G&L ASAT Classic Custom or ASAT Special or ASAT Hollowb

[scuzzie]

Hi guys,

I'm in the market for a new tele and couldn't help but be impressed by some of the Fullerton-made guitars by G&L.

I guess I'm making my next one a G&L ...

Having browsed G&L's website, its tough to say which model suits me best since they each look so good.

I have narrowed the list down to :

(a) ASAT Classic Custom- swamp ash w/ maple neck
(b) ASAT Special- swamp ash w/ maple neck
(c) ASAT Special Hollowbody- swamp ash w/ maple neck

I'm looking for a tele with "balls" and has tones suited for blues and classic rock.

Do appreciate if anyone can share their experiences.

 

[Roel from Holland]

If you play blues and classic Rock, the Asat special is the way to go i.m.h.o. The Classic Custom has the same neckpu with just a bit more windings and a Classic bridge pu which is more twangy than the G&L soapbar in the bridge position.
The Asat Z3 might be interesting as well. Some people have been complaining about sterile sounding pickups but by lowering them and using heavier strings the results are stunning. It's my most versatile guitar. (I have both an Asat Special and a Z3)

 

[UncleJarmo]

I use an ASAT Special, alder/rosewood for classic rock/ blues/country with a little jazz harmony thrown in.

If I want to use 1 guitar for a whole night I use the ASAT and Mesa Maverick amp. I can go from zzTop distortion to Santana singing lead to country twang to faux-jazz clean without touching a knob on my amp.

I special ordered mine from Buffalo Bros. so I could get a 12" radius fretboard, they come standard with vintage 7.25" radius.

 

[scuzzie]

If you play blues and classic Rock, the Asat special is the way to go i.m.h.o. The Classic Custom has the same neckpu with just a bit more windings and a Classic bridge pu which is more twangy than the G&L soapbar in the bridge position.
The Asat Z3 might be interesting as well. Some people have been complaining about sterile sounding pickups but by lowering them and using heavier strings the results are stunning. It's my most versatile guitar. (I have both an Asat Special and a Z3)

Roel,

I have heard similar complains on the ASAT Z3. My concerns are that I normally tend to keep my volume and tone near full the whole time.

Does the Z3 only come alive once the tone controls are tweaked?

Is the Z3's pickups hotter than the Special?

 

[Roel from Holland]

Roel,

I have heard similar complains on the ASAT Z3. My concerns are that I normally tend to keep my volume and tone near full the whole time.

Does the Z3 only come alive once the tone controls are tweaked?

Is the Z3's pickups hotter than the Special?

I think the Z3 pu's are slightly hotter than the Special. The Z3 comes alive but the Special has more character in my opinion. The Special is a heavily updated version of the good old Tele, the Z3 is more a Strat-meets-Tele on steroids.

 

[Zorba]

I bought an ASAT Classic about 4 months ago. after the Indy GC bought a $125,000 guitar collection - that's what I call a messy divorce.
But it was great for me, because the store had something like 25 ASATs - Classics to customs to those Z-thingys.

I played them all, and ended up buying an orange ASAT Classic. It's comfortable like my tele, but it's just a little bit more. Kind of like the difference between a Crown DC-300 and a Macintosh Tube Amp. They're both wonderful hi-fi pieces of epuipment, but the Macintosh just offers a bit more.

 

[ashtray]

Fellow ASAT owner tuning in

I've been a big fan of the G&L's for year - got my first one about 10 years ago. Since then, I've had 2 ASATs and 2 Legacies - though I only have 1 ASAT left, and that one is not leaving any time soon!

I have the ASAT Special. They changed from the special to the normal model at some point. My special has a white pickguard and chrome hardware. My other ASAT special I had owned had a black pickguard and black crinkle hardware. That one was an ash bodied special. My current ASAT special might me maple - not sure. It's about a '93 model with a solid finish (a cool metallic crimson burst, haven't seen another one like it).

As for the tone -yeah, it's raw. It can be very loud and piecing sounding, depending upon the amp too. I played it through my friend's '58 Vibrolux and it sounded horrible - way too much treble! Through other amps though, it sounds great. It's not as warm as a "regular" tele, in the neck position - I think the pickups are just very powerful single coils, but not P90 sounding at all.

That being said, I planned on building a custom guitar, and my choice of pickups was going to be 3 of those soapbar style G&L Asat pickups, so that should say something about their sound.

 

[scuzzie]

3 PU ASAT? You're in luck

That being said, I planned on building a custom guitar, and my choice of pickups was going to be 3 of those soapbar style G&L Asat pickups, so that should say something about their sound.

There's a GL ASAT with 3 soapbar style SC's on ebay.

Quite nice looking. You may wanna check it out.

(link removed)

 

[ashtray]

Ooooh - stop it!

I almost bought an Asat III a while back - great price - can't recall why I didn't pull the trigger. That blue one looks great - except for the ebony fretboard and painted black backing. Really sharp otherwise.

The custom guitar I have planned actually isn't a tele! It's kinda PRS meets Gibson meets Fender (meets G&L). PRS styled body but flat topped, but the cutaways are pure Gibson style - though they're never done such open cutaways on a guitar, then a maple Fender neck, 3 Asat Special pickups, and a one piece wrap around stop tail. No pickguard, and I'd figure out some kind of controls to keep it simple. Probably a 3 way toggle up top, and an on/off switch for the middle pickup.

I have it all drawn out to scale - just need to actually buy some tools, figure out how to use them, buy the parts and build it! That's why it's only on paper.

 

[scuzzie]

Re: Ooooh - stop it!

The custom guitar I have planned actually isn't a tele! It's kinda PRS meets Gibson meets Fender (meets G&L). PRS styled body but flat topped, but the cutaways are pure Gibson style - though they're never done such open cutaways on a guitar, then a maple Fender neck, 3 Asat Special pickups, and a one piece wrap around stop tail. No pickguard, and I'd figure out some kind of controls to keep it simple. Probably a 3 way toggle up top, and an on/off switch for the middle pickup.

Sounds great!

Where would you find the ASAT pickups, I don't think G&L sells these direct, or do you know differently?

 

[burak]

asat

I have a G&L ASAT 93. I think it's pretty much, what ASAT Special is today. I am very happy with it. It is an excellent guitar for blues and rock. You can get good country sound out of it too, if you twaek your amp a little bit.

 

[blueshawk]

I like G&Ls...

although I got rid of my ASAT Special Deluxe recently in favour of a Thinline '69 RI - if I could have got a hollow-body G&L I would have done, but G&Ls are like hens teeth in the UK. I rate hollow-bodies for the types of blues I play - but blues tone varies very widely and it may not suit you.

Tone

 

[Mr. Cranky]

I own or have owned Specials and Classics, solid and semi-hollow. If you are looking for something with balls, I would stay with the solid body. In my experience, the semi-hollow mellows things out in mid-range area.

 

[jordanl]

I prefer the solidbody. I think the special will be the better choice for you but between the classic custom and the special, I don't think you can go wrong.

The CC has a special version of the asat pup that sounds real nice. And the ASAT is a swiss army knife guitar. I play an ASAT junior (chambered mahogany asat ), its gets me a nice range of rock and blues tones.

The Z coils are also very versatile in their sound, they react well to pedals. Will Ray manages to get some very cool tones out of them.

I would add that to me, MFD's are harsh sounding for livng room playing, but they sound fine mixed with a band.

 

[ashtray]

Re: Ooooh - stop it!

Sounds great!

Where would you find the ASAT pickups, I don't think G&L sells these direct, or do you know differently?[/quote]

Yeah, that was one problem I was facing. I actually found and passed up on 2 of these pickups on ebay once. I figured since I was still only on the drawing board, I didn't need to buy the pickups yet.

The shape of these things means that people with ASATs are not likely to pull them out and replace them with something else - what else will fit in that pickguard? So, it's kinda a spiraling problem to actually find 3 of these pickups - but I'll figure something out! Actually, now that they're putting them in the Tribute series, I think that will help my cause.

 

[Roel from Holland]

Rio Grande sells replacement pickups for Asat specials but I'm not sure if they sound the same.

 

[burak]

ASAT

both of these songs are played with a GnL ASAT It shows you, how versatile the ASAT pickups are.[/url]

 

[frankthomson]

Re: Ooooh - stop it!

I almost bought an Asat III a while back .

Funny, I almost sold my ASAT III a while back! ....And thank God I didn't!

I think if I could only have 1 guitar (what a terrible thought!!!), this would be it.

Or, it would be my ASAT Special.....

Or my Commanche.....

Or....

 

[scuzzie]

Great.

both of these songs are played with a GnL ASAT It shows you, how versatile the ASAT pickups are.[/url]

Hey Burak,

Thanks. I'm on my way to download the songs right now.

 

[burak]

I used Line 6 POD II as amp simulator and recorded them through PC based system using Sonar 3.
I hope you'll like them. Both solos and the rhtym trasks are the same GnL ASAT 93.