G&L Broadcaster

Fixed bridge, tele-like guitar. Made in 1985. I have the maple
neck one. New locking tuners were installed and won't make a distance in sale values because this guitar will never be sold - will be passed down generation by generation, if I have my way!

My favorite sound is using the bridge pickup, though neck pickup is perfect for jazz. Not a better sounding guitar. Sustain, brightness, overall oompth. The sound hits you in the gut. Have been criticized for single coil hum, in band situations, but I don't care about that.
A rock and roll or blues guitar is what this baby is all about, plus jazz. Any kind of music, really, would work with this axe. Have used this guitar with a multitude of amps. Best sound is with a Moonlight one watt amp or Marshall or Fender. Must use with tube amp to get best sounds, though solid state will work, just doesn't do this fine instrument's tone, justice.

Perfect action set up by Leo Fender. No flaws except for jack went bad few years after owning the guitar.

Used to use this guitar without any backup on gigs. The guitar has fallen on concrete basement floor, has been knocked over by little kids, has been knocked into mic stands. Guitar has numerous scratches and a few major dings, but only cosmetic damage and still looks beautiful, though a collector would have a heart attack if one of their guitars looked like this. I am not a collector and in recent years have babied the guitar a lot more. The frets have never developed "fret sprout", the neck has only gone out of adjustment once in all the years I have owned the guitar. The neck has been stable for the last 15 years - just got it checked and was told to leave it alone. Use .10 high E. The guitar weighs a ton and is simply the best in reliability and durability.

The simplicity of the guitar makes it easy for any competent guitar
tech to adjust.

Originally wanted a Fender tele, but was turned on to this guitar and it was far superior to any stock tele. A super duper Danny Gatton tele or Fender custom shop tele might be equal, but nothing better than this baby! Wish a strat would be made with this neck, whether by G&L or Fender. If the guitar was stolen would cry, because irreplaceable. Occasionally see these on Ebay. If you can afford it, get one - even if you have to sell some guitars to scrape up the cash. It is as good as it gets in a guitar and signed by Leo Fender!

Outstanding sound. Chimey, but not too harsh on the bridge pick-up. I much prefer the sound options to a strat. The neck pick-up can be very throaty and full, especially if the tone knob is set about half-way. I play it through my Dr. Z Maz Jr and my Fender Concert Reverb. I'll give it a 9.5 on sound. Second only to my '68 Paul Custom in range of sound.

very well made. Mine was a gift from T-Bone Turner, a late, great friend and South Texas guitar slinger who gave it to me in '89. He had bought it new. I have had Bill Richardson make a few adjustments (guitar tech for Chris Isaaks, Mick Taylor, etc. and the best tech I've ever known). He made minor adjustments to it after 20 years of use and it still plays great. I have had to replace the switch selector for a buzz, but other than that, perfect. Bill told me "Leo commented several times that this was his "ultimate Tele."

Yes, I can depend on it completely. Like Muddy Waters often said about his '56 Tele, it almost never goes out of tune. Amazing guitar.

never had to work with them during the warranty period, but they willingly supply any info I ask for and have a great user's group on their site.

Been playing for 35 years. '68 LP Custom, Old Burns 335, '51 Gibson LJ-1, various other basses and guitars. Dr. Z Maz Jr (212) and Fender Concert Reverb (410).
If stolen, I'd cry and cry again. Nothing to add to it--it's damn near perfect.
If I had to find another like it I'd probably have to spend $3 grand.

This guitar probably has one of the most interesting stories in guitar-making history. It was one of the first guitars G&L made. That's the company Leo Fender started after his MusicMan days.

Waxing nostalgic, Leo Fender wanted to make the original 50's type Telecaster because he felt that Fender's use of Japanese parts, etc. had screwed up the original. (However, these days, there's a G&L Japan!) So that's what this guitar is! The original Telecaster reborn with 80's U.S. technology.

As the story goes, the original Telecaster was supposed to be called the Broadcaster, but Gretsch had drums of the same name, so Fender was forced to change the name. But by the 1980's, according to everything legal, as long as you didn't produce over a certain number of units, you can get away with using the name!

That's why only about a thousand of these were made--to avoid legal hassles. (It evolved into the ASAT Telecaster model.) And in acknowledgement of the uniqueness of The Broadcaster, Leo Fender signed every one of them (but you have to take off the neck to see it--talk about humility!)

For me, the details of this story are the features. I don't understand what "tons of features" on a guitar is for a 10 in this rating category. Is it really important? It's a guitar. You control it. It doesn't control your sound or any such nonsense.

But as far as guitar features go, physically, these guitars are all black for some reason--1986 black--not Gothic black! Black hardware, too. I'm not a techie, but when all is said and done concerning materials, typical Telecaster set-up: volume and tone controls, three-way selector switch, single coil pickups, room for six strings; this one has either a rosewood or an ebony neck. The slip of paper that came with it says ebony, but it looks rosewood to me! 22 frets... This is about the best I can do!

The Broadcaster has the beautiful chiming, bell-like tone you always hear about. It is clear and cutting, the bridge pickup putting forth a beautiful single-coil lead, the neck pickup filling the lower single-coil registers (I even used it for a bass on a recording.), and the middle position great chunky, textury humbucking fun. Great sustain and presence.

For me, it is the ultimate all round guitar. Any situation. Any style. Blends with all amps for me. Whatever else you may need, you can effectorize.

I base a large part of my playing on this guitar's beautiful simplicity. For me, there could be nothing better. For my needs, it is a ten.

Looks aren't important. It's all about heart...But not a flaw in sight or in sound!

Plays like a dream!

I actually bought this guitar at the Fullerton, California G&L factory in 1986. Only yesterday, 19 years later, I heard the first buzzes from it (which is why I'm looking up these user reviews!). It has never been tweaked in any way in all this time. No neck adjustments. No nothing.

19 years without a hitch = 10 baby!

Well, considering they let me come out to their factory and buy a Broadcaster instead of routing me through one of their retailers, I would say the service in 1986 was about the best you could get.

But nearly 20 years have passed since that time and G&L is no longer a young upstart. And, sadly, Leo has died. But, I have no idea how they are these days.

My 10 is a 10 for the baby years of this company!

I've been playing the guitar for 30 years. The Broadcaster has been with me for 19 years. I also have a "Strat" which is an early 80's re-tooling of the Stratocaster--huge sonic sound; I have a Gibson Firebird as well which does the humbucker guitar job on anything--clean to howl; a beautiful Epiphone Sheraton II--a semi-hollow body good for unamped practice, a Pignose mini job with speaker inside; had a Rick but let a friend have it for a steal. The Broadcaster has always gotten the most use. It has been run through Fenders, Boogies, Rolands, and Marshalls, SansAmps, a Boss GT-6, Korg effectors, Rocktron effectors, quite a few floor effectors. It sounds perfect no matter what. Most of the time, it does the job straight to the amp. It'll do anything from folk, blues and country to funk, rock, alternative...It stops just short of make-up metal (but if you wanted to be original, you could try that, too!)

Everybody's favorite question: If it were lost or stolen? Being as there are only about a thousand out there, and mine was already 914, I would say it is probably irreplaceable! I would have to audition a long line of Telecasters and their clones to find another one. Perhaps an ASAT would do.

Why did I buy it? I was working convention services in Anaheim, California (You know, next to Disneyland!) when the NAMM show came to town in 1986. I did have enough free time to run around for about an hour when I stumbled upon the G&L booth. I had never heard of them before, but I loved their message: corporate sell-outs have corrupted the Fender name! Yeah, radical! A return to glory. A pure Telecaster! So I told one of the reps there, vice president of the company, Dale Hyatt, that I appreciated what they were doing and, in the end, was invited out to the factory! The rest, as they say, was a hell of a lot of guitar happiness!

I write this mainly to say thank you to the guitar gods, Dale, and G&L for hooking me up with this perfect guitar.

Serial # Bc00812----bought at pawn shop in Southern Missouri for$470.00 in October of '01--features are very simple---one volume--one tone knob---3 position pickup---- 2 pickups---rosewood finger board
rating----7

very good sound---not as twangy as true tele but very versatile--with the p90 style pickups I knew I was not gonna get the twang.
I run through either Roland GP16 processor with 2 Roland BC30's or straight through a Marshall JCM900 212 50 watt combo.
rating------10

I'm convinced the action is the original setting----kinda high but well suited for slide and still easy to play
I wish Leo could have provided a burst type finish but Spinal Tap had the Black Album so it can't be that bad
rating ----8

very durable--reliable--made for live playing, however, I prefer my '76 SG with '57 buckers as my main guitar used in conjunction with the Marshall 50W combo
rating---------10

N/A

Ive been playing for 25 years------I'm a Gibson man---'76 SG---'80 LP std---'80 ES335TD--99 American Strat---late '70's Electra strat copy with emp pickups----I did some research on this guitar after I saw it for the 1st time and quite frankly bought it due to the Leo signature and collectable aspect of this guitar; however, it meant to be played an d sounds great !!! I have yet to check out the neck pocket just to see the signature, but once I decide to finally have it "set up" I will check out the signature and take some digital pix----If you stumble across this guitar for under $1000.00 get it !!!
overall rating --------9

tele body,w/ thin, fairly flat rosewood neck. 2 "p90" style pus. black w/ black hardware & matching headstock. Signed by LEO FENDER. top loading bridge is not my favorite, but oh well. no bells or whistles

Must be heard in person to apperciate. No longer own any other teles and won't because there is no point. I'm usually a fender devotee, but can't imagine a better tele. perfect chicken picken twang and smooth rhythm tone make it all a tele should be. The middle pu position is humbucking which is a nice touch.

finish is swell, hardware will tarnish w/o routine care. for a case kept collectors guitar this should have been thought out, but just having the thing makes you want to care for it

been all over the us w/ it. except for some hardware tarnish it is built like a rock. Of course it has been babied.

very hepful. I inherited the warranty from my father (orignal owner) and they have honored it. Had a bad pu switch replaced for nothing.

These are rare and there is no point to writing a product review except to brag about having one. But thats the sort of thing this guitar does to you: makes you giddy and silly and cocky, like falling in love without having to meet its parents. If you ever see one for sale, whatever the price is, it's worth it.

I purchased this new at Downbeat Music in December 1985. $500 even with OHSC and they threw in a black strap to match!. The guitar was mint but fir the dreaded gouge at the neck/headstock juncture from some moron hanging it back on the wall after one too many spliffs. Or lobotomys. This is serial # 365 of the 1000 or so made by G&L in the mid 80s. It has a maple neck (not a separate, keyboard, but apparently they sawed a solid billet in half and milled a channel for the truss and put it back together - You can see the line on the back where they are usually seen big & Dark on fenders, only this is a teeny hairline; also visible on the fretboard side). These are supposedly less common than than the all black ebony board style. The guitar's literature from that time lists the body wood as maple, but having owned several asats, including a brittle sounding and HEAVY blonde maple example made a few months after this one, I would guess it's either an usually light and porous maple or else someone slipped in an alder body! (It weighs about 8 lbs; 3/4 what the maple one did) . The neck posket is signed by LF, I have all the original hagtags, paperwork, OHSC, etc. I played the guitar a lot at first around the house but never on a gig and eventually stopped playing it because I was afraid to scratch it (I hoped the going price would eventually put my kids through college a la '59 Les Pauls!) It has the G&L tuners which stay in tune well enough and have a nice silky feel while turning; nevertheless I hate them because they are tapered the wrong way if you care at all about getting a nice neat wind on the post. Typical 3 way tele switch except the center position ties the two P90 style pickups together in a humbucking mode (not sure if this series, parallel or what ever, but is IS quiet!!). The neck is VERY thin, as were my other mid 80s asats, with a heavy gloss finish, as opposed to later models which had a satiny finish and thicker necks (and better tone as a result!!). Frets have been jumbo on all of these, with a wide, but not too tall profile. This is a bare bones tele style guitar, which appealed to my spartan tastes then and still does.

I play many styles of music and have found the g&l to be one of the most versatile guitars I've owned. the slim neck is very comfortable and has a flatter radius (( degrees as opposed to a typical tele's 7 ) so you can bend, chord, and riff to your heart's delight. The neck pickup sounds wonderful in a clean jazz mode, very full and even. the Center HUMbucking effect is not to my liking; those who appreciate very vintage sounds would like it as a jangly almost out of phase 60s type sound, nice for a clean chuggy rhythm but not much else. the bridge pickup sounds pretty good in a clean mode - I disagree with the previous reviewer who felt it couldn't do the tele thing, although I admit a tele will make your ears bleed a bit more on the treble end! I actually prefer this guitar's sound to teles, which I have also owned. The pickups also have a bit more gain than fendr's and begin to get a bit tubby and harsh if you go overboard. My solution through trial and error was to back off on the tone knob justabit (30% or so) to take the harsh edge off while soloing, and the right amp (say, a blackface bassman, as opposed to a soldano with the presence all the way up!) makes all the difference! The other review is right on when he says it has SOUL, very resonant, great vibe, and no, it can't do the les paul thing, but taht's why God made Paul reed smniths!! I have replaced the P90s in my asats with strat sized stacked humbuckers and gotten a MUCH fatter ballsier sound, but I can't carve up a guitar set up by the man himself!!

Guitar was set up very well, I love the fets, bends are easy, but I don't grate skin off my finger like one does on Jumbos which resemble hurdles. The only bitch was the 1/4" output jack bailed the first time I took it out to my lesson, very bummed! The man at the shop where I bought apologized and took out a mallet and a chisel, so i grabbed it back and tenderly fixed it at home myself with kid gloves and voodoo incantations. Other than that it's been great!

Everything is very nicely put together, materials are top notch, just a good , rugged honest guitar I haeartily recommend, as is everyguitar of G&L's I've ever played. Definitely worth buying and then dialing in!

I called a few times at first because I was confused about the body wood, neck radius and other differences between my Broadcaster and other asats. They were quite knowledgable and helpful over the phone.

Playing since 1976 (haven't played much in the last 5 years)
I always want a guitar with a tremolo (and an amp with reverb) but can never seem to get one worth hanging on to (ditto)! G&L trems I have played on other models are FINE, baby!, very versatil, no dive bombing but whups a bigsby and every other old style bar . Don't know that I wish I had a Braodcaster with a Kahler (as some of them were equipped with) but I do want one from time to time. Other than that, give me a simple guitar with heart & soul and tone and I am happy. with the g&Ls, I am.

Limited edition (about 1,100) of the ASAT made in Califonia, '85 or '86. Initially set up by Leo himself, who signed a little slip of paper in the neck pocket. In spite of Gretsch, who owns the name "Broadcaster," G&L named this guitar (which is, of course, Tele-shaped) after the first production Fender. It has a gloss black finish over what must be an alder body (it weighs approximately 50,000 lbs.), a thin maple neck with a nice rosewood board, two of G&L's P-90-style pickups and a hardtail that loads from the end of the bridge (on the top). Everything else is suitably spartan (plain sealed tuners, 3-bolt tilt neck--don't use the micro-tilt!!! It gave my guitar a nasty case of tongue-up, but shim away to your heart's content). Came with a snazzy case and a certificate of authenticity that I promptly lost.

I could go on for hours about how great this thing sounds. It's got soul and character and all the other words those guys at Guitar Player use to describe superior tone. Two things the Broadcaster won't quite do: super-twinky-scratch Tele, and balls-to-the-wall Les Paul. Everything else seems within its reach.

Leo Fender set it up in Fullerton. I shall not rate Leo's work.

The neck is a little moody, being a touch too thin for comfort, but I play hard and tend to knock things out of tune. So regular setups are required. Everything else on the guitar is pretty solid. The finish must be about a quarter-inch thick. I break strings on any guitar, so I always have a backup.

No contact.

I don't know if I'd be able to find THIS particular model to buy again, but the ASATs are pretty cool, and I've been tempted by them even though I have this one.