Ashton AG-220

It is hard to find ANY INFO on the Ashton AG-220, so I thought a post here was in order.
I picked this guitar up in the shop purely because it looked nice, and was cheap, and that being left handed, I cannot pick and choose from umpteen dozen right handed guitars hanging from the walls.
The body is heavy, and has a red flame bookmatched top, on a solid Mahogany body. The shape is close to a Fender, but has much more pronounced "Bouts" and the body is a bit smaller all round.
It comes with a H/S/H Ashton's "own brand" pickup combination, has a 22 fret rosewood fingerboard, inlaid with a "sharks-tooth" design, a 5 way selector switch on a Maple neck. The fingerboard has very little radius at all.
The bridge is something like a Fender American style, with 2 tremolo screws, and strings though body, but has a very large chrome outer section which looks nice and beefy.
The neck is in between a "C" shape and a "U" shape, and feels chunky and comfortable with no fret overlap or roughness at the edges.
It is designed in Australia but has no "Made In" marking anywhere.
The frets are Jumbo sized and well rounded for ease of playing.
It has 2 chrome knurled knobs, One for volume, One for Tone, which also has a push/pull coil splitter for changing the tone from Humbucking, to single coil very easily.
It came "as is" with no accessories or gig bag, and one of the pickup height adjustment screws were missing.
The tuners are standard chrome enclosed units that slip a bit, but the guitar will stay in tune for long periods.

Having the 5 way swich and 3 pickups, it produces a nice array of tones, and suits my style of playing. The bridge humbucker with the selector swich on the Number 4 setting ( one up from the lowest position) gives a unique sound, almost like a phased sound, which suits some of the pop and disco tune tones. Pull the coil tap swich up, and you have the typical single coil Telecaster tone. The guitar gives quite a few different tones and saves changing guitars for different songs.
The guitar can go from Muddy,to funky,to Bright quickly and with no fuss.
The pickups can be a bit noisy, but they are the loudest pickups I have played so far.
I love the tones you can achieve from this unit, and the controlled feedback that is hard to get with my other guitars.
I play through a Roland Cube 30, and an 80watt Marshall Combo.

The guitar was poorly set up in the shop, having a high action, rusty strings, filthy body, and being totally out of tune.
The wiring seems sound, with no crackles or scratchy pots to report.
The pickups were not adjusted, and one adjusting screw was missing?
The bookmatching is good, and the saddles have not broken a string to date.
None of the controls were loose.

This guitar is built very solid and will withstand many live gigs.
The Hardware is robust, and extra's like strap buttons are well screwed into place.
New tuners would keep the guitar in tune longer.
The finish is very glossy, and makes the unit look appealing.
I feel I can depend on this unit, and would use it alone without a backup.
The tremolo unit goes out od tune quickly, even with mild dives of the whammy bar, but this is par for the course unless some sort of locking system is fitted.
I don't use the tremolo bar at all now.

The repairs done to it have not been major and fixable by myself.
Bridge, nut, action, new strings and neck relief have all made this guitar a more than pleasing instrument and the one I choose most when playing at home or at a gig.
I have never needed to contact the company, but the guitar did come with a one year warranty.

I have been playing for 35 years.
I own a black 1979 Stratocaster, A 1976 Les Paul Custom, A 2003,6 string Washburn Elecric/Accousic, A 1968 EKO 12 string "Ranger" and a 2005 Martinez Accoustic 6 string. ( All Left handed )
I wish I had asked why this Ashton was so cheap, as it plays beautifully with low action and very little buzzing!
I also wish it has 24 frets.
This is an amazing guitar for the price, and I cannot compare it at all to the popular AG-131 starter guitar that looks similar.

The Ashton AG 200 ( loosley based on the Strat shape ) should not be confused with the popular starter guitar called the AG 131 which is a totally different animal,(and which is part of a starter pack on sale here in Australia.)
Although the name ASHTON appears to be associated with Budget low end guitars, the Ashton AG 220 is a cut above the rest with some very nice features.
The 220 comes with a Flame quilted, bookmatched cherry (red) top, Mahogany body, 22 jumbo frets, rosewood fretboard on a solid U shaped rolled edged maple neck. Fittment of the large frets are precise and they feel smooth at the edges.
The Bridge is original ( based on a Fender bridge, with stings through the body) but much larger with tons of chrome work, but still sports the Fender American standard type saddles and 2 screw tremolo setup of the American Fender range.
The pickup configuration is H/S/H with a coil tap swich ( which also doubles as a tone pot), a standard volume knob, and a 5 way position selector switch, a la Fender style.
I believe these guitars are designed in Australia but actually made in Vietnam, but I am not sure of this.
The Pickups are Ashtons own brand, (Black in colour)with the Ashton name stamped into them.

I play, Blues, Jazz, Metal , a touch of country and good old Rock and Roll.
This guitar ( due to it's very high ouput pickups, coil tap and tone controls) gives a great array of sounds, from the Gibson Humbucking warm mellow sound, to the thin Fender Tele sound, and all varieties in between, so is good for literally any style of music you wish to dial in. It's suits my syle because of the ease of complete tonal change at the touch of the coil switch,and selector swich.
Add to this a change of channel on the amp, and the tones are endless.
With 3 pickups, the buckers switchable from Humbucking to Single coil, and a 5 way selector, that makes more than enough sounds from the guitar alone, before we even get into amp settings!
I rate this as a 9 only because the pickups are best lowered away from the strings to reduce unwanted hum at high volumes, but if you like natural feedback, leave them at there normal hight.
The pots ae not scratchy as has been noted on the AG 131 model. The actual knobs are domed serated chrome and are easy to operate.
I play this unit through a Roland Cube 30 COSM, and a Marshall Valve Combo, with great loudness and no major problems.
I use no pedals apart from a Cry Baby Wah Wah sometimes.
I love the fact that this guitar is not huge, but still caries a fair amount of weight, and hence feels very solid.
I'm not crazy about the shape of the headstock, but it grows on you, and the only upgrade I would do is to the tuners. They can be a bit slippery sometimes.

The guitar was poorly set up when purchased, finding myself replacing the nut, adjusting the bridge, also the action and neck relief needed tweaking, along with new stings and finally setting the intonation. For the price, this was a litle money well spent to get everything in tune and sounding harmonically correct. The action will not go quite as low as my Gibson Les Paul Custom without slight buzzing, but this is an unfair comparison I guess.
(Note): I never play guitars unless the bridges are solid,and held firm on the body.
Unless you have a locking/floyd rose setup, tremolo bridges are a pain and tuning always goes out. Needless to say, this bridge is now locked solid due to tightening the underside springs, and a simple mod I made.
The bookmatching is spot on and there are no flaws to be seen on the glossy paintwork.

The AG 220 will stand up aginst the best of them on stage, and everything is solid and durable. The strap buttons are solid and I feel I could depend on this unit.
I would use this guitar without a backup, if I had to, but I have others here which would be silly to leave at at home.

I have had the guitar for 6 months without fault, and the Company has never had to be called for assistance, but being in the country of the builder really helps.

I have been playing for 30 years, and also own an ALL Maple American Tele custom, A Gibson Black Beauty (1976), A Black "made in japan" 1980 "DAION" Stratocaster (which plays incredibly well),A Monetary stage series Strat which is only used for slide work, A Martinez Accoustic, A Washburn Accoustic/Electric, and a 1968 EKO "Ranger" 12 sting accoustic.
If it were stolen I would be more than annoyed, but I would look for another one anyday.
This guitar ranks as good as any of my others and is unique in it's own way, and by far the most versatile of all my instruments.
I tried other guitars, but found them to be too limited or cheaply made for the price.
From a Strat to a Les Paul, to an Steve Vai Ibanez all in one!
This one is a keeper for sure...
I reccomend you get one if you can. Just don't expect the standard floating bridge to keep the guitar in tune after some heavy dives.
Lock it down and focus on the sound.