ASAT Classic "S"

Never been a fan of the "Nashville Tele's". I know it's super versatile but are you sure you didn't just want a Strat to begin with lol? Nobody puts a Tele bridge and pup configuration on a Strat body. *whistling...

 

Personally I’ve come to the conclusion that middle pickups are pointless. And I’m not a fan of the look on a t style. But ymmv, and g&l makes a nice guitar.

 

Well, I did....

But I’m definitely in the minority.

@superjam144, I’ve always thought the MFD pickups sort of between Strat and Tele. I know someone with an ASAT with the MFD who gets amazing Tele tones out of the bridge pickup, and some pretty sweet sounds from the neck.

 

You put a Tele bridge on a Strat body, pics?

 

I love middle pups on electric guitars because IMO they give the best "acoustic guitar" tone. When you think about it the soundhole on an acoustic is in the middle.

 

I often pine for one of those nashville style ASATs. The 2 and 4 positions are very usable if you play a lot of rhythm guitar- especially with that 70's and 80s dance pop. I see them come up on craigslist from time to time. I've heard the MFD pups can sound P90ish but I've never owned one.

It looks like a good one, you should get it!

EDIT: make sure there's not too much fret wear before you buy a used guitar.

 

I’ve posted this several times, but I can’t remember where so, here ya go. The trem is a (now out of production) Glendale piece with their Tele saddles. The Trem is decked.

 

Go play it...my classic out plays my Fenders. Decide then.

 

I have a two-pickup ASAT Classic and I agree that the bridge MFD pickup is (about 90%) Tele-like while the neck MFD pickup gets closer to a Strat tone. There’s more midrange than vintage/standard-style Tele pickups so a little P-90 flavour in there too.

Never tried a Nashville-style ASAT with MFDs myself but I am curious how they sound. I’m not much of a Strat guy anymore these days, though.

 

Love the middle pickup on mine. Very musical. Reminds me of the middle pickup on a Eric Johnson Strat. Sounds great by itself.

 

They really are great guitars. I had one years ago. I ended up trading it for a G&L asat Z-3. You can get Tele sounds, stratty sounds, and combo sounds with the push pull knob. It's a super versatile axe. I would rather have the asat you are looking at than a real Tele.

 

I've demoed a couple of them - one in a local dealer and later I got one in from Guitar Center (back when they used to spec out G&Ls to keep in stock). The one at the local dealer had the MFDs, I like the sound of it but MFDs are a broader spectrum pickup than an alnico pickup - they don't have the tonal hump you find on an alnico. Also the one at the store had their old #1 neck (now called the "Classic C" neck) which I don't care for; it's a little too thick in taper and has too much shoulder for my tastes so it was a non-starter.

The one I got from Guitar Center was the alnico pickup version - I found that I don't care for their alnico pickups; they are kind of muddy to my ears - or at least this guitar, which was an ash body/maple neck, was very muddy. Also good old GC had the wrong specs - it was supposed to have no body contours, Slim C neck shape and a satin finished neck but the one that came in had contours, Classic C neck with their 70s-approved gloss urethane finish. While I liked the body contours the pickups and neck lead me to return it very quickly.

I would love to get my hands on one with the MFDs and the Modern Classic neck shape (their current standard/default neck) with the satin finish.

 

Dude, you're in the Tele forum! Keep that chatter down, it's like shouting obscenities!

 

Probably true, lol.

 

I never met a USA ASAT I didn't like and I especially like the more unique versions like this. They are familiar yet bring something just a bit different to the table.

 

Bang I'm digging that tele big time.