G&L Guitars Meet Muscle Cars

by Alan Cross, February, 2015
 

Guitars and cars have always gone together. From Robert Johnson’s “Terraplane Blues” to Bruce Springsteen’s “Pink Cadillac” to Wilson Picket’s “Mustang Sally,” if you’ve got a six string, it’s not hard to link it to car culture. In the 1960s and 70s, a lot of this action was headquartered in Southern California, where hot rods and surf wagons tore through the streets, their big block engines rumbling all the way to Fullerton. Now G&L is cementing the link further with the R/T collection, featuring the ASAT Classic Bluesboy 90 and ASAT Special, painted with muscular MOPAR colors:

To ensure the colors’ authenticity, G&L turned to Mitch Lanzini, owner of the world famous Lanzini Body Works (featured on TV’s Overhaulin’ show). For Lanzini, the project made perfect sense: “Back in the day, Leo Fender would go to the automotive paint store and look at the colors, and that’s where your Sherwood Forest Green, Seafoam Green, and Fiesta Red came from. Those are all car colors.”

Surprisingly, Lanzini says he’s always been more of a guitar guy than a car guy. His connection to G&L goes back decades. “I was in a band in the 1980s with a guy who worked at G&L,” Lanzini says. “I knew that G&L were good guitars. That was as about as close as you could get to Leo Fender.” Later, he worked on a car for David McLaren, VP of BBE Sound (G&L’s parent company), and when the talk turned to guitar, they cooked up the R/T series.

The ASAT Special retails for $1600 with a street price around $1220.

The ASAT Classic Bluesboy (not shown) features a Seymour Duncan Seth Lover alnico humbucker in the neck position. Retail price: $1750. Street price: $1312.50

Shipping will begin in mid-March, so gentlemen, start your engines!

For more on the R/T series, head to G&L: