Leo's last prototype?

[Dave W]

G&L ASAT Prototype Bass

"One of the last instruments Leo was working on when he died in 1991. The body is still in-the-white with Leo's penciled outline of a pickguard"

[Pilgrim]

I see it still has the original Leo dust on it, too.

[Rob]

I see it still has the original Leo dust on it, too.

He was a Pixie.

[Dave W]

He was a Pixie.

Leo was Kim Deal? 

[Alanko]

I sometimes think Leo had no idea what made his best designs resonate with bassists.

I cleaned up and set up my buddy's Jazzmaster a few months ago. I know they have their fans, but I found it pointlessly over engineered and incapable of little more than a clunky, low sustain. I'm not sure what Leo was going for, beyond squeezing more tonal options from passive circuits and trying to make a floating trem.

[ilan]

I'm not sure what Leo was going for, beyond squeezing more tonal options from passive circuits and trying to make a floating trem.

I think that's exactly what he was trying to do. And to design a body better suited for playing sitting down, which worked very well for the Jazz Bass.

My 6-string is a Tele, I also don't like the Jazzmaster's darker tone, But that's down to individual taste. The "dark circuit" was his understanding of jazz guitar tone, he probably wanted to approximate a jazz box, neck pickup, tone dialed back kind of sound.

There were times when some guitarists wanted as many knobs and switches. Even well into the 80s. I used to mod Strats with tons of switches, everybody wanted them back then.