G&L ASAT Classic Tribute Series

The ASAT Classic is basically a Tele, so you can't rave about the features. It is a basic guitar, but what it has is very nice indeed! There is not a feature of this guitar that is not excellent!

Mine is a natural finish ash body with a maple neck and tortise shell pickguard.

I play mostly rockabilly and early rock and roll, and this guitar covers all the ground a Tele would - and the Tele was a mainstay of this kind of music. I have a Fender Classic 50's Tele with original vintage pickups, and I have to admit, the pickups on my ASAT are hotter. The Tele pickups are "smoother", while these are "hotter". It took a little bit to get used to the difference, but now, all is well.

I think the ASAT is really a country guitar - it loves to twang.

The guitar was very nice out of the box - the only thing I had to change was the string height. Easy enough to do.

It has taken a little while to get used to the satin finsh neck (my other guitars are all gloss finish), but that would be my only issue - not a very big one at that.

Overall, the fit and finish are superior to my 50's Tele (sorry, Fender).

I don't see any issues with this guitar - every thing seems well made and rock solid.

I have not had any issues, so I really can't comment on way or the other.

I bought this by throwing out a rediculously low bid on an ebay action where a music store was getting rid of some old stock. Picked it up new and shipped for $400.00. I feel like I stole it!

The only thing I don't love about this guitar is the tortise shell pickguard - never have liked 'em. A replacement is not as easily available as a Tele pickguard would be, so that is a minor issue.

All and all, I am very happy. The best part - when my wife heard I bought a new guitar, well... You can imagine the reaction. When I pulled my ASAT out of the box, she gasped, "It's beautiful!"

Sadly, it has not made me play like Brian Setzer or James Burton, but I am keeping my fingers crossed!

I would have to recommend the ASAT over a comparable Tele - the build quality is just superior.

For any reader who's so inclined, I apologize up front because i'm not going to provide alot of technical "detail" about my ASAT Tribute Classic....mainly because i DON'T KNOW. I've wanted to add a Tele-style guitar to my lineup, and when i happened across a good deal on eBay recently, i got into a last-minute "1-click" bidding war for a nice model, and won.

You can read about features, tech details, etc., in other places. I just wanted to share my personal experience briefly.

Overall, the materials & build quality are pretty darn good for a guitar that only sells for $600-$700 or so when new. This guitar is DEFINITELY a better deal than the US-made (non-Tribute) "Classic" ... i'm sorry, but i just feel this way. Paying 3-times MORE for a guitar that has the same materials and electronics as the Asian-made Tributes is just not cost-effective. It's obvious to me that they purposely hold off on some of the "refinements" to the guitar - such as smoothing-out the fret edges - on the Tributes, so that they can justify the higher-cost of the US-made Classic. Call me a cynic, but it's true .... the Asian-made Tributes are fine instruments, and are totally playable and sound great, and a much-lower price point. Having said this, i did have to perform some filing maintenance on the frets to smooth out the neck .... but at the price, a 10/15-minute task is a good compromise.

The main thing about this ASAT (my first G&L guitar) is that the single coils in this baby are HOT. Actually, took me a while to get into the groove with this guitar. The middle-pup toggle position is my favorite here .... really beautiful harmonics; gets that nice "chime" sound that works well for rhythm and lead lines. The Neck position is actually pretty nice as well....bluesy, jazzy; roll off the tone knob a bit and you get a nice, rounded jazz tone, something i didn't expect on a style-style guitar. I don't take to straight bridge pup playing on ANY guitar, so i have no useful comment about that. Otherwise, i'd say this ASAT Tribute is an excellent choice for a Tele lover.

Action is good and easily set, with no hint of fret buzz. Finish is excellent. Intonation is perfect. I mentioned the rough fret edges above, which was easily solved in 10 minutes with a small file. Neck is a bit 'fatter' than a true thinline, but feels good.

Build quality is excellent; electronics are fine, toggle and pots smooth & firm. The strap hooks are on the small side, so you may have a problem here, without strap locks.

No opinion.

Said it all in the other sections. I finally have a G&L, and i'm glad i picked a Tribute, 'coz i've got better things to do with the extra $'s than pump them into G&L's profit margin on the US version.

2008 Indonesia model, 22 frets, single coil pickups, ash body ,glossy finish, maple neck, tele style, string through body, C shaped neck, jumbo frets, thick gig bag included.

Sounds like a tele should. Strong pickups. Very bright and full. Not noisy as far as electronics. Goes from rock a billy to rock easily. Can cover all styles. A versatile guitar. Sounds better than any tele I've heard.

Here's the interesting part. Action was WAY TOO HIGH. Lowered it quite a bit to get it playable. Although neck was set properly. It came with 10 gauge strings but I put 9's on it due to my preference(small hands). After that, all is well. Pick ups adjusted properly from the factory and glossy finish is beautiful.

Seems very rugged. A solid built guitar. Better to have a backup for gigging but I don't think you'll need it.

This is where G&L shines. The dealer I bought it from was an e-bay guitar store in MA. Once I handed over the money, they didn't want to respond as far as warranty issues or problems(typical). Luckily, I contacted the repairman by e-mail at g&l named Chris who stepped up and told me they would take care of any problems. He gave me the proper set up measurements which took care of that problem and still offered to go over the guitar if I still wanted to send it in. They stand behind their product.

I've been playing for over 25 years and this is the most enjoyable tele I've had. It's like a highway one with the jumbo frets but has a unique sound. This is a keeper and for the money, you can't go wrong. Even if you have to have a set up done on it, once it's done you will be very pleased.

sunburst, rosewood 22frets fingerboard
body and bridge tele-style
made in korea
volume and tone knob, 3 way switch
S/S

It's a tone machine. Changing de switch and rolling the tone knob makes all the difference. Lots of sustain. The pickups are _powerful_! Can get clean and bright sound and very good distortions as well (not Sepultura-like distortions, but that is a good thing).

The fingerboard and frets are smoooooth! The action is low as I like it, but I don't know if it was G&L or the guy from the store to set it up. Pickups sound very well adjusted too. The knobs and switch are noiseless, the tunners are solid... avereything seems made with perfection in mind. The woods are awsome, all the details.. nothing to point out really.

I think it would survive being hit by a truck. This thing is solid. However, strings can break so I'd use a backup on stage (if I had one)!

2 years.. but never had to deal with them.

I've been playing eletric guitar for 7 years. I always played with cheap junk guitars.. I regreat I didn't buy a better guitar before. I bought this one without testing it (hey, i toke the chance!) because i wasn't satisfied with the sound and finnish of other low price Teles (like mexicans, highways ones, etc). I am very satisfied with it and recommend it to anyone wanting a pro guitar without the money to spend on an American made one.

Tele style. I'll have to say the pickups sounded pretty good only thing about this guitar that was made in the US. I think this one was made in China or Korea. Some of these foreign guitars aren't that bad but you have to be careful. The good Japanese guitars are the best.

The guitar was bought from Bobby at Oklahoma Vintage Guitars. This is one of the worst guitars I have ever played. Not just a few but every fret on the guitar would cause your fingers to bleed if you played it long enough. The action was set so high it felt like you were playing a guitar from Wal-Mart. I tried lowering the action just a little bit which caused the strings to buzz immediately and the truss rod was adjusted correctly. Before this guitar I ordered another guitar from this company and the wrong neck was put on it. Most hateful people I have ever dealt with. Charged me with restocking fees and any charge they could come up with.

Like I said you would have had to file the ends on every fret to get them smoothed out and I've never seen a guitar with the strings set so high that you couldn't lower the action just a little bit without causing the strings to buzz. No kidding I turned the allen screws out about a half of turn to lower them which isn't very much and the damn strings started buzzing. This is a guitar your paying $428 bucks for.

I don't know when I called to get an RA# to send it back the salesman said in a hateful voice just send it back and then slammed the phone down. Here I am I have done business with about every music company that you can name and have never been treated in a manner like this. In his e-mail he had the nerve to say his company would not do business with me again. After paying this company $55.00 dollars for a piece of shit guitar that I played for about 30 minutes.

Do not ever deal with this company. I was charged $13 dollars for an order I cancelled before the guitar was ever shipped. I was also charged another $13.00 dollars for something I don't even know about and charged for their $29.00 shipping fee and then my expense from UPS to send the guitar back. And then he said he could have charged me a 25% restocking fee which is not stated anywhere in the discription about the guitar.

I have been playing guitar for about forty years. I have a couple of Epi Elitists a SG and a Les Paul these MIJ Elitists are better than Gibson in my opinion an 80's MIJ Strat with Rio Grande P/U's a 15 year old Squire Telecaster nice guitar and a 35 year old Dual Showman Reverb. So I've been around the music scene for a while I'm 53. And to repeat one more time out of all the music gear I have bought I have never been treated like I was at this Billy Bob's Oklahoma guitar. If you buy a guitar from that place and end up not liking it you can kiss a hundred bucks down the drain.

most of it has been covered. mine is a solid body, cherry sun burst. pickup config is Single Single. Made in Korea, not sure when probably 04. Its a bear bones guitar, volume, and tone knob, 3 way pickup selecter and a tel style through body bridge.

It suits all the styles I play which is country, blues, rock, hard rock, classic rock, progressive, punk, alternative, metal and grunge...throw in what ever else you want to in there and i play it. This guitar can easily do them all...although, its more focused towards nashville country style, blues/jazz and some classic rock. I am using a peavey bandit 1 12, and a fender hotrod deville 2 12. Stomp boxes include boss DD3, boss DS1, boss HM3, danelectro corus, some kind of wah and zoom 505...as well as the peavey's wide range of destortions and the fenders drive channel. Its noisy because its a single coil. I am going to do a complete copper shielding job on it eventually and probably a complete re-wire job with shielded cabling inside the body. Very rich full sound with the american made Pups...has a very nice twangy and somewhat bright telly sound on the bridge pickup and an unbelievably creamy and fat blues tone on the neck pickup...use of the tone knob will make it very jazzy and beautiful. Only dislikes are that the stock electronics IE volume knob and tone knob and pickup selecter are garbage...the volume knob was a dud from the factory and it has to be replaced....as i said, a complete rewire job is on the near horizon.

Other then tweaking the action a tiny bit to reduce fret buz, and setting up intonation there was basically nothing that had to be done. Its a given fact that almost any guitar has to be intonated and setup for each individual player. I did replace the 9's that it came with with 10's which probably accounting for the action and intonation setup after.

very dependable. The electronics are just enough to do the job, but i wouldn't want to depend on them for very long. Always bring a backup regardless of the price and quality of the guitar...if not because it will break, but simply for string breakage and time factors and so on. Finish is really great, looks like it will last a long time. Everything else is great.

never dealt with G and L. It has a one year parts and labour worantee.

I bought this telly because i am interested in learning nashville style country including finger picking and i needed that nice bright telly twang and snap to learn that style. The price was good for an upper end guitar and the pickups had me sold the minute i began to play. The Pups are the strongest quality of this axe. American made and very versitile. I would get another if it was stolen.

Made in Korea
22 Frets
Thinline, Semi-Hollow
Volume and Tone Knobs
2 Single coil pickups standard tele style
Maple neck, Ash body
It came with a gig bag, but I got a hard case for safety.

This thing is so versatile, you can go from country to pop to metal with this thing. I find the bridge pickup a little week but with the toggle switch in the middle or neck position it has fat tone. I played a lot of American Tele's and nothing compares to this G&L. Like I said this is a thinline and it blows away the 69 & 72 reissues that fender has. I like playing straight forward rock with a little gingle and jangle and this is my favorite guitar that I own. I play through a fender hot rod deluxe and it sounds exceptional.

The action was pretty high when I got it, so I had it lowered and some fret work done. It plays great now. The fit of the neck is great and it has a satin finish. The fit and the feel of the body is just like a tele. It being a thinline throws off the balance a little bit when using it standing up with a strap. When you let it set with no hands the head starts to dive a little. It threw me off a little in the beginning, but I got used to it.

I've played this thing live many times (that's why I got the hard case) and have not been worried about durability. I plan on having this guitar until the day I die.

N/A

I've been playing for 16 years, this is the 6th guitar I've owned and the best purchase of them all. I'd buy it again if I needed to, but instead of buying new I would buy it off of ebay, they are going for much cheaper. I love the tone the look and the feel of the neck, I can't think of a guitar that I would rather have.

Ok, I guess it's an 8, but I think this is a rather silly category as Tele-style guitars aren't exactly meant to be as complicated as the Space Shuttle. I bought the Tribute ASAT Classic Semi-Hollow that comes automatically with the Premium, Swamp Ash body and premium finish, with a maple fret board. The finish is beautiful. Blows Am. Stand. Tele's away. Made in Korea, yeah, KOREA, and you know what? I played several Am. Teles, including the Highway One series and some vintage Teles and this one is A) prettier by far b) comfortable as all get out- more comfortable than any Fender I played c) plays beautifully with it's 9" radius and I have BIG hands, and d) SOUNDS UNBELIEVABLE! Ok, I'll be critical. It's kind of ugly in some respects as the maple fretboard, black single coils, and sunburst finish look a bit odd. But the finish on the body is SO nice that it makes it easy to overlook it's weirdness. I wish it came with a humbucker like they're bluesboy model but what're you going to do? The tuners are fastastic, better than the Grovers I put on my DeArmond. The frets are jumbo but the radius and width make it perfect for my hands. The Fender 51 reissue DOES NOT allow you to do serious bluesy bends, and the 12" scale of the necks make them bulky. This neck is very fast. The gig-bag is lame. But you can get a case on Ebay cheap.

10. Period. Forget Fender, ok? Oh, yeah, your gear-head friends will laugh at you for not buying American but when they hear your new KOREAN guitar, their draws will drop to the floor and then you can run over and beat them in the head with your axe for being such a#$holes. If you want to drop $1200 for a Fender vintage reissue, be my guest. I'd still tell you to go get an Am. G&L or better yet, TWO Tributes. Why? Sound, baby! The pickups are incredible. Full of nuances and they are loud. Plus, with very minor movements of the tone knobs you can get a variety of tones from rock to blues to jazz and of course country. The highs are all sparkly, with all sorts of under and over tones. You can even get serious strat tones (think strat second/fourth position). Imagine a note is like a big firework going off, you hear the boom but then there are all these crackles. Or better yet, visualize the sound as a big firework going off. All that color represents the tones you get from this guitar. I mean it, this thing is a TONE MACHINE. Again, I played several Am. Teles including vintage Teles and bought this. I play it through a Carvin vintage 50 Tube Amp with basically just a Tube screamer. I play dirty Chicago blues and acid and blues rock from the 60s and 70s and this thing is just amazing (Exile-era Stones, MC-5, Pigpen-era Dead). It provides the tone I've been searching for my entire life. This guitar replaces my Starfire III semi-hollow. Look, if you have a gear-fetish, go overpay for a guitar with a coporate logo on it that simply won't sound as good as this guitar. But if, like me, you're into music to make MUSIC and not because you're a competive bonehead who has $3000 worth of gear but can't play lead and wouldn't know the mixolydian scale if it smacked them upside the head, go play a Tele, and then go play the Tribute ASAT. I know which one you'll like best. Look, it won't sound like a Les Paul. But it will sound more like a Tele than any Fender production Tele out there.

This guitar is assembled in Korea but set up at the G & L factory in CA and the set-up is so perfect I'm going to be able to use it at our next gig without having to get it set up by my local repair guy. It plays flawlessly and incredibly fluidly up and down the board. I play lead and the 9" neck is perfect. The intonation up and down the neck is perfect and the thing stays IN TUNE no matter how many full-step bends I rip on it. It's just incredibly comfortable and not heavy at all--of course, my last guitar was very heavy but still this guitar is solid without feeling bulky in the least. AND it feels rock-solid, like it was molded from a single piece of wood rather than screwed together. The frets on the top part of the neck seem to stick out JUST a tad, but it doesn't seem to bother me. The pickups are perfect and each string is as loud as the other with no variatons.

The finish is extremely high quality but I'll have to get back to you in a year or so on how well it stands up. I'd gig with it without a backup, yes. The finsih is thick and looks like it will take a beating plus it's beautiful. But I haven't beat the crap out of it yet so I'm not rating it.

No basis for opinion.

You cannot beat this guitar for value. But even better, you can't really beat this guitar for tone and playability unless you go well beyond the $1300 price point. I own a Taylor 410 acoustic and a DeArmond Guild Starfire III that I put DeMarzios in and I won't need to replace the G&L stock tuners--their tone is the reason I bought the G&L! Plug this baby direct into a tube amp and you simply won't believe how good it sounds. Tele blues, Tele funk, screamin' Tele rock (remember kids, Jimmy Page played a Tele on the solo in Hairway to Steven!) Don't take my word for it, GO TRY ONE OUT. And be sure they let you really give it a work out. There are extremely well-built guitars coming out of Korea. And G&L makes all the parts including the electronics so these are not really knock offs like say Epiphone or Squire. These are simply affordable guitars that are more Fender than Fender. Give up finding a used American Tele on Ebay and get a new or used Tribute. You'll pay less and get more guitar, more tone, than you will if you overpay for the little "Made in America" decal on the Fender. TONE TONE TONE, this guitar SCREAMS!

Korean
American electronics
semi-hollowbody in ash, three tone sunburst
hard rock maple neck with maple fingerboard, 22 frets
Typical Telecaster controls and layout (S/S)
came with very nice gig bag, bought a hardshell case anyway

The sound is simply incredible. I played hundreds of guitars and this one outshined them all. Fender cannot hold a torch to this guitar. The neck is rounder than the typical Telecaster and fits my hands much better. Cannot be beat for that S/S Tele sound. Sounds great through my Fender Blues Jr. and through my Korg Pandora PX-4 with headphones. The sound is what sold this guitar.

Set up was fine from the factory. Above average fretwork. I normally play with very heavy strings, but actually prefer the light strings on this particular guitar (my other guitars carry 12's and 13's instead of the 9's I ended up leaving on the Tribute). All of my complaints are cosmetic and almost expected in this price range. The body seam is visible between the pieces of wood from the front and from the back. The fret wires are exposed from the side, but are very smooth. The satin neck finish is perfect as is the gloss finish on the body. Flawless clearcoat and stain. Very pretty wood and pickguard. I played and considered the American G&L ASAT which I also liked but could not justify the additional $800 for the cosmetic differences. They sounded EXACTLY the same and felt very, very close.

Seems to be very well built. I don't gig so I think that this guitar will last a lifetime given the way I take care of my instruments.

This is where G&L shined. I played this guitar at a local store. When I went back to get it, it was sold (I found out later that it was put in layaway and then cancelled a couple weeks later so I was able to buy the one that blew my hair back originally) so I bought one on-line. I was sent the wrong guitar twice and then lied to that the semi-hollowbodies no longer had F-holes. While this would be reasonable (AM G&L and Fender use routed bodies with solid tops), I called G&L to verify this. I was immediately told that ALL Tribute semi-hollows had F-holes and they straightened out the online store the following day. Even though I cancelled the online order, I was able to eventually find one locally as stated above. Great customer service!

I have been playing for a few years and am no "pro" but have always wanted that "Telecaster" sound. All of my guitars are either hollowbodies or acoustic, so this fits my preferences well in a smaller size. This one cannot be beat for the money. In terms of feel and sound, there is not a Fender made that can hold a torch to this thing. It is more "Fender" than Fender. As stated above, I could have bought the AM G&L ASAT, but just could not see an $800 difference between the guitars. The AM G&L's are prettier, no doubt, but based my personal decision on sound first. It is still pretty just not flawless. Not a fan of the gloss necks that seem to abound on the AM necks either. I would buy it again and may consider a G&L Commanche at some point in the future. Their wonderful customer service is just the cherry on top of a very solid guitar.

Basic two pick-up model. Telecaster guitar, made in Korea with G&L pick-up installed. Rosewood fretboard, ash blode body, tortise pick guard. Chrome hardware. Came with a padded G&L gig bag, a set of Allen wreches and verious hang tags.

Wow, this is where we have Leo Fender to thank, the pick-ups are the bomb! Tele sounds plus. The thing that impresses me the most is how even the pick-up sounds across all the strings. From the low E to the high E very even sounding. That's one thing I dislike about Fenders is the strings sound uneven. With the G&L it doesn't. So sound wise a solid 10.

I can roll off the tone know and get a great Jazz tone almost like a big box Gibson sound, the back pick-up has that nasel tele twang, and the front pick-up pretty much does it all.

This guitar was made in Korea. My guess is they take a G&L guitar over there and have it cloned on the CNC machines and then start cranking them out. So the fit and finish is much better than guitars of 10 years ago. No flaws.

Also these guitars get set-up in the US before they are shipped out. So set up and intonation was fine. I just took it out of the box plugged it in and played. Neck is fast and the guitar is easy to play.

This guitar is a tank and stays in tune. All chrome hardware, smooth taper pots, and a G&L designed bridge. String through body.

I called G&L once and got someone on the phone, I haven't had anything go wrong so can comment on customer service.

I've been playing for over 30 years and these G&L guitars are a super value for the money. They are solidly made, excellent Korean CNC manufacturing and American pick-ups. I just couldn't get myself to jump for a higher priced electric, after all are you are only buying a neck bolted on to a plank of wood. So the G&L Tribute line is an oustanding value for the active player and sounds better in my opinion than Fender. It's all in the pick-ups anyway and Leo did great work designing these. If you haven't had a chance to play one get out there and do it.

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!

For those who don't know, the ASAT is G&L 'telecaster' copy. Copy is probably not a good descripton considering G&L was founded and run by the late Leo Fender... I am pretty sure mine is a 2001 model.. It is made in Japan, but according to the music shop i bought it from it's the same parts as the US ASATs apart from Gotoh sealed tuning heads & vintage-style 6 saddle bridge (gotoh is more than fine by me!). The body is 2-piece Swamp Ash, and the body finish is Butterscotch Blonde. Mine has a rosewood neck, but also had the choice of maple. My guitar is home at the moment, so i'll have to guess about the neck features, but i am almost sure it is 22 jumbo frets.. The pickups are standard american G&L ASAT pickups which are stronger and punchier than the standard fender tele pickups. Here is a link to some reviews of the pickups: http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data2/G_And_L/ASAT-Stock-01.html

I play in a covers band (for the money) and in an original band (mostly rock). It sounds very nice with my sovtek mig50 amp and marshall shredmaster pedal, but I am going to put some seymour duncan humbucker pickups in to give me a bit of versatility. It's a shame because i really love the stock bluesy sound, but unfornutely it dosn't suit all the material i am playing in the covers band. However, I am going to keep the stock pickups just in case down I buy another guitar in the future. I will give a 9 out of 10 because the sound is so nice... Compared to my old Les Paul copy, this is bliss!

The action is good, but the strings were slightly too low (bit of buzz). However, action is a matter of taste and I am sure many guitarists would be happy with the action.

The neck is brilliant! Best neck out of any I have played...

The reason I bought this guitar is because I needed a 'workhorse' that could rely on for my covers and orginal band. Tele's are a great solid guitar to start of with, but this is brilliant! The gotoh machine heads and bridge almost never go out of tune! I can't say that i would use it without a backup, because if i break a string halfway into a set, I havn't got time to change strings..

Dont know really.. havn't needed it and i doubt i will...

I have been playing for 10 years (since i was 11) and have had experience playing many guitars.
This is a outstanding guitar for it's price. I would recomend this guitar to anybody... For such a low price you can change pickups to suit whatever style you are after! if it were stolen i would definetely buy it again (after i got over the crying)...