the slab body. There's one spot of light, targeted buckle rash central to the back, along with some scattered light scratches in the clear coat. The neck profile is very clean, with light figuring in the profile, and the three-bolt neck plate still retains its original gold foil sticker.

The original molded plastic G&L hardshell case is included.