G&L ASAT Classic Tribute Series

I have the Premium model, Korean made, it's a 1 piece swamp ash body, maple neck and maple fingerboard, string thru bridge with brass saddles. Nice satin finish on the neck, the pickups are single coils that sound great. Nice finish on teh body thick but no flaws anywhere. Tuners are a shcaller style and they're smooth and reliable. The gig bag it came with is awesome.

It has a great rich sound. Really full, much fuller than a Fender. I teach lessons and play with a lot of different groups doing all kinds of music and I find myself taking this guitar everywhere. I play through a Mesa Maverick 2x12 combo for the most part and this guitar sings! I've played it through a Matchless Clubman 35 and my Marshall JCM800 and the guitar sounds great through all of them, however the guitar is better suited to the Mesa/Matchless style amp. It grits up real nice and covers a really wide range of tones.

I'm giving this guitar a seven here becuase of the continued problems I've had with the Input jack. It will not stay put, but I'll get to that later. Otherwise this guitar is perfect, that's the only thing wrong with it. The finish and all the other controls are perfect.It has played like a dream from day one. Mine came with 10's and thats all it ever had. No problems here.

Ok so it is built like a tank EXCEPT for the input jack. Mine has been loose since three days after I brought it home. I've had the guitar about a year now and gig and teach with it all the time. It gets played several hours a day 6 days a week. It has been bullet proof except for the input jack. It will not stay tight. It's a real problem, because it has fallen right out of the guitar several times and pulled apart the connection so I've had to re-solder it several times. It's happened mid lesson and at a gig. I was pissed. But I've got it tighened up real good and it hasn't come loose in three weeks, which is a record for this guitar.

Haven't dealt with them. The jack problem didn't warant a trip back to the dealer.

I have had this guitar for a year. I've been playing for 14 years and own a G&L Custom Creations ASAT, a 96 Gibson Les Paul, a '71 Gibson SG and a few other toys. I was looking for a Mexican tele as a beater guitar to teach lessons on and when I walked into my regular music shop I saw this and had to have it. The instrument has a soul and feels fantastic. It feels like home. The fretwork and overall construction (jack aside) kills any Fender I've ever played except of my friend's real '59 Strat. I bought it to beat on and it ended up being my main guitar for most gigs. The output is just right for a Les Paul guy like myself looking for a little more sonic teritory. Everywhere I gig people come up to me and ask me about it and compliment my tone. I can't say enough good things about it. I like it better than the american G&L ASAT's (Sorry califiornia G&L guys) If it were stilen I would buy another and I'm thinking of buying another one just because.

2004 Premium model with the amber finish. I got it a month old from a guy who didn't like it. Another reviewer wrote about 2-3 piece bodies, but mine is obviously a single piece of swamp ash. Maple neck with rosewood board, pearl pickguard and the MFD pickups.

I'm traditionally a Gibson man but about 5 years ago Teles suddenly started making sense to me. I bought this guitar because I had an extra set of amazing pickups laying around that I'd intended to use in the Tribute. Much to my surprise the stock pickups are AMAZING. Just like another reviewer noted here, Tele sound on steroids. Not more twang and bite but a slightly wider frequency spectrum that just gives the sound more balls. They're hot but still well defined. The body resonates nicely even though the finish is quite thick. I think the neck has a double truss rod and it has that hollow resonance on the low strings.
All in all it's a sound in the Tele neighborhood, but more. Swapping the pickups would probably make it more Fenderish.
I love the sound. It's great plugged into anything I have, direct to mic pre, ToneLab, Rivera TBR-1, Pignose. All great.

As far as the build quality everything except electronics is excellent. The poly finish on the body is thick and glossy, but very pretty. The satin finish on the neck feels thin and smooth. The bridge is very nice, solid steel with brass barrels, except the intonation screws are too long for the low E string which buzzes against it. Fixed with a shorter screw.
One thing I'm surprised no one has mentioned here is that this is not a Tele neck. The only other G&L guitars I've played were older and they al had very Fender-like necks. This is a "low action" neck, thin at the nut, similar to Ibanez necks I've played. If you like low fast action with 9s or 10s, this guitar is built for you. The nut and frets are perfect for low action. For me the irony is that I'll be changing the neck and not the pickups! I want a fat neck with high action.
Probably the most important build issue on a bolt neck guitar is the stability of the neck/body join. No problem there, solid as a rock, almost like a set neck.
The tuners are Shaller clones, they work well but real Shallers are heavier and add to the tone.
The only problem with mine is the pots and switches. They must be changed, so you may as well redo the entire electronics and add better quallity wiring as well.
If this were a $1,400 guitar, this category would get 7 or 8. For $450 with a top quality gig bag, it's a solid 9.

Except for the electronics this is a good quality guitar. Solid build, pretty good parts, assembled by someone who cared to do a good job. It should last a lifetime, but for me the low frets would be gone in a year or so.
My pots were scratchy and when I sprayed them out they got worse.

Well, according to the seller, the warranty is not transferable. I don't really consider customer support from the manufacturer when buying a new guitar. They either built it right and I buy it, or they didn't and I dont. I don't mind replacing the pots on a $450 guitar. As long as the frets don't fall out, you're getting what you paid for.

Playing 30 something years. Gibsons, Fenders. Now starting an Asian guitar collection. Where were these Epiphone Les Pauls when I was a kid?
I highly reccomend this guitar to anyone who likes the low and fast action, thin neck. I think it's even a good buy if like me, you intend to do some work on it. Once I change the neck and wiring, this is going to be a beauty. If you knock off $50 for the case, you're talking about $400. For another $300 I'll put into it, I'll have a $1400 guitar that cost me $700. That's good value.

This guitar is a 2004 model ASAT Classic Premium Tribute. Swamp ash body, beautiful deep looking clear finish. Standard 3 position toggle pickup selector. Volume and single tone knob. Pickups are the magnetic field single coil (standard Tele size). Neck and fingerboard is a smooth, fast maple - 9" radius.

I have been playing the guitar since 1965. I'm not a great guitarist, but I do know when I play and hear a fine instrument. I currently own a PRS McCarty, Fender Strat w/Lace Sensors, a Nashville Tele, 2 Taylor acoustics, and an Epi Riviera w/Gibson Classic 57's. Amps are a vintage '65 Fender Deluxe Reverb, Fender Acoustonic and a Line 6 Spider II (junk).

I visited a local guitar shop and played a G&L ASAT, loved it, but didn't want to flop down $1,000+ to get it. I read reviews on the Tribute series so I decided to give one a try. I orderd one from Bobby at Oklahoma Vintage Guitars in Oklahoma City. In no time, I had it. When I plugged it into the Fender DR I was blown away!! Warm, thick, clear tone in every position. Treble strings don't jump out at you, rather they blend in nicely. Came with 9's. I normally use 10's but I'm gonna keep 9's on it. It plays and sounds too damned good to change. In comparison, the Fender sounds thin and weak next to the Tribute. I'm gonna sell both Fenders and get another Tribute, a hollow body!

Set was perfect when it arrived. Not sure whether it was a factory setup or whether Bobby set it up. Fit and finish is excellent. Pickups are perfectly balanced with no string louder than than another.

Seems to be built like a tank. Maybe slightly heavier than the Fender. Finish seems to be thick, no runs or blemishes. Looks like it will last many years, certainly longer than I will.

Like I said earlier, I think I know a quality guitar when I see one. This is a lot of guitar, both in sound and feel, for the money. If stolen or lost I'd definately get another one. In fact, I'm getting a hollow-body ASAT Tribute next.

2004 Korean made ASAT classic with swamp ash body and clear gloss finish. Two USA single coil MFD ceramic pickups;normal tele style volume/tone/switch setup; brass bridge saddles; medium size frets; back of neck has a thin, satin finish; non locking tuners; comes with a G&L gig bag.

The MFD pickups are fairly high output and have a great clear sound to them, controls are quiet although the tone has a slight noise at the end of the pot travel. Sound can go from bright twangy at the bridge to mellow jazz style at the neck with tone rolled off.

Guitar came with 009-042 which were a bit thin so I swapped to 010-046. Setup was a little high but a quick tweak at the bridge and fairly lo action was achieved without any fret buzz. Overall finish was close to perfect although the body polyurethane is thick but not annoying. Neck fish is super thin and feels great. Neck joint is tight and fret work was smooth. The only complaint was neck pickup was low and was easily adjusted when I changed strings and pulled the pick guard off (neck pickup is bolted to the body not pick guard)

Guitar looks and feels very solid. Comes with decent strap buttons and gig bag is pretty sturdy.

Haven't dealt with company yet. Bought thru internet from Matts Music Center, great price, quick shipping, and no S/H fee.

I was looking for a tele style guitar and it came down to this or the Fender Lite Ash. For the money this won hands down and sounded better than the Fender. A nicely put together guitar with normal tele features well executed. Excellent value.

Made in 2004, 22 Frets, Basswood body with maple neck and maple fingerboard. 3-tone Sunburst with brown Tortoise Shell pickguard.
Comes with standard "Tele configuration. It came with neck and bridge pickups both are G&L Magnetic Field design. Bridge style, is
6-barrel (brass). Tuner are Korean made (seem descent). Neck radius is 9" (228.6mm). Generally these guitars come with gig bag, but I got a descent hard shell case thrown in on the deal.

The Magnetic Field Pickups sound fantastic!The bridge pickups is a little on the "bright side", but I am very pleased with all aspects of sound on this guitar, with the exception of the cheap electronics that come with this guitar. I know it is a low end for G&L, but I feel they should put better quality electronic in this guitar just for the sake of their name. Overall this guitar plays fantastic, after I replaced all electronics on the guitar it sounds awesome.

I never played the guitar before it was setup locally, so I cannot answer how it was setup from factory. But the workmanship on this guitar is outstanding. The finish is fantastic without any flaw that is worth mention. I rate this category high

I feel this guitar is built on the same lines as the original "tele",
but better. Simple construction, yet put together well. I feel it will withstand years of use. Electronics need to be replaced first.

No dealings!

I own a Brian Moore i-8 (great guitar), Greg Bennet (strat copy), and a Yamaha FG75 acoustic. If it were lost or stolen, I would buy again.
I love the fact that I have a great sound "tele" for minimum dollars.
The first thing that needs to happen to make this a great guitar, is to replace the "mickey mouse" 3-way switch with a CRL 3-way switch. The next step is to replace tone/volume potentiometers with good CTS pots that do not make scratchy noises when you turn them. And I gave this guitar a good copper shielding job, to reduce hum, due to the fact that neck pickup is a uncovered style. After modifications, this guitar sound and looks like a champ. I feel it is a great value for the dollars spent.

Korean made, poplar body mapple neck with rosewood fingerboard. G&L pickups, standart poor korean hardware.

I wanted a twangy sound I got it ( compare the bridge pickup sound with the sound of an american standart bridge pickup and you'll know what I mean)

As good as a korean guitar (the set up was correct) not more

The construction is well made except for the switch, it looks more like a toy ... need to be replace, like potentiommeters. For the rest it's very correct, I think this guitar will be here in 10 yeras...

.............

I'm playing for 30 years, I've owned a lot of guitars and 3 american standart tellies, I'm very lucky I own 4 Heritage guitares and fantastic Vigier (french made) stratocaster a japanese GB 10 and a Francois Guidon (french well know luthier) d'Aquisto type guitar... Playing jazz and blues, I wanted a telecaster sound and I never got It except on expensives tellies, now I have one. Try it. You can play all kind of music from country to jazz with a minimum of money a take the guitar with you without need to be afraid for your investment...
I'm certainly buying a semi hollow one ...
I think this year I'll bought a real Asat classic (it must be a fantastic telecaster)

I think it was made in 2003. Made in Korea. 22 Jumbo Frets. Swamp ash body with Honey premium finish. Has the traditional tele style knobs, one volume and one tone, and a three-way top hat toggle. Has two traditional G&L single coil magnetic field passive pickups, with a smaller one in the neck. The neck is maple with a rosewood fingerboard. Tele style body, (real heavy ash and thick too). It's a traditional tele hardtail with G&L six-saddle boxed bridge. The tuners are Schaller-style non-locking, (I think they're Korean made). No case included. All in all it's a solid tele design with rosewood fingerboard and magnetic field pickups.

I have always been a humbucker type of player, but was always curious about a telecaster. When I first tried it out, I plugged it in to a Peavey Classic 50 2-12, no effects. Very quiet operation when you stand at least six feet away (they are single coil pickups afterall). The tone is sweet and has three distinct tones between, bridge, neck, and middle. The bridge pickup has a traditional tele twang but with the magnetic field pickups, it is supercharged. Switch to the middle position and the sound broadens and brightens. The bridge is surprisingly warm for a single coil, almost humbucker like. The tone is very precise with the least adjustment creating a remarkable difference. The volume is very smooth and you don't lose tone, just, volume, when you roll back the volume. The only quirk is the volume knob is really close to the pickup toggle and it's easy to accidently roll back the volume when toggling between pickups. I tried out several Fender teles before this and the magnetic field pickups are far better. I also tried an ASAT special and found I didn't much care for the big rectangle pickups in it. Found them to be too thin and too weak compared to the traditional sized G&L ASAT ones. I absolutely love the sound of this guitar. With a switch from the clean channel to the distortion channel, this guitar warms up with attitude. Almost sound like humbuckers when ranging on power chords but when strings are muted with my plectrum palm or picked individually the tele bells ring true.

Guitar was setup perfectly. Really. Came with 9-42 GHS Boomers I think. Pickups were adjusted nicely. Place where I bought it said bring it back within a year and they'll tweek it to my satisfaction. The strings look a bit uncomfortable in the saddle, almost too close to the individual height adjustment screws and maybe too close to the intonation springs, and the nut is plastic. Despite the looks, it stays in tune nicely. Had a little static in the tone knob but a little googly spray fixed that in a jiffy. I'll give it a 7 only because of the awkward look of the bridge which I said has no bearing on the sound or tuning.

Haven't played live with it yet and can't really comment.

Not yet.

Been playing 25 years. Own another G&L, Leagcy Special. If this guitar were stolen, I would definitely look for another one that suits me as well. I looked at Fender Teles, American, Japan, and Mexican. Americans were way over-priced and didn't like the feel of the ones I tried, Japs were okay, and the Mexicans were not bad. Overall though this Tribute was $200 cheaper than the Fender Mexican Tele and sounded much hotter. The Tribute ASAT Classic also "felt" better to play and was $1000 cheaper than the G&L USA model.(sorry folks I know you handcraft the USA models and pour your soul into them. But I have to be truthful.) This guitar is very heavy for a tele design but I think that's what gives it the tone. Played a Tribute ASAT Special made of basswood...lighter but thinner and weaker sounding. This guitar suits me to a capital T. Believe it or not, I had the cash in pocket to buy the American Deluxe Fender Tele, or the G&L ASAT Classic USA models I tried out. Bought the Tribute ASAT Classic, saved myself a $1000 bucks and feel I got a better playing, hotter sounding, quality instrument.

2003 Korean made premium swamp ash Tele style body with natural finish and tortise shell pickguard. 22 medium jumbo fret maple neck and fingerboard with very light satin finish, 25.5 inch scale, 9 inch radius (which is why I chose the Tribute over the USA ASAT) and very smooth 18:1 sealed tuners. 2 USA made G&L MFD pickups, 3 position selector switch on standard Tele style control panel with 1 volume and 1 tone pot. 6 saddle Tele style ashtray bridge w/ string thru body.
Looks and feels pretty much just like a Tele, but I like the neck profile much better than any of the Teles or the USA ASATs that I have come across. The neck and fingerboard are not a single piece of wood, but the glued on maple fingerboard is well matched and feels terrific.
G&L ships the guitar with a very high quality gig bag, but Apple Music Row did not include it or any other accessories in the sale price. I already had a gig bag on hand so I didn't pay the extra $40 for it, though it would certainly be worth it. I think it's one of the nicest gig bags I've seen.

This is a very simple guitar (thus the low rating here), but certainly not a low quality instrument.

I play Classic Rock, Blues, a little Country/Folk and just getting into some Surf. The Tribute does it all very well. It doesn't sound just like a Tele, but that's not what I was looking for anyway. The MFDs have a sound all their own, which is pretty full. They took a bit of getting used to at first, but now that I'm accustomed to them, I really love what they can do. They respond very well to subtle changes in the volume and tone controls, and can produce a variety of tones from a sweet clean chime with the volume rolled back, to a gritty roar when run wide open. The bridge pickup alone can be a bit bright without the tone backed off a bit. The middle setting and the neck pickup alone are both gorgeous. There's a great jazz tone in there too. The pickups have the usual 60hz hum, though not as bad as most singel coils.
I play it through a Vox Pathfinder, sometimes plugged in directly, and sometimes through a Boss ME-X for reverb and/or effects. I also play it through a Seymour Duncan Converitble 100 and always plug straight into that. It sounds great through either amp, especially the Duncan, but that's just way too loud for apartment jamming, so the Vox is the main rig.
I've had this guitar for a few months now and it's been my main axe since I got it. Tonally, I have found nothing about it to dislike.

I am amazed at how much guitar G&L is able to offer for the price. The build quality on the Tribute is exceptional. The neck pocket is so snug there is no gap anywhere around it and the action, intonation and nut are all spot on.
The body is made from multiple pieces of solid wood, but they're so well matched I can't tell for sure if it's 2 or 3 pieces. The wood is very good looking too. I definitely reccommend opting for the Premium model to get the Swamp ash.
The frets are well finished, but could stand just a bit more shaping on the crowns. Even so the fret job is superior to many guitars costing 4 or 5 times as much.
Pretty much all new guitars will benefit from a professional setup and this one is no different, though I feel that it's certainly good enough as is.

All of the hardware is of good quality, as are the pickups. The electronics are adequate, but would probably be the first place to start for anyone looking to upgrade this guitar.
The clear poly finish is VERY thick, to the point where I think it's keeping the guitar from resonating as well as it could, but it's very well applied and should hold up for years of playing.
The entire guitar is solid as a rock and stays in tune remarkably well.
It will definitely survive giging and would probably be less risky than many other guitars to use without a backup, though in my opinion, that's asking for trouble.

This is not for G&L (since I have never dealt with them) but for Apple Music Row or more correctly their service department, Hot Rod Guitars. My Tribute had scratchy volume and tone pots that would not clean up. Instead of making me return the instrument to G&L for repair they replaced the pots with CTS parts at their expense. Since they are an authorized G&L dealer I will give G&L credit for chosing a quality retailer to represent them.

This is a terrific value in an electric guitar. G&Ls don't have strong resale values anyway, and I suspect the import versions will be worse, but for a working musician this is a lot of guitar for the money. It's not the end all be all of axes, but I will give it a 10 overall for doing a great job at what it does, for a very reasonable price.

I have been playing almost 30 years. I have owned and sold a lot of guitars through those years. Now I have a DeArmond T400 and an M75T, a 92 G&L Legacy, a 67 Martin D35, a 97 Taylor 410 and a 79 Yamaha FG512. Along with the amps mentioned above I have a Music Man HD130, a Pignose Hog 20 and a Berhinger Vintager 110.
I have loved Tele style guitars for a long time, but was never crazy about the 7.25 inch neck radius. I love the USA G&Ls and looked at the ASAT Classic, but the ones I played had the same neck shape as a Tele. When I heard about the Tribute ASAT Classic, which for some reason has a 9 inch neck radius, I decided to check it out. I'm sure glad I did. For me it has everything I was looking for in a Tele style guitar. I did a lot of research before I bought it, and having already owned a G&L product for over 10 years, I pretty well knew what I was getting into by purchase time. I definitely have no regrets.
I really love it's simplicity, looks and straight-forward design, as well as the versitility in tones the pickups are capable of. There's nothing about it that I hate, and the only complaints that I can come up with is that the finish is maybe a bit too thick and maybe it wieghs a bit much.
If it were stolen (I can't imagine just losing a guitar. "Now where did I put that ASAT Classic?")I would probably replace it with another one just like it or maybe get a Premium in the amber finish instead.

I would like to add that I am very impressed with many of the electric guitars coming out of Korea these days. Their workmanship is excellent and when they use good qaulity electronics (like USA made pickups) and get a final quality inspection and setup upon reaching our shores, the end result is a very respectable (and playable)instrument at a very reasonable price. Some people will not be satisfied unless their guitar is seen on TV or is completely US made, and for them these gems simply won't do, but for the rest of us it's a great time to be a guitar player.

I don't know when this guitar was made - I bought it used and it obviously had its fair share of being thrown around, so I'm guessing a couple years ago... 2000 maybe? It's a 22 fret maple neck and swamp ash body. It looks just like a tele, with the same tone/volume controls and pickup selector. It's made in Japan with mainly US parts, but that doesn't bother me - one can tell that this was a masterfully built guitar just by picking it up.

My main amp is in the shop right now, so I haven't been able to play it throught that yet, but this guitar makes my little piece of crap amp that i was practically paid to buy sound... good. And when I took it over to my buddy's place, home to a Fender Twin Reverb, I was absolutely amazed by the sound. The single coils really sound like a slice of heaven with its brightness and its...warmness. It's oh-so-warm, I'll feel like the spring is here when im playing this with a pignose outside in the snow.

The action is really low - there was a tiny bit of buzzing but that was easily taken care of by rasing the action juuuust a bit. Again, this guitar was used so I doubt that the guitar buzzed when it was first purchased. The finish on my guitar has a few little knicks and buckle scratches, but I couldn't really care less.

The best thing about this guitar though is the neck. I LOVE this neck. My friends that have also played this guitar love this neck. This is one easily-playable guitar.

I haven't gigged with it yet, but I sure am excited to. This is a solid guitar - If the situation ever calls for it, I would put my life into this guitar's hands... probably.

I have no idea - but people in Japan are nice, generally speaking.

I've only been playing for five years or so, but that's long enough for me to have played all sorts of guitars, and this is definitely among the best I have played. Yeah yeah, I might be just another little amateur kid trying to feel good about his guitar... but I was going to buy a Fender Telecaster custom (made in the US) before I came across this ASAT, and I have no regrets with the decision I made. If this thing was stolen, I'd first hunt down the family of whoever stole it, steal their money, and then go buy another asat.

Think of it this way - Leo sold Fender to CBS way back in the late 60s or early 70s or sometime like that. and in the 80s, he started G&L. The question I'd like to ask people that own a Fenders is, "you think Leo didn't have any bright ideas after he sold Fender? Think he doesn't know much about building guitars?"

Thanks Leo.

Recent model (2002/2003), Made in Japan. 22 medium jumbo frets, immaculately set and crowned. The fret work and finishing on this particular model is flawless - better than many CS Fenders I've tried. 3-piece solid swamp ash body, finished in natural gloss - the grain is highly figured and lustrous. The joins are near invisible except from side on - even from very close up, it looks like a one-piece body from the back and front. Standard Telecaster style controls and layout - simple and effective. Rosewood fretboard appears to have mother of pearl dot inlays too (although they may be fake, they look like the real thing). Teles are simple guitars, but I'll rate it highly just because they're so versatile.

I play blues, funk and jazz, mostly through a Cornell Rambler (hand wired 15W Class-A 1x12 combo) or a '76 Fender Vibrosonic Reverb. This guitar sounds great! I've owned and played a few teles in my time and this one is right up there with the best of them. Well-balanced pickups, perhaps a little smoother than vintage-style teles, but for me this is a plus. Both pickups combined gives a great snappy tone for rhythm. Single coil pups are slightly noisy, but comparatively good.

This is where this guitar took the biscuit for me. The craftsmanship on this instrument is superb. Take a bow, G&L Japan. This is one of the most playable and flawless instruments I have ever played. Immaculate finish, beautiful set up from in the shop, gorgeous timber, stunning finish and fretwork to rival the best custom shops. The Gotoh tuners are great - I have these on another tele of mine and they're very stable. A well deserved 10/10 from me.

Built like a tele. 'Nuff said. Good wide strap buttons too!

Don't know, and I doubt need to find out anytime soon. 2 year warranty apparently.

To sum up: simply unbelievable quality for this price. I was initially shopping for a Fender Custom Shop Tele, and had compared several. I tried this one out of curiosity and because of the nice timber grain. After being smitten by its playability and high quality sounds, I was shocked when the guy in the store told me the price. This has got to be the best value guitar I've ever seen. I highly recommend trying one of these if you're looking for a tele. Well done G&L Japan!