My guitar collection - G&L

 
 

In my humble opinion, every guitar built by G&L is already a ‘Custom Creation’. As you can (and hopefully will) read in these pages, many of my “normal production” G&L’s were custom ordered with slight variations on their standard appearance. Still, in July of 1998 G&L decided to start a Custom Creations Department producing Limited Edition models, i.e. truly a finite number of instruments never to be repeated, and Special Build models: instruments built in a limited quantity but with the option to have additional production runs at a later time. The ASAT ‘Junior’ was the second offering from the CCD after the ASAT ‘Classic III’. In total only 250 instruments were built and each one comes with a special Certificate of Authenticity (COA) explaining the concept behind the guitar and its specs signed by plant manager John McLaren (Jr.). The guitar was first shown in July 1998 at the Summer NAMM in Nashville to great critical acclaim.


The idea for this particular model originated even before the CCD came into existence. While in London, Executive VP Dave McLaren had read an article on the Gibson Les Paul Junior. He thought it would be funny to deck out an ASAT with some Gibson like appointments given that many guitarists incorrectly refer to Jumbo Magnetic Field Design (MFD) pickups as P-90s. So starting in February 1998, craftsmen at the G&L factory were experimenting with the combination of mahogany bodies and MFDs. Their final findings resulted in this design: a chambered mahogany body finished in Translucent Cherry with 2 custom Jumbo MFD pups. The mahogany neck has an 12” ebony fingerboard with Dunlop (Medium) Jumbo 6100 frets and 1⅝” nut width. The rear-loaded customized wiring harness uses Gibson style knobs on the volume and tone controls. What makes this instrument stand out amongst (almost) all other G&L models is the presence of a (TonePros) Tune-o-matic bridge assembly, providing the distinctive Kalamazoo aura to it all. For more information on this limited edition model, see its Rarebird section in the Registry of the Guitars by Leo website and this archived snapshot from 2017.

 

ASAT ‘Junior

The story behind this guitar

Year:

Serial number:

Neck date:

Body date:

Strings:


At the end of 2008, and especially in 2009, I started looking specifically for Custom Creations Department instruments and was hunting for affordable Limited Editions on eBay. This ‘Junior’ became my third one. And it came with all the case candy; always a great bonus. The special thing about this model is the stamp on the back of the headstock. Like the date stamp on the heel, it lists December 10, 1998 as the date for this instrument, even though the body is 4 days younger. This kind of stamp is no longer in use. In time it evolved in the printing of the CCD logo with a “# of n” numbering system (see e.g. my CCD Limited Editions and CCD Special Build pages).


This model served as the inspiration for the ASAT ‘Super’. Construction is very similar, with the exception of the aforementioned bridge, and the pickups being overwound on the ‘Super’. Hence, this guitar is a tad mellower and has become my goto slide guitar. Like on my ASAT Classic, I use open tuning but this time like a Dobro: G-B-D-G-B-D. I am no Derek Trucks, but this instrument inspires me to be do my utmost to get as close to a good slide sound as possible. And it does not really matter whether you play it clean or dirty. It is most impressive either way.

The story behind this guitar

1998

CLF11327 (#82 of 250)

DEC 10 1998

DEC 14 1998

D’Addario EXL120 Nickel Wound Super Light (9-42)