This is my research project into G&L guitars. G&L, especially the early years, didn’t always do things in the most streamlined way, and often what is found on the internet or listed in old advertisements could be wildly different from what actually went into production. So this information is constantly changing as I research and scavenge more old Leo guitars. Supposedly, the very first G&L guitar made is an F100 and bears the serial number G000530, date unknown, and resides possibly with the owner or former owner at NStuff Music in Pennsylvania, or possibly in a private collection somewhere. There are also rumors of a G000518 Candy Apple Red F100 from August 29th, 1980…but even though its serial number is technically lower, that doesn’t always mean older in Leo’s world.
And for the bass players, first G&l bass is serial number B000530 from July 9th, 1980.
Broadcaster – 1985-1986
The G&L Broadcaster is one of the highest valued and collectable vintage G&L guitars. All 869 of them have the personal, handwritten autograph of Leo Fender himself in the neck pocket. Not a printed signature. He actually signed them, in pen. These are the only 869 guitars to have Leo Fender’s actual signature, outside of one solitary prototype that Leo signed on the body in ink. (The Rembrandt.) After signing these 870 guitars (including The Rembrandt prototype), Leo said it was stupid and that his signature didn’t add anything to the playability of the guitars. Which is what we love about Leo.
The Broadcaster is G&L’s updated Telecaster design. Up until 1985, Leo had been working on the F100 and other more complicated designs. George Fullerton and Dale Hyatt convinced him to come up with something simple, something that just let the tonal quality of their great instruments shine through. So Leo came up with the Broadcaster, the same name he had originally tried to use for the Fender Telecaster in 1951, but had been sued by Gretsch for the name rights. This time, however, Gretsch had let the copyright to the name lapse, so G&L snatched it up.
There were 869 Broadcaster’s made, 569 with an ebony fretboard, and 300 with a maple fretboard. All 869 were black paint on maple bodies, with a black guard, and black pickups. The pickups are G&L’s famous MFD pickups, which sound like their alnico counterparts in timbre, but also somehow bigger and more spacious. They are large single coil pickups, and not P90’s, although I’ve always felt that if you’re trying for the G&L spacious, glassy, yet biting sound, P90’s may be where to look. The controls are simply for volume and tone, with a 3-way pickup switcher. The knobs, like all Leo Era G&L’s, actually do something. There is a lovely taper to the tone knob, and it gives playable sounds in all positions. The volume pot, likewise, sounds better at 1 than any volume pedal. When I play Leo Era G&L’s, I usually turn my volume pedal off and just use the knob because it actually maintains the guitar tone and sounds good at all volume positions. These of course support the 3-bolt neck (used from 1980 thru June 30th of 1997), that has the micro adjustment hole for better action towards the high notes without turning the truss rod. Most had Leo’s newly patented saddle lock bridge, which through its design was able to transfer vibration and sustain into the body without the need for a string-through design. Every once in a while you can find one with a Kahler floating trem installed from the factory.
They are an absolute joy to play, and don’t come up for sale very often. They were made from about April 1985 thru May of 1986, when Gretsch somehow again successfully sued for the name, and G&L renamed this design the ASAT.
ASAT (1986-present)
The ASAT is the Broadcaster. After Gretsch sued for the Broadcaster name, G&L simply changed the decals to say ASAT. The ASAT is a Tele sound, only bigger and fuller with Leo’s MFD pickups. Most often maple bodies, ash was also available. And most often ebony or maple fretboards, but you can actually find a few with rosewood. The controls are for volume and tone, with a 3-way switcher. The knobs, like all Leo Era G&L’s, actually do something. There is a lovely taper to the tone knob, and it gives playable sounds in all positions. The volume pot, likewise, sounds better at 1 than any volume pedal. When I play Leo Era G&L’s, I usually turn my volume pedal off and just use the knob because it actually maintains the guitar tone and sounds good at all volume positions. These support the 3-bolt neck (used from 1980 thru July of 1997), that has the micro adjustment hole for better action towards the high notes without turning the truss rod. All have the saddle lock bridge, which through its design was able to transfer vibration and sustain into the body without the need for a string-through design.
1986 and into early 1987 models had “ASAT by Leo Fender” in small letters in the headstock. Late 1987 and into 1988 changed the “ASAT by Leo Fender” into bigger, bolder lettering on the headstock. Amidst more threats of lawsuits from the Fender Company, 1989-1991 saw the headstocks changed to simply say “ASAT”, with the introduction of the Signature Model in 1989 moving Leo’s printed signature replica to the body of the guitar on the upper bout. The Signature models were in every way the same except for the signature replica. In 1989, G&L also changed this model to be technically an “ASAT Classic”, and the “ASAT” name moved to a guitar identical to this except with smaller MFD pickups, a chrome plate bridge, and overall looking like a traditional Telecaster. Both the ASAT and the ASAT Classic were available with or without the signature. Since 1986, there has also been custom options offered for an “ASAT III” with 3 pickups and 3 or 5 way switching, as well as an option for a vibrato instead of the hardtail saddle lock.
My personal favorite year for these is 1988 with the big signature on the headstock, but the ’86’s are a close second with their sunburst option, and by 1990 there was a cherry burst option that was lovely. Anything up until 1992 sounds stunning. Quality control dropped slightly in 1992 after Leo’s 1991 death, but it’s still fairly easy to find good-sounding models up until mid-1997 when G&L switched from the 3-bolt backplate to the 4-bolt backplate, and many of us collectors started marking that time as a large change in quality. Currently, the ASAT is available in Classic or Standard, with the Signature Series dropping out in 1992 after the Fender Company’s final lawsuit. The ASAT is also available in the G&L Indonesian-made Tribute line, and the Chinese-made Placentia line. Both are still more quality then many big brand name guitars these days, as are the Fullerton-made US models, but do yourself a favor and keep your ear to the ground for an ’86-’91.
S500 (1982-present)
G&L’s first stratocaster type guitar. 3 pickup configuration, 5-way switching, and a vibrato bridge. The pickups were the MFD’s (magnetic field design), and they sound so so good in a strat style guitar. Maple or ash bodies (every once in a while mahogany), and ebony or maple fretboards. They were originally overwound in the S500 for an even bigger, fuller, strat sound. I personally have always found the older S500’s (’82 thru ’91) to have a very woody, earthy, vintage tone, just bigger and sweeter. These also sported Leo’s “PTB System” (passive treble bass) for the tone controls. They had a volume knob which maintained tone at any position (Leo Era G&L’s are the only guitars I’ve ever found outside of vintage Fender’s to do this this well), and then instead of two tone knobs for different pickups, they had a master treble cut and a master bass cut. Couple that with the huge sounding pickups, but then being able to dial in a mellower tone if you wished, made this the most versatile guitar on the planet outside of Leo’s own F100. I have never understood why the PTB system has not been universally adopted. I personally love it.
These support the 3-bolt neck (used from 1980 thru June 30th of 1997), that has the micro adjustment hole for better action towards the high notes without turning the truss rod. All had vibrato system bridges, most with Leo’s patented two-point trem for greater sustain. There was always the option to have a Kahler floating trem installed right out of the factory, and in 1986 an option was added for Leo’s fine tune bridge which allowed a vibrato arm to be placed at the top or bottom of the bridge.
The 1982-1983 models had a more rounded body closer to that of the F100, as well as the earlier fat headstock, also like the F100. In 1984 and 1985 they moved to a more streamlined body and headstock, with the headstock listing a lot of fine print underneath the decal. 1982 thru 1985 all head square bobbins MFD pickups. 1986 saw less writing on the headstock, but maintained the square bobbins pickups. 1987 changed the pickup style to round bobbins. From 1989-1991, the S500 was available in its traditional G&L look, or the smaller MFD pickup look and redesigned yet again headstock that made it look much more like a Fender. However, unlike the ASAT, there was no “Classic” designation on one of the styles. You would just call G&L with your order and choose which style you wanted your S500 to look like. From 1989-1992, you could also choose the Signature version, which simply added Leo Fender’s printed signature replica on the upper bout of the body. By 1991 the older style S500 had all but vanished, and the newer style completely took over. 1992 saw the S500 rewired to support the expander switch invention Leo had put into his Comanche V design, which linked the bridge and neck pickups for an added option of sounding like a telecaster. This for me, was the greatest innovation of the George & Dale Era (1992-1997), outside of the George Fullerton Signature guitar.
By 1995, the quality had dropped enough to where you could find some poorer-sounding examples in the batches. But mostly up through July 1997, they sounded very good. The S500 is still available today in the G&L Custom Shop, the US-made Fullerton line, the Indonesian-made Tribute line, and the Chinese-made Placentia line. In my opinion, the custom shop line is the only one now comparable to 1980-1997 S500’s. Circa 2005, they also stopped overwinding the pickups and the S500 started to sound much more like a traditional stratocaster.
Beautiful guitars, from any era, but I would highly suggest the ’84-’86, ’87-’91, ’92-’94, or with more careful selection, ’95-’97.
Skyhawk (1984-1991, 2018-present)
G&L’s most stratocaster type guitar. The Skyhawk looked almost identical to the S500, but without the overwound pickups. It sounded incredibly similar to a pre-1964 Fender strat. Ebony or maple boards and maple bodies (like almost all G&L’s through 1986) up until 1987, when ash and alder were introduced for the bodies. MFD pickups, and also sported Leo’s “PTB System” (passive treble bass) for the tone controls. They had a volume knob which maintained tone at any position (Leo Era G&L’s are the only guitars I’ve ever found outside of vintage Fender’s to do this this well), and then instead of two tone knobs for different pickups, they had a master treble cut and a master bass cut. All had vibrato system bridges, most with Leo’s patented two-point trem for greater sustain. There was always the option to have a Kahler floating trem installed right out of the factory, and in 1986 an option was added for Leo’s fine tune bridge which allowed a vibrato arm to be placed at the top or bottom of the bridge.
From 1986 to 1987, the headstock also switched to a sickle-shaped headstock.
In 1988 they went through a full redesign to look much more Strat-like, with traditional pickguards and ditching of the short-lived sickle headstock. They were discontinued after Leo’s death in 1991. in 2018, BBE, the current owners of G&L brought them back. Interestingly enough, the current models have higher output pickups as a throwback 80’s hairband type guitar, while now the S500 has a more stratty sound. They’ve almost swapped places from what they were originally designed for.
Personally, I think a 1987 Skyhawk with the Leo Fender fine tune bridge is probably the best strat sound you could come by if you looked for decades.
Nighthawk (1983)
The Nighthawk was the original name for the Skyhawk, before some DC band of the same name sued and they changed the name to Skyhawk. They’re identical guitars. Only 269 with the name Nighthawk on them were ever created.
F100 (1980-1986)
I love the F100. This was Leo’s baby, designed in his head for years while consulting for the Fender Company under his non-compete clause, and then hashed out at Music Man as the Sabre I and Sabre II. These were mahogany or maple bodies (every once in a while ash), maple or ebony fretboards, with the sweetest sounding humbuckers I’ve ever heard. They’re big with biting mids, but somehow also sweet. They are also very clean, so they’re a wonderful platform for pedals. They will break up with amps at slightly higher volumes, and sound great when doing so. But they shine as a big, musical, dynamically clean pickup. There is also a split coil switch, and a phase switch, for a total of 8 different pickup combination sounds. The split coil switch has added circuitry to keep the volume from dropping out so drastically on single coil mode, and the phase switch immediately activates both pickups, no matter what position the pickup selector switch is in. It has the PTB (passive treble bass) system which again, all guitars should have. However, in the F100, the treble pot is deactivated when switching to the bridge pickup on its own. Wild guitar and is an absolute joy to play.
These came in a Series I, Series 1e, Series II, or Series IIe, but those names on the headstock didn’t really correlate to much. Supposedly, Series I referred to a 12″ radius fretboard, while Series II referred to a 7.25″ radius fretboard, and “e” referred to having active electronics. But I’ve seen these with vibrato bridges, hardtail saddlelock bridges, string-through hardtail bridges, active circuitry, and passive circuitry. And I’ve seen any mix of those options with headstocks that say Series I and Series II. They were all released simultaneously, as I own a Series II that is dated almost as early as G&L reportedly started producing these. So a lot is still a mystery with this guitar. I’d suggest looking for a Series II with a vibrato, as then you don’t have to deal with a battery, and having a true vibrato on a Les Paul-sounding guitar is just plain fun.
Sadly, it was discontinued at the end of 1986 (have seen some listings for 1987’s, but they are unconfirmed as far as the neck pocket dates), as Leo Fender simply had the reputation for single coil guitars, and the control board was a bit complicated. For me though, this one may be my favorite.
Interceptor (1983-1991)
The Interceptor was a cool guitar, and is now highly collectable as not many of them were made. They had a very intriguing body shape with a two-tone 3d effect, and a sickle headstock, and were marketed towards the 80’s metal hairband crowd. Interestingly enough, the Interceptor came in three versions. The Interceptor I had three single coil MFD (magnetic field, Leo Fender’s personal design) pickups, the Interceptor II had two humbucking Schaller pickups, and the Interceptor III had two single coil MFD pickups with a Schaller humbucker in the bridge. The majority of these humbuckers were made by Schaller.
Many that I’ve seen had the Leo Fender fine tuning vibrato, but they were also available with the standard vibrato or a Kahler locking system.
One of the many guitar models to disappear at the beginning of 1992 after Leo’s death.
Cavalier (1983-1991)
The Cavalier had two slanted MFD humbuckers, and was basically an F100 without the complicated controls. It also seemed to be the prototype base for anything custom or one-off to come out of G&L. I’ve seen some odd G&L guitars, and many of them have Cavalier on the headstock.
These usually had the G&L vibrato system, and the PTB (passive treble bass) tone controls.
Superhawk (1985-1991)
The Superhawk was an ASAT tele-style but with humbuckers and a dive-bomb vibrato. Again, usually Schaller humbuckers. Like a super tele. It had the PTB (passive treble bass) system and almost always a Kahler locking trem. Definitely marketed towards the metal crowd, and almost always in straight black or bright red, sometimes white or yellow.
Invader (1985-1991, 1998-2018)
The Invader is my all-time favorite hairband guitar, if I had a favorite hairband guitar. It featured a floating Kahler trem with an option for a Floyd Rose, two single coil MFD pickups and one humbucker, but also three mini toggles to turn each pickup on or off for any pickup combination you wanted. Which I find extremely cool and useful in shredding (tastefully, of course). Humbucker was usually a Schaller, there were options for strap lock buttons, and most often came in that bright red. Simple volume and tone controls.
The Invader was one of the hairband metal guitars to go away in early 1992 after Leo’s passing, to be replaced with one model to encompass all the hairband guitars, the Climaxe. However, the Climaxe in 1998 changed its name to The Invader, but with the features of the Climaxe: regular switching, HSH or HSS configuration, Kahler trem.
Rampage (1985-1991)
The Rampage was the ultimate dead-ahead metal guitar. One Schaller humbucker, no switching options, one volume control, and a Kahler or Floyd Rose floating trem. Most often in white with an ebony fretboard. Most famous for being used by Jerry Cantrell of Alice In Chains fame.
Comanche V (1988-1991)
One of the most rare early G&L guitars, and such a cool find. The Comanche was Leo’s last pet project before he died. It has the unmistakable MFD Z-coil pickups he had been keen inventing for decades, and that were seen in various prototypes all the way back to his Fender Company days. These pickups offset the poles so that the highest three strings were mic’d at a slightly more trebly part of the string vibration than the lowest three strings. The Comanche V had three of these pickups and was usually in ash or maple, with ebony or maple fretboard.
The Comanche V was one of Leo’s favorites, and had the PTB (passive treble bass) system, as well as his newest invention, a mini-toggle switch to link the bridge and neck pickup to allow for all three pickups to sound at once or for a tele sound with the bridge and the neck sounding. This switch would also become the basis for the post-1992 S500’s.
These are rare and lovely guitars, and if you see one, you should definitely sell something to pick it up.
Comanche (1998-present)
The current version of the Comanche is almost identical to the Comanche V, and is still a lovely guitar. Again, I find the Leo Era and (most of) the George & Dale Era instruments to be slightly more toneful and better-constructed, but you would still be hard-pressed to find a better current market guitar than a US-made G&L Comanche. Maintains the MFD Z-coil pickups and the expander switch, as well at the PTB system and available in ash or alder, with rosewood or maple fretboard.
Comanche VI (1990-1991, 2007)
The Comanche Vi is one of the more interesting guitars because it had very little to do with Leo Fender. Dale Hyatt and Steve Reed wanted to make the ultimate guitar in versatility, so they took Leo’s MFD Z-coil pickup design and designed their own Comanche, with 6 mini toggles, a volume, and tone control. 3 of the mini toggles simply turn each pickup on and off. The other three have three positions and toggle through turning their respective pickup fully on, upper half on only, or lower half on only. However, all that switching had a bogging down effect on the tone, and they also wired everything in parallel which led to an even more mellower tone, and that mellow tone coupled with the brain power of having to try to find a useable tone amongst all the switches made for a fairly unsellable guitar. Only 100 were made, and it was barely marketed. Reportedly, in 2007, 100 more were made, but I’ve never been able to verify this and have only ever seen one Comanche Vi with a 4-bolt backplate (which would denote it being made post 1997).
However, since only 100-200 of these exist, they are highly collectable.
Climaxe (1992-1998)
The Climaxe was newly owned BBE G&L’s attempt to streamline all of the hairband metal guitars into one model. So when 1992 came around, gone were the Interceptor, Rampage, Invader, Cavalier, and Superhawk, and introduced was the Climaxe. The Climaxe featured two Seymour Duncan humbuckers, but with an alnico single coil in the middle of them. It had 5-way switching and often a Kahler or Floyd Rose floating trem, although there are models with a standard G&L two-point vibrato. I have also seen models with two single coils and a humbucker in the bridge.
G200 (1982)
A wildly interesting and unique G&L. Only 209 ever made, and the only G&L model ever made with the Gibson shorter scale length (24.75″ as opposed to 25.5″). These were all mahogany bodies and very much seemed like they were developed to compete with Gibson. However, Leo didn’t like them and they were discontinued after only one year.
The humbuckers were the same MFD’s as in the F100, and controls were very similar to a Les Paul…volume and tone for each pickup, and a 3-way switch. However, it did have an extra switch that was vintage Leo…it switched between humbucker, single coil, and single coil bass boost. They were only available in hardtail saddlelock bridge form, and almost all of them had a “cloud” frontplate wiring harness. The last 12-20 of them off of the factory press, reportedly, had backloaded wiring so that only knobs and switches showed on the front.
Highly collectable, and those that own them swear they are the best sounding G&L’s.
F150
Prototype. Only one ever made. Three single coil MFD pickups. Scrapped for the S500.
George Fullerton Signature (1995-2007)
Ok, one of G&L’s finest, and in my opinion the best of the 1992-1997 George & Dale Era. George Fullerton was the one member of the team who was an accomplished guitarist, a former professional player. And he was the one who was Leo’s lifeline into the world of guitarists and what they actually wanted and would actually play. And it would seem the G&L George Fullerton Signature is exactly what he would have wanted to play. It features 3 alnico pickups, not the MFD’s a contoured body, and very pronounced vintage 50’s Fender V-style Louisville slugger neck. The earliest 1995 models had the most pronounced V neck I’ve ever experienced playing.
These are thought to be just a Legacy with a signature, but they’re somehow not. I play my Leo Era G&L’s by far the most, except for this 1995 George Fullerton signature. Every time I come back to it, I end up playing it just as much, right alongside the Leo Ear G&L’s. George did a really, really good job with this one. Almost always swamp ash body (highly figured), and either rosewood or maple fretboards. With the two-point G&L vibrato.
The 1995 thru June 30th, 1997 had 3-bolt neckplates. This one survived into the Buffalo Brothers Era and BBE Era and for the next ten years before it was discontinued, it was the same except for a 4-bolt neckplate.
Legacy (1992-present)
The Legacy was BBE’s answer to having just an upgraded straight stratocaster in their lineup without having to market innovative things like MFD pickups. It features 3 alnico pickups, a 5-way switch, an alder body, and a G&L two-point vibrato.
They’re the most affordable US-made G&L, vintage, used, and new, but they will surprise you for quality. They ended up being a best seller for BBE’s G&L, marketed as the strat better than the strat.
Legacy Special (1993-1997)
A Legacy but with G&L hot rails humbucking pickups in single coil size, in all three pickup positions. Often had upgraded translucent paint jobs.
SC1, SC2, & SC3 (1982-1991)
These were marketed as student guitars, as Leo had a passion for making musical instruments available to everybody (see Fender Musicmaster & Duo Sonic). They were cheaper and only had one tone and one volume control, and possibly used scrap woods as they were only offered in painted versions, not sunburst or translucent. But other than that, no one has really figured out what other corners were cut, and we’re left with some really good sounding, very collectable and affordable guitars. They even offered hardtail or vibrato.
The SC1 if the most highly collectable, since only about 250 were produced. Turned out people wanted more than one pickup. The SC2 had two single coil MFD pickups, and the SC3 had three.
ASAT Z3 (1998-present)
Probably the best thing to come out of the Buffalo Brothers Era (1998-2004) was the ASAT Z3. Introduced in 1998, it was the flagship for G&L trying to market themselves as a custom shop boutique guitar company. It featured beautiful swamp ash bodies with highly translucent finishes, birdseye maple necks, figured rosewood fretboards, or the beautiful birdseye maple with gun oil tint fretboards. They were like as ASAT III with hardtail saddlelock bridges, but with 3 pickups, and 3 Z-coil MFD pickups at that. 5-way switching and simple volume and tone, and circa 2000 they added a push-pill pot in the tone position to link the neck and bridge pickup for tele sounds. Many of them were semihollow as well, which just added to the beauty of these things. This was the guitar model I saw at Buffalo Brothers in 2004 that made me a G&L fan.
Now only available as a custom shop order from G&L, these are definitely the guitar to get if you really want to buy new. Vintage is possible, but the current ones are actually still very, very good. Also get the semihollow version.