CLF Research: Origins of the ASAT Guitar

Dave McLaren takes us on a magical history tour about the origin of the G&L ASAT guitar.

[@CC-te5zf]

Leo was a genius in so many ways, but what's not talked about enough is his marketing skills. To reignite the broadcaster debate in the 80's just kept the interest peaked and once again cemented a cool story... that helped sell guitars!

[@erestube]

You mention Dale Hyatt. I used to be a part-time tech in a company that provided audio equipment for conventions at the Anaheim Hilton Hotel. When NAMM came next door, to the Anaheim Convention Center, in 1986, they needed some extra mics so two of us techs ran some over. The guy I was with wasn't about to waste that chance, so he disappeared into the thick of the convention. I was newer on the job and afraid of getting into trouble, so I only had the guts to look around at a few exhibits. (I remember lots of hair metal guys walking around.) One of the few booths I checked out near the staff entrance door where I came in was the G&L booth. Dale Hyatt was all by himself with no customers around. At the time, their motto was "Wouldn't you rather buy American?" as it was during the period of the lawsuit guitars, and the booth displayed that theme. (another reason I think G&L chose so many military names; they were all about "Made in the USA" American as #1) I told him I was glad to see a company keeping American instrument standards high, and all I had was a cheap no-frills Telecaster. He told me about G&L guitars, gave me a few G&L buttons, and I told him I wished I could afford one. At the end of our conversation, he gave me his business card and invited me out to the G&L factory. I drove out to Fullerton the next week and he sold me a Broadcaster with an ebony fretboard at cost. I remember he had me try it out in the G&L lobby area with real guitar people milling about. God that was embarrassing. But it's been with me all my life. As a result, I've always had my antenna up for Broadcaster news over the years. The gist of what I've heard is that the law protected G&L up to 1000 units with the Broadcaster name on them, and anything beyond that would run them into "mass production" and therefore copyright trouble with Gretch. During production, there were duds that were deemed not sales-worthy, so over a thousand ended up being made to get to the 1000 distributed number. Maybe direct sales like mine let them make one more in the long run. I don't know but I got 914 right off the line! Dale did me a great favor. I've gone through about 20 guitars over the years, but the Broadcaster has remained with me and it is my number one. I've always thought about Dale over the years, before and after he passed away, when I open my Broadcaster case. His business card is still inside.

[@jeshely]

The black on black one with the maple fretboard is just a beauty.

[@billrogers3697]

I have a 2007 CLF SC2 In red. Excellent condition plays and sounds awesome! I bought this because my brother had an SC2 and loved playing ! RIP Steve!

[@mrrll2007]

I recently finished up a few years in the Pentagon. Each time I stepped out of my office, I was met by one of the largest paintings in that building... a giant overhead view of the F-15 firing an ASAT. I suspect I was the only person who thought about a guitar whenever I saw that piece of art. It was like a G&L billboard to me. The scale of the missile was phenomenal (17' 9"). It looked big coming off of the F-15, which is not a small jet. I agree that "ASAT" was a tip-of-the-hat to the space-age names of the 50s. And, yes, taking aim against those objects beyond the stratosphere was part of the appeal.

[@RozoTheGreat]

You guys clearly have a passion for Leo's work. Keep it up! Love the content :)

[@larielbauer]

Fantastic idea to make these videos to know better the history of the G&L models, Dave! a hug from Spain!

[@migmac56]

Bought mine in 1986, great guitar, still with me. Always thought it stood for Another Strat another Tele! You learn something new everyday!

[@LiamBrownisAmazingDragon]

Dave out here pretending ASAT doesn't stand for "A Step Above Telecaster"

[@Hoaxster54]

LOL!

[@peaelare]

Excellent! Love my ASAT Special.

[@chriswest4590]

That makes two of us! Fantastic guitars!

[@keithconville5460]

3 of us!

[@nikolasm.7415]

4 of us then!

[@Daddy.Snorlax]

I wasn't sure I was actually going to get the answer I was looking for 🤣 Thank you for that brief explanation!

[@mikeaustin4138]

I've got an ASAT special from 1995(?) and it's a great guitar. I also have an ASAT Custom from the same period that has a maple top and mahogany body (and only 30 or so were made). Both great guitars. Several guitarists, including Greg Koch, have stated that one of the attractions of the late '50s Les Pauls was that they sounded like "fat teles" because they're under-wound by modern standards. IMO, the jumbo MFD pickups come at the "fat tele" sound from the other direction in that they're true single coils with more output but still are distinctly single-coil.

[@graemero5532]

Thanks Dave. Keep these gems coming.

[@garywium]

Great bit of G&L history. Thanks Dave, you RAWK! Cheers mate!

[@youngspanion]

Very cool video, Dave. Thanks. Looking forward to the Bass guitar videos. :-)

[@ryanfulldark2775]

Literally just got home with my ‘91 ASAT, same exact guitar as the natural one except it doesn’t have the large ASAT decal. I fell in love with it immediately. Such an amazing playing and sounding guitar. Glad to know the history!

[@davidthomas5035]

Diggin' the blacked out beauty!

[@ernestkaiser6893]

My Mom Mary Eszlinger was Dale Hyatt's secretary. My late step father, Vernon Eszinger was president of Sales. Good times

[@GnLguy]

@CLF Research Hope you do a video showcasing the development and history of the Comanche & S500, I have both and I don't know which I like the best

[@dougquaid4745]

Thanks Dave for a very interesting history into the Asat! Miss my 1997 custom shop delux, worst guitar mistake I made swapping it for an explorer!!! Have a custom s500 on order with an additional 20 week wait to the uk, but am already looking at another asat delux, though so far have not been able to spec it out exactly like the one I had.

[@bshind]

Cool history. I have a signature ASAT bass, and my friend has a signature ASAT guitar.

[@johnnyboring4100]

Good Job, very interesting !

[@jaimeanderson5615]

Thanks for the history lesson. It is a wonderful video.

[@sebastiancabrol2014]

That bridge and those p90 looking pickups are really something. I prefer this design over the more conservative newer one.

[@NormDPlume-mc5dh]

Had a Broadcaster from summer 1986 to spring 1991 when it was unfortunately stolen. #566 if you see it it's mine. Got a ~1985 G&L SC-3 in 1988 which I still have. Probably could have found another Broadcaster then but was saving my money for the Trainwreck Liverpool 30 amp I got in summer 1992. Got a partscasterish guitar now that fills the sonic spot of the Broadcaster now but like to think my original might turn up.

[@plaunty]

Please do a video on the l5500

[@jameskrys5286]

Maybe G&L should come out with a Podcaster, LOL

[@jeshely]

You should keep all videos under the G&L channel. Easier to find and manage all these great info.

[@CorvetteStingRayLane]

Awesome informative video. Thank you.

[@Damaraja]

Aloha, Dave. I own a mint, all original/stock ‘91 ASAT w/ minihum-s-s pups (and all original paperwork in case), but can’t find much info or images of similar versions on the net. Do you happen to know where I could find specs and other related info on this guitar? It truly is an exquisite piece of gear, but I don’t understand why more info is so hard to find. For instance, do you know if the stock single coils (mid and neck) in these ASATs are the same size as Strat pups? Any other details would be much appreciated. This thing has grown on me more in my advancing years. 🤙

[@MajicFreeman]

What is doheny for? the beach?

[@tomformanek3312]

And I always assumed the acronym was "almost same as telecaster". Silly me.

[@deborahorton6290]

how can I date my asat classic?

[@j.d.leslie8458]

I thought ASAT stood for All Sandwiches Are Tuna. I'm wrong?

[@diamondfoxautodetail1140]

Dave. Did you ever work with my uncle Gene?

[@BrundonC]

So did Leo design this guitar? I’ve always assumed it was his evolution of the tele. But it sounds like the sales guy made this a thing and not Leo?

[@cuteasxtreme]

Sales guy made the name he said

[@MrBallynally2]

If you consider that the Telecaster bridge pickup setup w the metal 'ashtray' is THE classic tele sound it strikes me kinda odd that G&L decided to completely ignore that with the similar looking ASAT..

[@grahamhunter2576]

Have you played an ASAT with this bridge though? The sustain goes through the roof, which to me is a great thing.

[@LRS905]

Who are these men? Are they some sort of "curators" for the original G&L facilities? Management?

[@grahamhunter2576]

They own the company

[@jjfloyd618]

There was really no way for Leo to know back then that one day some people would be calling it the Ass Hat.

[@freejrs]

The bad guitar playing in the background is super annoying in all these videos. Shame as it ruins some incredibly interesting history and is totally unnecessary.

[@mattbluesmain1359]

A STEP ABOVE TELE

[@jadm110]

so the ASAT is not a telecaster but it copies the look, then it got renamed the broadcaster, this seems to copy other companies as well,,,,Do we see a pattern starting to form" ?

[@tomformanek3312]

Leo mever learned. His original tele was a Broadcaster too. Fred Gretsch also objected to that for the same drum kit. The tele became a "nocaster" when the label was removed. Finally, it was the Telecaster after another year or so.

[@dinostrunkguitarist]

It's nothing new. Look at how many other big-name builders have copied Fender T-style and S-style, Gibson Les Paul and SG, Martin acoustic dreadnaughts, etc. The list goes on. Just about every company tries to take a spin at reinventing the wheel. BUT, at least in G&L's case, T-style and S-style guitars were Leo's ideas to start with. He just took the wheels he invented to start with and looked at making them better.

[@ManwithAx]

I'd guess Leo did it again knowing that it'd get the same response from Gretch and that would bring some attention to the guitar

[@larryantinozzi4080]

Appreciate the info but the guitar playing in the background is annoying.

[@freejrs]

I actually stopped watching the video it's so annoying.

[@martinbauer4909]

My ASAT classic surely destroys any Telecaster. Even though she's obly a tribute.

[@jvin248]

While the history is interesting, when a name must be explained ... you need a new name. Any other military tech names that are not acronyms that could be put on there? It took many years of marketing expenses for International Business Machines to get to IBM and General Electric to get to GE, but it's an additional unnecessary marketing challenge. Might need to look at smart phones or phone app centric Internet sites like Twitter or Instagram.

[@dinostrunkguitarist]

No need. I doubt very many people knew where the name "telecaster" came from either. Most still don't unless they watch this video. Yet it's legendary. The "ASAT" name will never be as big as "Telecaster", but neither will any other "t-style" guitar names. Even if they are better built than a Tele and become quite popular, one look at it and it says "telecaster". But those companies' names will create their own identities. And so will ASAT. Time will take care of that.

[@grahamhunter2576]

Congratulations on completing your Intro to Marketing course. The real world is a lot different, especially in the music industry where there are hundreds of examples of successful products with names that "don't work" by textbook standards. Yamaha DX7, Korg M1, and Steinberger L2 are just three examples of landmark instruments whose names wouldn't meet your criteria. The last place that a company based on heritage and tradition should look is the current trendy phone/web site sectors, as they'll be out of date in a few years.

[@andreaglashow2444]

Would have been nice to have an actual SC-2 around the studio to show, given the multiple references to that very cool predecessor guitar. I love Dave but he is probably not the best person to make these videos. His proven talents lie elsewhere. Praise be!

[@alm574]

S500 is a Russian air defense system.