G&L ASAT Classic 3 Limited Edition

Handmade in USA,
1998,
Tele body style,
Bound swamp ash body,
3 tone sunburst finish,
tinted bird's eye maple neck and fingerboard,
3 single coils,
middle is reverse wound,
1 tone, 1 volume,
5 position switch,
the caddie of telecaster guitars,
absolutely gorgeous,
Limited to only 100

huge range of sounds,
bridge almost like humbucker,
middle has Stevie Ray Vaughn like tone,
neck has twangy country sound to it, a little too twangy for my taste, although it distorts suprisingly well,
great sounds clean or distorted

action a little high for my taste but I purchased the guitar third hand, has a string through body, 3 tone sunbirst finish, bound top, pearloid pickguard, beautiful tinted bolt on bird's eye maple neck and fingerboard, neck partially flamed on back, 6 saddle bridge, immaculate condition except for on ding on the upper bout

this guitar could definately withstand live playing, exceptionally solid

N/A

if stolen, I would probably not be able to find one at all, since it is one of 100 in existance, but i would buy a classic or another G&L with single coils.

First limited edition from G&L. Birdseye maple neck covered in yellow finish. Everything same as conventional G&L but 3 pickups, centre pickup reverse wound. Incredibly diverse tones from the pickup setup. 5 way switch. Only 100 made and I now have two!

Very good single coil sounds, middle reverse wound pickup gives an incredible shimmering sound. Positions 3,4 and five are all pretty neat. Field coil pickups are wider ranging than conventional single coils. Neck p/u is pretty dark and big sounding rivalling a h/b. Very good diversity in sound. Classic tele quack and bite to dark humbucker sound.

Good set up. I took it in to get checked over and tech lowered the pickups as he claimed it was affecting intonation. Sound has not been the same. I am going to raise p/u to try and find the high end glassy sound that came from the factory. No problems with fit and finish. New G&L 4 screwneck connect. Only problem encountered is the pickup jack which is noisy. It makes noise which I don't like. Some p/u selections better than others. I give it an 8 because of this.

Finish looks fantastic. G&L makes great guitars. Not sure why they are not higher rated. Made in the US, great quality for the price. Yes they are pricey but second hand or discounted prices can be found.

10 year warranty. Haven't contacted G&L about input jack.

Playing 20 years. If stolen I wouldn't be able to buy again as its a limited edition. But definitely like the 3pickup set up with reverse wound center p/u

US Made, very good quality. Finish is good, birdseye neck is pretty good but of all the G&L guitars I have seen none have drop dead figured wood. It is all pretty poor quality. Typical fender tele style. Bridge is much more advanced than old fender type, it is really flexible and better designed. Not sure about tuners, they seem OK. Neck is maple, body is swamp ash, I believe, its a good piece of wood. I actually have two of these guitars, one has a noticeable scar on the neck. It is the natural wood grain but it does stand out. Case is wood covered in black tolex. Comes with certificate of authenticity from G&L. Both bought new. Pickups are G&L field coil with 5 way switching. middle pickup is reverse wound. Switching is flexible, I have other tele guitars that just have the three way with 2 pickups. 3 pickups and 5 way are alot more flexible. Great for country twang, blues, rock and jazz. Neck pickup almost gets the Les Paul dark sound and is good for jazz. Pickups are still noisy in certain positions. I hoped these field coil PU's would be quieter but still noisy. Bridge is hard tail simple bridge.

It suits my style as I am all over the map. Jazz and country are both easily covered and with an OD pedal good for rock and blues. Pretty versatile. Use it with a Rivera EL34 powered amp, great Marshall and Fender sounds, works very well with a Trace Elliott Vellocette, Class A amp. Just hard to get away from the noise. Does the twang thing really well. Like it for fast neck, smaller than say an ES335.

Guitar was set up OK, but it was on the shelf in a store for quite a while so hard to say what had been done to it. The pickups sounded really great until I took it in to get set up. The tech lowered the pickups saying it was interfering with intonation. Still sounds good but I want to have the pickups raised again. The middle reverse wound pickup really benefitted from being closer to the strings. No problems with quality. I feel G&L are totally underated in the guitar world. I like the 4 screw neck better than the 3 it used to be. Only quibbles are that the guitar really suits gold hardware rather than the silver. Bridge is brass which stands out because all other hardware is chrome. Not sure why if this was a special edition and G&L's first, they didn't go all out. Pickup jack seems to be susceptible to being noisy. Still all hardware is good quality and works well. Just, as only 100 were made, G&L could have raised the bar and done it up a lot better. Finish is a 3 tone sunburst, very nicely done. G&L finishes tend to be very good. I have an ASAT as well that is see thru red, its great as well. Gave it an 8 because of the chrome hardware, but its hardly that important overall.

Had both guitars for about a year. Everything is A OK. No problems with finish etc. Great gigging guitar and great for home. Finish seems rock solid. Very beautful.

Not much dealing with G&L. Website doesn't get updated often, could have more details on its guitars but other than that no direct dealing or need to contact them.

I have plenty of gear, like this guitar, if stolen, I would not be able to replace cause only 100 were made. Its a great instrument and is am improvement of the ASAT which will become a classic. Wish more people new about this guitar and G&L as well. Try and pick one up if you can. Not many for sale that I have seen. Check out http://home.att.net/~gggjaguar/ac3.htm for pictures.