G&L ASAT Classic Custom

This was a new demo model that I purchased off of eBay. Silver finish over alder, rosewood fretbaord over hard rock maple neck, string through body. This model has two single coil pick-ups, a G&L ASAT classic bridge pick-up and a special soap bar in the neck position. This guitar uses standard Tele style controls with 3 way selctor, Vol knob, and Tone knob.

This is super simple guitar as far a features are concerned. It's designed to be a tool. I think of classic tele style guitars as the Ford Model T of electric guitars. Simple, to the point, and very functional. The only reason I give this guitar an 7 on features is because of the neck pick-up option opens up many additional tonal possibilities.

The bridge pick-up has bite, it's a really well done tele bridge pick-up. It'll stick an icepick through your ear with the tone knob to full open, muddy water's style, and yields a spectrum of twang, sparkle, and complex dark tones by rolling the tone knob down further.

The bridge pick-up is very warm, and blends perfectly with the bridge pick-up in the middle position. Pronounced sparkle coming from the bridge and blending with the fat tone of the neck. Alone it can go from dark uber jazz tones with clear bass response, to string poppin bluesy SRV tones.

It plays great on my modded Blues Jr, and Top Hat super deluxe. I play classic and indie rock styles of music. The clean sounds this guitar makes is simply awesome. Know however, that these are not high output pick-ups, so you'll have to use an OD or gain channel to be cap'n crunch on this guitar.

Action fit and finish is very good. This is a professional tool, and everything about the fit and finish says so.

The electronic components are excellent and well shielded as to avoid unwanted noise. This sucker is about as heavy as a dump truck, and should last as long with little care. This is a quality instrument meant to deliver a lifetime of tone.

We'll see, this is my first G&L, I assume I will have no problems with it, but I'll report back if need be.

Overall I am very satisfied with my purchase, I needed a partner for my Guild Starfire (great hollowbody!)and did my homework before getting the Classic Custom.

Beyond that, I've learned that most of what is perceived as tone really comes from your fingers, and your personal style.
You could spend thousands on re-issues, and the latest and the greatest cool sounding guitar stuff. For me, I want something that doesn't cost as much as a house payment, and delivers professional sound options for me to create with. This is an endorsement and testament to the the quality of instruments that G&L is producing. You can't go wrong for the price!

For me, the sustain, acoustic like openness and shimmer produced by my ASAT, as well as a large variation of great tones available from the pick-ups and electronics on this model always puts a smile on my face.

I'll be holding on to this one for a long time.

US made ~2003, alder 3TS body w/wood binding & tortoise PG. Maple neck, rosewood FB, 7.25" radius. Typical Tele controls w/volume, tone and 3-position switch. The tone & volume are fantastic, as they really yeild clear, useable tones throughout the throw of the pot.

The bridge pickup is the passive MFD, just as used in the conventional ASAT Classics. The neck pickup is a slightly overwound soapbar, not the same as used in the ASAT Special, but the same as the 20th anniversary ASAT. This from www.guitarsbyleo.com:

"The 20th Anniversary Model pickups are overwound. The ASAT Classic Custom and ASAT Classic Custom Semi-hollow neck pickup pole piece bushings are longer than the standard ASAT Special pickup. An extra 200 windings were added, but they stack up entirely differently and the magnet is further down under as well. They are warm and fat but still have tonal characteristics of the standard MFD single coil."

I rate this category an 8, but who's looking for features in a Tele-style guitar? Isn't the whole idea of a Tele the sheer, barbaric simplicity?

I play primarily blues & rock, and this axe has no difficulty pleasing. Typically I play ASAT > Fulldrive 2 > Fuzz Face > Blues Jr w/mods. The single-coil p'ups can produce some hum, but it's only noticeable when you're not playing, so just keep playing!

The bridge pickup is your typical ASAT bridge unit: spanky, growly, plenty of bark, kind of in your face. Great clarity. Sounds like it's pissed off at you. I prefer these even to the Harmonic Designs Super 90s I put in most of my Teles.

The neck pickup is just magnificent. Incredible sparkle and definition. Beautiful clarity. Rich, articulate, soulful. I'd love to get my hands on a 20th anniversary model that's loaded with two of these.

The middle position is where this thing really shows its character. Incredible dimension, clarity, glassiness, depth. Sounds so deep you might fall into it. Reminds me of the #2 position on a Strat, but on steroids.

Love it love it love it love it.

Setup was done by the local guitar shop where I bought it, so I can't speak to G&L's setup.

G&L did a very nice job finishing this guitar. It's nearly perfect, but not entirely. The finish is outstanding and the wood binding is really clean. However, there were two minor issues with the finish: 1, it has a very tiny pit in the finish on the side of the axe. You really have to hold it in the right light to even see it. And 2, There's a tiny score mark in the fingerboard right next to the nut that also needs to be held in the right light to see. Other than those two minor issues, the axe is perfect.

This guitar will survive the Pockyclipse, and probably reproduce to make more ASATS. No worries.

Been playing about 20 years and I've had this guitar one year now. I've owned tons of Strats, Teles, LPs, ES models, Ibanez, Martin, etc. Some of these Fenders and Gibsons have been early, mid and late '60s models. I've had custom fret work done on 'em and installed numerous boutique pickups. And in spite of that effort, I've never had a Gibson or Fender that was half the guitar this ASAT was right off the shelf. Without a doubt this is the best playing & sounding guitar I've ever owned and it spanks the crap out of every other Tele I've had. I'd be surprised if I ever bought a Fender again.