NGD: ASAT with Kahler and (rare) #5 neck

Hi gang,

Got this beauty last Friday: a 1986 ASAT with Kahler and rare (at least for an ASAT) #5 neck.



It has flame in spades:



And of course the Kahler 2300 flat-mounted, fine-tuner, floating vibrato and wonderful MFD pups:


The guitar came with a bunch of original Kahler manuals



The wiring is standard for the ASAT with additional 6.8k resistor on the tone pot


S/N G017811 was built in the May 1986, the second month after the name change from Broadcaster to ASAT


Funny story: I have another 1986 ASAT with Kahler and maple fingerboard. When I took off that neck, I hadn't really paid attention how the ball ends for the strings were seated. When they all popped out, putting them back in was more onerous than putting a new set of strings on it. So this time I was warned. I had built a contraption that is wedged in the vibrato, taped it in place, successfully took the neck off, made pictures, and put everything back together. Only for the high-E string to break at the ball end! So it [i[still[/i] got a new set of 10s!

The pre-BBE #5 neck has a 1 3/4" nut width, 25" radius ebony fingerboard, and is 2 21/64" wide beyong the 15th fret. This neck allegedly was designed for Alvino Rey, who made his name as the father of the pedal steel and was a big name in swing music. He also had big hands and wanted wide fingerboards for that reason. Or maybe he just wanted it to be as much like a pedal steel. Who knows?


However, the butt fitting in the neck pocket is the same 2 13/64" wide as any other G&L neck! Some fine piece of engineering here by using wings or flares while still leaving space for a pickguard to fit underneath.


Headstock has the usual locking nut and black hardware.


How does it play, you ask? The pots have a fair amount of restistance to turning. Not dirty or scratchy, it just takes a fair amount of torque to get them going. But boy, these tones ... Gorgeous. The board with the current set-up plays like butter; only thing missing is a certain lack of speed in the guy actually playing it I really like the Kahler, certainly now I have figured out an effective way to take the neck off and changing strings. A keeper without doubt. But beside my hog ASAT Classic Bluesboy I have said that of every one in my collection. Just so you're warned ...

That's all folks!

- Jos

Hey Jos,

Big congrats on the latest score, nice flame! The flat mounted Kahler is a cool little mechanical marvel. Had one on a suped up strat many many moons ago. Now you can get yer speed metal band back together.

Play on!

what a fabulous specimen !! ...... where did you find that ?? .... if you don't mind telling ...... the flame is just gorgeous , the back cut for the PG is amazing and well thought out , wide neck Kahler ,..... Oh , sooo much bad azz in one guitar !!

what a fabulous specimen !! ...... where did you find that ?? .... if you don't mind telling ...... the flame is just gorgeous , the back cut for the PG is amazing and well thought out , wide neck Kahler ,..... Oh , sooo much bad azz in one guitar !!

Eric,

Snatched it up right when it became available on Reverb. For some models or configurations you can take your time to find a good one. A #5 neck on an ASAT is not one of them. That it also had a Kahler was a nice bonus.

- Jos

Hi Jos,

That's a beauty. The only six-string guitars I'm really looking for at this point are an ASAT with a #5 neck, or anything with a flamed maple body. You managed to snag them both in one score!

I'm not much of a vibrato player, but I love being able to use the Kahler on my '86 ASAT as a fine tuner.

Ken

Sam, Ken,
These Kahler are nicer than I thought and they work very well, even for 30 year (!) old units. I'm not a dive bomber but it is very nice to add some warble and they come back to pitch very well. Great pieces of engineering.

For an "old time" G&L aficionado like me this has been a good Easter Sunday enjoying these other beauties as much as mine:
Kate Fan's naturally relic'ed 1986 ASAT
a reprise of Sam's 1988 Ash ASAT III with some nice figure
Tom's 1986 CAR Invader
and I'm even willing to include Weatherby's 1992 Legacy.

Great stuff!!

- Jos

That is one strange asat. I imagine it takes some getting used too but fun to play. Very cool.

y2kc

Definitely a rare bird Jos and in beautiful condition besides. I do not have a Leo era G&L but am finding I really like the 2000 to about 2010 models. Some of those are really sweet. I believe that you are storing a lot of these in cases but wouldn't it be awesome to display them all? Must be the best G&L collection around! -- Darwin

Congrats Jos on yet another stellar instrument - flame maple with a #5 neck no less - Very Cool!

+1 re Darwin's comment…


Found this clip of Mr. Rey playing a Jaguar that appears to have a D size or a custom-made neck. Check out the size of it in comparison to his hands.
(6:51 timemark)
[youtube]P4gxKzvXg7Y[/youtube]

Cheers,
KF

When you look at the flame on that piece, it's obvious who is carrying the G&L torch!

Nice addition Jos!

Hey Jos,

Any chance of posting those Kahler instructions to the Gallery?

Ken

Hey Jos,

Any chance of posting those Kahler instructions to the Gallery?

Ken

Would love to do that. Craig, you think that would be legit? (Trademark, etc)

- Jos

Hey Jos,

Any chance of posting those Kahler instructions to the Gallery?

Ken

Would love to do that. Craig, you think that would be legit? (Trademark, etc)

- Jos

I'm checking with Dave.

Stay tuned.

Jos- 2 questions - is the p/g metal? Looks like there's 2 body date and the second is 1988 - is that correct?

Cheers,
KF

Katefan,
Good job on finding a vid. I see how an ASAT and MFDs and a #5 neck would work for him.
That G&L Baritone would have been perfect for the guitar boogie, maybe turn him up a bit...those King sisters
are LOUD.

So...when was the first guitar talkbox ? I would have guessed after 1965,and I would have been wrong.
(start at 8:42)
[youtube]P4gxKzvXg7Y[/youtube]

Jos- 2 questions - is the p/g metal? Looks like there's 2 body date and the second is 1988 - is that correct?

Cheers,
KF

Ans. 1: Guard is single ply Black plastic, like on Broadcaster
Ans. 2: Second date stamp is 1986 too. I learned yesterday this guitar was built for the 1986 Summer NAMM show. As has happened many times, Dale would set aside nice looking pieces of wood so he could build beautiful instruments for the trade show.

- Jos

I was just reading about ASAT's and the #5 neck last night, then I check the forum this morning and see this post ! I usually don't miss the NGD's. Very nice score , and what fine condition.

Check out this tidbit of trivia:

"The first talk box was crafted by guitar maestro Alvino Rey in 1939, but it was half “trick” sound engineering, half The Wizard of Oz. Rey played his ballyhooed “Singing Guitar” with his wife, Luise, hiding behind the stage curtain; she wore a carbon throat mic borrowed from military airmen and wired to modulate his electric steel-guitar sound as she mouthed words. A film from the ’40s features Rey doing a ventriloquism turn with Stringy the Talking Steel Guitar Puppet singing a freakishly bizarre “St. Louis Blues.” The audience loved it.

Rey’s creation set the stage for future talk boxes. In essence, a talk box allows a musician to shape a sound that is then picked up by a mic or speaker driver. In effect, a talk box is an electromechanical larynx.


The Sonovox was the first true, commercial talk box. It was demonstrated by a fresh-faced Lucille Ball in a ’30s newsreel and sold by the Wright-Sonovox Company. Instead of Rey’s mic, it used small speakers attached to the performer’s throat. The Sonovox became popular for making children’s film and record character voices and for recording wacky radio-station call signal jingles. The Who later used a Sonovox on their 1967 album, The Who Sell Out."

( From http://www.vintageguitar.com/16339/heil-talk-box/ )

This little interview of his grandson is cool.

[youtube]BYuUnJxcMzU[/youtube]
One of his inventions resides at the EXP in seattle


from: http://www.prewargibsonl-5.com/alvino-rey/4583453349[

Cheers for that Jos! Cool to know more of its history.
Congrats again -
KF

Cheers Elwood - Cool info on Mr. Rey + the added links!

I did a bit of digging on him a few years back after perusing Mr. GG Jaguar's webpage. Yeah, he really was a true pioneer - I bet him and Leo got on like a house on fire.

SPeaking of, I've seen that frightening vid of Stringy and purposely spared folks here... I see you did as well - Cheers. One of the comments on Youtube -
Kill it with fire… I wholeheartedly agree.

KF

Dammit Man!! Nice Guitar. I was just saying that this is my next G&L but had not started looking as I have picked up a few lately and wanted to take a break. Or at least give my bank account a break. I too would have snatched this up immediately had I seen it. That's a beautiful instrument. And that is the one I need. 1986 ASAT in maple with a ebony board. The Kahler bridge is kind of nice, that's what is on my red invader and I noticed the same thing about just re-stringing it. You really need three hands to keep the ball of the string seated in the tree and wind and hold it all at once.
I guess I will have to start searching again. Trouble with that is I will find another model and have to buy it.

Congrats my friend, I am very jealous but in a good way.

Tom

The Kahler bridge is kind of nice, that's what is on my red invader and I noticed the same thing about just re-stringing it. You really need three hands to keep the ball of the string seated in the tree and wind and hold it all at once.

Tom,

That's why they invented the capo! That is my 3rd hand. I bend the string at the ball end just a bit, seat it and pull the string taut along the fretboard and then put a (Kyser) capo between 5th and 6th frets. Works like gangbusters! You'll have both hands free to do guide the string between the loosened nut clamp, cut string to length, and wind it on the post.

- Jos

That's funny. I have that capo but I use it on the first fret to keep the strings tight in the pegs when I remove the neck and am not re-stringing. Never thought to use it while restringing, but don't run across the problem with the Kahler term too often.

Good tip.

Tom

Wow! Love the woods!