NGD: 1988 ASAT "The Rembrandt"

This Blonde knocked on my door the day before yesterday and asked for shelter and reconnecting with some long lost friends:


She came in a ragged shipping carton several sizes too big (it's for a bass) but the tolex case with gold piping had kept her safe and warm:


Her swamp ash body is glorious and sensuous with tone-shaping controls up the wazzoo! :



And she has a rather interesting "tattoo" under her skin provided by the boss of her creator. Her spiritual father also gave her the nickname "The Rembrandt", a story for a later time:


Her body saw first light on OCT 23 1987 (as I read it, it is barely legible at the bottom of the pocket), but she was only joined with the neck (dated APR 4 1988) a week or 2 after she received the tattoo:


But it must be said that that neck has a very nice rosewood fingerboard ...


... topped off nicely with black eyes and curls:


When asked for some documentation she produced plenty to proof she is legit, all matching the ID tag she carries along:


I will give story of how she came about in a later post,

- Jos

Spectacular Jos and the and the provenance says it all! Hand signature is probably very rare. Looking forward to the rest of the story. -- Darwin

I saw the picture in the other post and I had a feeling she was home.WoW!
I'm very happy for you.

It'll be fun to hear how the deal came to fruition .
Now back to oogling the new pics (thanks!)

elwood

Here's the story behind "The Rembrandt" as related in the provenance that comes with this guitar. In late 1987, Dale Hyatt came up with the plan to have Leo sign a limited number of guitars, at most 100. Each G&L distributor would get one as a kind of "Thank You!". When Leo approved of this plan, a body was selected and he was handed a ballpoint to sign it. This is when he stated that "Rembrandt didn't use a ballpoint to sign his work!" which in the end led to the nickname. So instead, a different solution needed to be found which took some time. Dale wanted to make sure the ink or paint would not run or bleed when several thin layers of top-coat would be applied. It took until March 1988 until a solid combination was found. Dale selected a Blonde body for the series because of the sharp contrast with the Black ink. Much to his surprise Leo did not only sign the body but also dated it.

Next step was putting the top coat on. Here is where 2 sets of provenance slightly differ, In an email composed July 4th, 2000, Dale mentions polyurethane whereas the letter dated July 29th, 2013, put together by Dale's son Ken, with help of noted researcher Gabe Dellevigne and addressed to Mike Teepe of Acme guitars who bought many instruments from the Dale Hyatt Estate, mentions nitro. In any case, Dale took his sweet time, having several coats "misted" on and allowed to dry and cure completely before the next layer was to be applied. Around April 15, 1988, the guitar was completely assembled which explains why the neck date is about 2 weeks younger than the signature on the body. When Dale presented the guitar to Leo, Mr Fender was very pleased with the result causing a bit smile to appear on his face. But he also emphatically proclaimed "No more!" which took Dale completely by surprise. Taken aback, and a little angry about his plan being torpedoed, he asked what to do with this one: "Take it to the bandsaw and destroy it?" Leo formed another grin on his face and told Dale that it was his to keep and he was free to do whatever he wanted with it. Not surprisingly, Dale entered it in the sales log and kept his "Rembrandt" for his own collection where it only became available to the outside world after his passing.

Here Dale's email and Ken's letter (click on image to get larger version):




Also note that the G&L bass built for Roger Carroll and shown in this post is the other G&L signed by Leo. The only known other, non-G&L, instrument is the 1951 Nocaster Leo gifted to Les Paul and had delivered by Paul Bigsby. The latter recently got sold at auction for a hefty $225k! Rest assured, this one went for at least an order of magnitude less and even less than half Ken originally asked for when it was offered to me just after Dale's passing.

- Jos

And finally here a shot of what's part of those magic tone shaping controls:

Note the 6.8kΩ that is part of the ASAT tone stack. It was originally also used for the early ASAT Classics. But it didn't work half as good in that environment as it does for the pre-BBE ASAT, so by it was soon torn out. None of my pre-BBE Classics have this resistor in place.

- Jos

Hey Jos,

Congrats and glad to see this in your good hands.

Sweet !! .... it found the right owner !!

That is really something ! Thanks for posting this. Its great to learn about G&L history. I'm sure you are very, very happy .

Jos, your collection is worthy of being called a museum G&L collection.

That signature is just the coolest thing. Definitely to be cherished. Thanks for sharing Jos!

Wow, that pretty much takes the cake Jos.… Congrats!!

Cheers,
KF

A great G&L Asat. One of a kind.

Enjoy,

Y2kc

Congratulations!

I don't see any more photos of closed cases on your G&L webpage. Does that mean your G&L Collection is now complete?

Darwin, Elwood, Tim, Sam, Eric, glvourot, Kit, fianoman, Jason, Casey, Craig,

Thank you so much for your well wishes! Definitely Happy Holidays over here. Hope it is/will be the same for all of you.

- Jos

I don't see any more photos of closed cases on your G&L webpage. Does that mean your G&L Collection is now complete?

There are 2 cases in which closed guitar cases are visible on my site:

1. When an instrument is purchased but still in transit, a closed case shows up in the total slideshow and the G&L slideshow.
2. For a model that I deem essential to be included in the collection, a closed case shows on its web page whereas it appears in the index with a bullet and name in square brackets. Currently this is only the case (no pun intended) for a JJ Sig with drumhead pick guard; which is pretty hard to find.

Sure, there are other instruments that still pique my interest: Skyhawk w/maple board, Daddy's Junky Music 22nd Anniversary ASAT Classic (currently available on eBay), other Savannah Limited Edition models beyond the Bluesboy 90, 30th Anniversary ASAT Special, etc. And some might get added over time. For instance, I happen to know somebody who has a very nice JD-5 used for the website photoshop But what is currently in the collection is far more I ever dreamt of when I started this journey about a decade ago. So it is time to start thinking how to get sound samples out on the site of all these pickup combinations in a way that brings to the fore the sonic differences. And start work on that coffee table book with better pictures, even if I'll be the only taker

- Jos

And start work on that coffee table book with better pictures, even if I'll be the only taker
- Jos

I'd add one to my cart.
Have you seen that book with lifesize guitar pics (it's a BIG book) ?

Have you seen that book with lifesize guitar pics (it's a BIG book) ?

I saw that book! I was mightily disappointed that it wasn't a pop-up book or, more accurately, a pop-out book where you could pick up the guitar and plug it in right there and then

- Jos

Jos, a real work of art there. Congratulations! Wow, speechless...

I don't see any more photos of closed cases on your G&L webpage. Does that mean your G&L Collection is now complete?

There are 2 cases in which closed guitar cases are visible on my site:

1. When an instrument is purchased but still in transit, a closed case shows up in the total slideshow and the G&L slideshow.
2. For a model that I deem essential to be included in the collection, a closed case shows on its web page whereas it appears in the index with a bullet and name in square brackets. Currently this is only the case (no pun intended) for a JJ Sig with drumhead pick guard; which is pretty hard to find.

Sure, there are other instruments that still pique my interest: Skyhawk w/maple board, Daddy's Junky Music 22nd Anniversary ASAT Classic (currently available on eBay), other Savannah Limited Edition models beyond the Bluesboy 90, 30th Anniversary ASAT Special, etc. And some might get added over time. For instance, I happen to know somebody who has a very nice JD-5 used for the website photoshop But what is currently in the collection is far more I ever dreamt of when I started this journey about a decade ago. So it is time to start thinking how to get sound samples out on the site of all these pickup combinations in a way that brings to the fore the sonic differences. And start work on that coffee table book with better pictures, even if I'll be the only taker

- Jos

Did you pick up that Daddy's Junky ASAT on Ebay? What do you think of the asking price? I nearly bought it myself having visited the original store in Norwalk, CT. many years ago.

Did you pick up that Daddy's Junky ASAT on Ebay? What do you think of the asking price? I nearly bought it myself having visited the original store in Norwalk, CT. many years ago.

No I didn't pick that one up. It seems to have been sold; finally one might say, after having been listed the better part of 2 years in different auction places. I thought the asking price was much too high for a 4-bolt Classic. In my estimation, that unique neck plate was not worth the extra $400-500 they were asking. For that asking price, one could get him/herself a very nice 3-bolt October '91 double- or triple-bound ASAT Classic Signature in Excellent condition. And as most owners of that small group of guitars will tell you, they sound fantastic.

But I have Will Ray's very first ASAT come in later this week. Can't complain ...

- Jos