G&L ASAT Classic

The reason I bought this G&L Asat Classic [hereto referred to as ?it?, ?the thing?, ?pig?, and ?piece of sh_t?] was because the body was an extremely lightweight & resonant piece of ash. The thing weighed in at 6.8 pounds [and it was not one of those ridiculous hollowed models]. Furthermore, the neck was made from beautiful bird?s eye maple.
How the hell can you screw up a Tele-style guitar built from wood like that? Continue reading for the answer.

I tried it through a VHT Pitbull 45, Budda Twinmaster, Mesa Boogie Rocket 440 (another piece of sh_t), and ?59 Bassman Reissue. Not one of them could extract the punch, spank, or twang you expect from Tele?s.
In short, the thing reproduced the sh_tty tone of those mid-seventies, dead-wood, so damn heavy they?ll put you in traction, Fenders. But hey, if the only song you know and ever intend to play is ?Hotel California?, than this pig would be for you!
I blame those asinine MFD pickups. These MF?ers are way overpowered for a Tele and kill any articulation you may posses. I considered swapping them out for Lindy Fralin?s or John Suhr?s but abandoned the whole effort for a Terry C. McInturff. (Good decision!)

This was supposedly a ?Premier? finish? an attempt at Blond Transparent. After getting the thing into some decent light, I discovered that the finish appeared? ?swirled? or ?pooled? or ?drippy?. Have you ever attempted to re-finish wood without completely removing the previous finish? Bingo!
Now the following really pissed me off. The neck shifted around in the socket causing a loud ?creak? every time I bended the strings. Now I consider string bending somewhat important to my style of playing, so this was a real problem for me. (Don?t be an idiot and mutter to yourself ?tighten the bolts!? It?s not that simple; the world doesn?t turn that way.).

Reference the above ?neck socket? anecdote.

Dear G&L,
Stop making Leo Fender?s widow tarnish her good name by signing you stupid ?Certificates of Authenticity?.

I?ve read that the name ?Asat? was borrowed from a surface-to-air missile. One should have been used to blow this pig back to hell!
My fault? I expected something exceptional from a production guitar. But if you?re used to playing Fenders? current offerings [or similar garbage], you?ll love G&L?s. They?re a step up.
On a positive note, the dealer?s tech could not correct the ?neck shift? problem, and was compelled to take the piece of sh_t back after my return policy had expired. I feel sorry for whomever they foisted if off on next.

Mine was purchased new in '95 or '96. Has a maple fingerboard, plus the fatter frets used by G&L at that time (don't know about recently. Uses a plastic stringtree, and has really nice tuning posts and machines. Maybe the nicest, best designed ones I've ever seen. Otherwise, if you've ever played a tele, this is basically the same thing.

I gave this category a 6, because the guitar is not feature rich.

This guitar is so good, it put my '61 strat back in the closet. I had a Japanese-made Fender tele for years. Well made, but lousy pickups. It got me thinking hard about teles. Got to play a '62 tele deluxe for two minutes, which really connected me to what this tele design is all about. But how to afford such a thing? Didn't know much about G&L, but found this axe in a great store on Carmine Street in NYC.

It blew me away. 700 bucks new. At the time the new Fender Teles were more. They sounded and felt inferior to this. The sound is (of course) tele-like, but distinctly different. It's a bit hotter and darker than the Fender tele; the sound is wider somehow. Hard to explain the difference, but the changes make this an even more versatile instrument on stage than the tele itself. The treble position is very useable. Roll off the tone knob, back off the volume a bit and kick up the amp volume. The sound fattens up and gets wide. It kills! By contrast, I can't get it quite sharp enough to match Roy Buchanans icepick tone. The neck position sounds so good I didn't even use the other settings for at least a year. Wherever you set it, this guitar sounds huge at stage volume.

I play through a '67 deluxe reverb, and thank god (and Leo) everytime I plug in. There's no better guitar/amp match-up. Put the amp on 4, and there's an overdrive edge to the sound, particulary on the middle pickup or the bridge settings with volume and tone rolled off. It's beautiful.

BTW: This is the only guitar I've ever played that's equally good at regular playing and slide tunings. Tune it up to Emajor, switch to the neck pickup and stand back. This thing has a slide sound to die for, much better to my ears than the strat.

You should see the grain in the maple fingerboard, and the very subtle greenish hint in the white/tan body finish. This is a very plain, very attractive instrument. As always, the factory setup didn't do it. It was a little hard to play out of the box. The frets needed dressing. After the first winter, the neck has shrunk just a bit, while of course the frets did not. Took it to Sadowsky; he did a simple set up, cleaned up the edges and the action. That turned a really good guitar into a great one.

Everything about this guitar is top-quality and heavy duty. It looks and feels very solid. The tuning pegs and strap keys in particular are custom-quality. Everything about this guitar says high priced, which it was not.

No need for support here.

I've played guitar for 35 years. Until this G&L, the only guitar I couldn't live without was my vintage, beat-to-hell strat. The G&L has the sound I want. If you mess with volume and tone just right, you hear how close the early, single-coil les pauls were sonically to the 50's teles. Both basically just planks with two pickups. Leo Fender actually did himself one better with the ASAT classic. The updates are subtle, and functionally very logical. If you're considering a Fender Telecaster, do yourself a favor. Find one of these and do the A/B test.

Mine is a 1996 Classic Custom, with a Cherryburst flame ash top with pseudo (no spray) binding and a back scoop. Presumably an alder back, though I've never checked it. Otherwise as per usual. Rosewood board, I guess 12" radius. Cool pearloid pickguard.

I haven't made any changes yet, but have a Fender 4 way switch ready to drop in (which will give 2 pickups series as well as the standard parallel). Might try the brass saddles and or 3 saddle bridge at some point, but there's nothing to be dissatisfied with at this time...

I have tried about half a dozen ASAT Classics, though no other ones of this spec. This particular guitar is 50% better than any other speciment of the breed I have tried - it was love at first twang.

Great sound from both pickups. This guitar has a huge acoustic "sprang" - I've never played a solid with so much acoustic vibrancy. The tone control is wonderfully flexible and responsive and gives everything from in-the-closet jazz wuffle to full tilt rockabilly screech without needing to touch the amp. (Which for me is a Rivera 30-12). You can also get fabulous blues tone with a little tweaking here and there - perfect for mid 60s Clapton or Green, believe it or don't.

I bought mine new but shop soiled. It must have had a hard life - there were a couple of quarter inch chunks out of the back.

Also, I could never get the neck and action quite right - in the end I had to have the frets removed and the fingerboard shaved to get a kink out. Because of the other problems at the time of purchase, I shouldn't blame G&L for this, but it has cost me an extra chunk of money that I wouldn't have spend on a less magical guitar.

See above - but otherwise would depend on it absolutely. Have only broken one string in 3 years of hard playing (on an old set at rehearsal, going for a 5 semitone full neck width throttle on the high E).

It does insist on top quality leads for solid contact - I'm using a diMarzio which is fine; lesser leads have crackled.

No rep in Australia.

I've been playing 35 years and presently own a Legacy Special and a Larrivee OM3R.

This ASAT is the best guitar I have ever owned, and as good as any I have ever played. It gives total sonic satisfaction, looks sensational, and is a source of solace in times of need.

Despite it being relatively expensive (at the time) and requiring a premature refret, I cannot imagine ever trading it at any price, and it makes other makers' premium offerings look ridiculously overpriced.

Understanding serial numbers are not my strong point, but I believe this model is a 1993. With the wear on the body and neck, I should be pretty close. This is your standard Fender Tele-like guitar, but with a 3-bolt neck, maple fretboard, 22 jumbo frets made in California USA. The finish is a translucent red on a heavy swamp ash body and the pickup configuration is like the telecaster and not the soap bar style with the ash-tray bridge pickup and smaller neck pickup. 1 volume, 1 tone and 3-way switch. The neck is a 7" radius and seems a little narrower than my American Tele, but not too narrow. It came with a pretty beat up hard case.

I bought an American Tele that was absolutely beautiful. It was see-through white blonde and was in perfect cosmetic shape....The pickups were fine too. I had a problem with the neck, however, and never felt comfortable with the overall feel....I was browsing in a local music store looking for a semi-hollow guitar, when I noticed this one, picked it up, and never looked back.

A 9 for having the nice finish and jumbo frets......10 is perfect, and I think too many people get too biased with their guitars, so a near perfect is what I'll give her.

I really liked the sound of my tele. I had no complaints. I just didn't like the feel. With the G&L, you still get the twangy, gritty bridge pickup, but with much more punch. Not just noisy volume, but a much warmer, fuller sound without being a humbucker. The same goes for the neck pickup. Similar to the tele, but not really. These pickups carry a lot more volume to both the neck and bride without sounding muddy or noisy. According to G&L, it's the magnets with the adjustable pole pieces that are responsible for this. The sound is very satisfying, which at first, if you are expecting it to replace your tele, you may be a little confused. But, once you play with them a while, you will realize that not only does this replace a tele, but also can be used for a variety of other styles the tele just couldnt cover. I thought the Tele in the neck was a little brighter, but I have to say, these ASAT pickups compete (as far as volume goes) with a Robin Avalon with Rio Grande Humbuckers in them.

Another important factor (at least for me) is how the guitar plays unplugged. Very alive and balanced. Not too many people on here comment on that. If you are reading this review, and others, you are probably a consious shopper wanting to make the best decision for your money. If this is the case, you should ALWAYS see how your guitar will play right off the rack. Pickups can do a lot for a guitar, but remember, the PUs are just amplifying the sound of the woods and the vibrations they are picking up. And this G&L, along with other G&Ls I've played have a very strong resonance to them and sound great without amplification.

A nice sound with more variety than a standard Telecaster, with more unplugged sustain and natural brightness than it's predecessor.

For a used guitar, that really looks like it was appreicated and used by its former owner, I was very impressed. Aestetically, it had some nicks and the knobs were abit loose, some wires were loose and the input jack a little worn, but in my opinion, these are all suggestions of a guitar that was used over and over again. And I get the feeling it was not because it was this person's only guitar, but because of it's special feel when you pick it up. The Jumbo frets are nice too, along with just an overall terrific balance. About the only thing I had to get used to was the ash-tray style bridge and saddles. Where the Telecaster has smooth saddles, the ASAT uses the older style that have the adjustable knobs on top of the saddle rather than flush. I will play with my hand over the saddle a lot, and I had to get used to not doing that as much as before. A minor detail and nothing that affects this great guitar.

Well, I mentioned this guitar was used, and it appeared it was used quite a bit. This guitar seemed to have passed with flying colors, and looks like it will hold up for as long as needed, providing adequate care it taken of it. G&L has been known for quality, and this guitar does not seem to be an exception to that theory. A solid guitar with quality parts.

I've never had to use them, nor have I really had to use any guitar manufacturers warrany department with top-notch guitars. I really can't rate this, but with their website and growing number of fans along with their already large quantity of happy G&L customers, I would assume their customer support to be great.

I've been playing for around 20 years. I've owed many different guitars and sold a lot of them and have since built up my collection again. I have the same Am. Strat, a Robin Avalon, a Gibson ES-135, and now the G&L ASAT Classic. I've owned a les paul, a 335, an L-5, a PRS CE-22 a Guild Bluesbird and a Fender Telecaster, which all have very special sounds and feels about them. However, since I am far from being rich, I try and keep one type of guitar for a particular style of sound(semi-hollow, solid body humbucker, strat and tele) with some wishful hopes of adding to my collection and further expanding my tonal diversity.

I would have kept my telecaster had the neck not been messed up, and for what it's worth, I probably could have had it fixed, but after 4 trips to the set up shop, I grew impatient. I sold and shipped off a beautiful tele, but in turn, I got a very well-made fine-playing guitar that rivals the tele in every aspect, but also adds more tonal variation from just one guitar.

I see many people reviewing Fender and Gibson styled guitars bash these companies along with other established companies, and I don't think that's very deserving. Fender and Gibson have made many people famous and are standards by which all other manufacturers are compared. I can't think of any other companies that cater to such a wide range of musicians from an experience and budget standpoint. In addition, the Les Paul and Fender Stratocaster are cultural icons in american music. I don't care what anyone else says about that, it's the truth.

BUT, and this is a big BUT, many companies have done their homework. And their assignment was to not just mimick, but improve what had been working with electric guitars. And I think G&L is one of those companies. Especially since Leo Fender set out to improve upon his own design, this in essence, is what he did. He improved upon the American Standard Instruments he helped make famous. I've always been told by many Nashville musicians, the G&L was a Fender custom shop at American standard prices. While I do not disagree with this, I have made my own conclusion. The G&L is a G&L. A well-made instrument with competative pricing considering companies like Anderson, Zion and others improving upon the design and tonal perfomances of the strat and tele while also improving upon their retail prices (and not to the good of the public).

Along with the Fender and Gibson names, comes resale. As you may or may not know, the resale market on quality american made guitars that are not Gibson or Fender can be brutal for a person paying retail for their guitar and then trying to sell it. Fortunately, word gets around, manufactures get greedy and mature people loose their concern for the name on the headstock and start paying closer attention to what plays and sounds better. I've had a couple of Heritage guitars that I lost my tail end on when I re-sold them, and, in turn, have picked up some good guitars taking advantage of their less than stellar resale values. The G&L kind of fits in that niche, but around Nashville, they are too well known for their quality and sound and command a pretty fair resale value. I got, pretty much, an even trade on my Tele for my ASAT, and in the long run, I think I got much more guitar with the G&L.

Why did I say all of this. Because, if you are thinking about a tele-style guitar, there is nothing wrong with a genuine fender telecaster. However, if you are thinking about a G&L and can get one for the same price as an american standard fender, then you stand the chance of getting much more guitar for your money.

Mid '90-s opaque white finish, ash body, maple neck, six-saddle bridge, two traditional Tele size stock p/u's, three way switch. Just what you'd expect in a vintage-style Tele setup. I'm giving it a '10' for having just the needed features and not a lot of useless bells & whistles

I owned this for close to a year only being about 70% satisfied with the sound. When I looked around at the more recent models, I noticed they had six brass saddles instead of the steel ones that were on mine. I ordered a set of the brass saddles, installed them, and that has made all the difference. Now it's my favorite Tele, Yes, I have gone to music stores and played the much sought after vintage ones, and this compares, if not surpasses, those. I thought I would try different pickups and installed a set of Lindy Fralins and Bardens and I actually think the stock G&L p/u's sounded better in this particular guitar. I may feel like experimenting somewhere down the road, but it's nice to not feel a sense of urgency about it, because once I swapped the saddles this thing really sounds great.

All the workmanship looks really good, but since I bought it used and it was REALLY badly set up and needed fret work, so I'm leaving this blank

Seems nice and solid to me, like a professional instrument should

Beyond ordering the saddles (which arrived in 2 days), I haven't used them

A really nice version of a vintage Tele, IMHO a superior guitar in terms of playability, tone and workmanship to anything currently made by Fender, including the '52 Reissue and the Nocaster. The pickups were a real surprise, they really do a nice job of getting those Tele tones with a slightly fatter presence.

This is a standard model rosewood neck telecaster. Two single coil G&L pickups, 6 saddle bridge. The bridge uses the modern style saddles. 3-way switch and a volume and tone control. This is not the current model, but from around 93-94. The neck is more like a strat neck than a tele neck, which is what made me want it. Ash body finished in a transparent green.

It sounds like a tele. The spank, bite and guts are all here.

I had to remove a GR-pickup and generally clean up the guitar. I bought it used. Except for a few nicks it is in solid shape. I did adjust the neck and bridge and everything is great.

This guitar is built like a tank. A very solid design and execution.

If you get parts from the web page, that is fast. However, They don't seem to answer their email. Haven't called.

This is a great take on a tele. I really like the neck, since I don't get along with a standard tele neck. I'd probably buy another one for that tele thing if I needed it.

i believe it is a 90, 91 or at the latest a 92 model (s/n 0034452), i bought it used from the original owner about 6-7 yrs ago... he was (still is) a G&L Legacy/s-500 freak and was not using this g'tar at all. lucky for me he needed some money and the rest is history.

solid ash, 2 big fat ASAP p/u's with the fat poles, black w/white pick guard, blonde (maple) neck, tel-style, G&L saddle lock bridge, 7.5 radius 22 frets, hard case, strap locks, G&L tuners (weird tuners)... thats all.

tone, tone, tone... neck p/u = fat blues or classic rock power comp chord. bridge p/u = clean country picking or drive it hard for cut through wicked sustained leads. blend the 2 and you have arpeggio clean capability or meaty clean ryhthms.

this is my final solid body... i need to look no further.

this guitar was set up very well by the owner (who owns a great guitar shop). but i switched to D'Addario EXL110W (.010-.046's w/wound G string), so i had a luthier/friend reset the p/u's, file the nut, etc to accomodate. this is the ticket for this type of guitar which i condider a utility guitar that needs to cover a lot of ground.

this is a "utility" guitar. made like a tool to make a living with. it is not a complicated tempermental delicate mamby-pamby guitar. it is dependable. you set it up how you want it and forget it... it will stay in place because the hardware is simple and high quality. i don't have a back-up or would even condiser needing one.

never checked.

been playing since i was 8 yrs old. i am now 46 yrs old. most people condiser me an excellent player, but i feel i am just middle of the road, and have not yet arrived. i own too much gear to list, but as far as g'tars go i am down to 3... this one, a 10 year old Ovation Custom Legend, and a 21 year old Yairi dreadnault (original owner of both). i don't even want to discuss the thought of it getting stolen (but i would try to find another like this one). I love the durability, simplicity, yet addictive playability of this guitar. it is even fun to play unplugged (sounds good too). i don't hate anything, but i don't like the G&L tuners. they keep in tune just fine, but i can't get used to how the strings set in place. once you get them wound its no problem. i might replace those with Spertzel locker's one day. i have owned other solid bodies and knew i wanted to settle down with a tele style... i just did not like the fenders. thank God Leo still lives on through these G&L's. as a review below brought up... i wonder how a fishman bridge would sound, but i would be hard pressed to get rid of the G&L saddle lock (its too awesome). i keep thinking about having it painted the ol mellow yellow like the 50's teles (the black is cool too). but i use it too much to let it go for any length of time.

made in USA 2001,22 frets 7.5" radis rosewood neck two piece alder body finished in 3-tone sunburst (very well i might add)the normal
Tele spec two single coil pickups one volume and one tone control.
The neck is a D-shape and drops in between modern and vintage.Finish
in a pale satin vac or rubbed oil.

I play country/blues/rockabilly and a bit of jazz and i mean a bit.This guitar will do all of the styles i play no problem is not a heavy rock axe as the pickups will feedback and not in a nice way.For
clean and crunch tones it's awesome,the pickups do sound pretty damn
good for stock pickups,i have always changed my pickups for the real thing like JOE BARDEN'S or CHRIS KINMANS they sound awesome with no
hum.These pickups are a lot bigger and warmer sounding than Fender
guitars i've tried.And there a good output as well.(Well done G&L Guitars)see if you can get rid of the hum.I'm giving this a 10 because they are stock pickups and you can't put the best and keep the retail price of the guitar the same.The tone pot is very good it work right away so you can get a good jazz sound or the classic british woman tone (blues breaker)

Well hard to say it came with 9-42 gauge strings and they suck big time so i change them after about mmmmmmmmmm 10 seconds and put some
10-46 the different between these to gauges is unreal.The frets are jumbo and they make the action feel high at first and then you realize
the higher the fret the higher the string is of the fret board.Once you are used to it they are so much better and easier to bend strings
and do hammer on's and pull off's.

No problem at the moment and can't see any happening

Haven't needed any

The guitar sounds and plays awesome and i mean awesome,if your a Tele
player you will love them,they have all the tone with a bigger and round sound an a classic Fender and more sounds an a reissue the finish is top draw well mine is anyway.A great guitar at a good price.

I might up grade the pickups to Joe Barden's to cut the hum and get
that Danny Gatton tone.Joe's pickups are just the best.

Mine a '93 cherry sunburst. It has George Fullerton's initials penciled in the neck pocket.
The body is solid alder, and the neck is standard maple with maple fretboard. Frets are "medium", which is larger than on any of my other guitars. Fretboard radius is said to be 7 1/2 but if feels flatter the one on my Fender 50s reissue. The VERY satin finish doesn't look like much but it sure plays nice.

Everything is stock, including the 2 G&L ceramic single-coil ASAT pickups with adjustable polepieces.

It's a Tele. Do you want/need?

The sound is darker and punchier than most Fenders I've played. It lacks the icepick-in-the-eardrum capability of a vintage or vintage-style Fender, which may be good.

It's pretty hard to get a bad tone from this guitar, especially through a decent tube amp. I alternate between a Fender Blues Junior and a Super Reverb. A little reverb, compression, and slapback echo and I'm in heaven.

Body finish is excellent. Neck pocket is a little loose, though.

The original owner used 09s, so I pulled on the truss rod a bit to accomodate 10s. The action is terrific.

One niggle I've had about 90s G&LS is that as the neck ages and dries out (I live in Colorado), the fret ends start grabbing your fingers. This is easily corrected.

I like the reverse taper on the tuner posts that locks the string in better and "dresses" it down automatically.

You could use it to hammer nails, but I wouldn't recommend it.

A cool feature is the extra-large flange on the strap buttons. Takes longer to strap up, but you've got to do something really stupid to drop this thing.

No need to test this, but I've heard from those that know that G&L service is top-notch.

If you want/need a pro-level Tele, and you can have only one, and you want to play it and not fuss over it, this is the one to have. It does the country, swing, and Keith Richards things equally well.

I've got a hot rod Tele that I've fussed over (Japanese reissue neck, Duncan lead pickup, and Warmoth ash body) that is really special (to me). I wouldn't recommend going this route as a plan, though.

Yeah, I picked up another one. One that I used to own. I knew I could probably get it back some day. Listen tele guys:ASAT Classic rules. The guy that preceeded this review has the right idea....Fender makes more guitars in one year than G&L does in 10. Try to buy a 1990 ASAT Classic signature guitar now. I saw on ebay for $1900.00 and one in the Vintage guitar for $999.00. (I may buy that one!) Other than those , they are becoming scarce. They are dissapearing and will continue to get more rare until you can't afford to buy them. The same thing will eventually happen to the post 93 models. If Eric Johnson played a tele, it would be one of these. (maybe he owns something else, heck I don't know. But I do know this: This is a real Fender guitar, designed by Leo, produced by Leo and Leo said that "these are the best guitars I have ever made!" Nuff said.

These are extremely versatile guitars with amazing pure, clean guitar vibe. If you turn the treble knob down slightly it sounds just like a Custom-Shop Nocaster. I know. I have one. It plays 10 times better than the no-caster. (What kind of neck did the guy in one of the previous reviews want? A neck manufactured by a CNC machine? DUHHH?? I bet he put a Floyd Rose on it also.He also said it didn't sound very "tele-like??" and that he played it through a Traynor. I am sure it is not the Traynors' fault! Learn to play like a tele player and you'll appreciate the tones on this guitar.

What is the big deal about factory set-up? I set my action fairly high. Any player worth his salt is going to change the factory set-up!
Very high quality workmanship for a non-custom guitar. I dare you to find better for less than twice the price. No problems with the knobs or switches. They should last a lifetime too.

I have played my number one for over 12 years and it barely shows any wear at all. It has one ding due to my carelessness with a dropped screwdriver.

NA

I have played a lot for the past 35 years. In the 1970's you couldn't buy a good new guitar! The best quality in guitars has been over the last 10 years. Gibson is better (by far), Fender is better too. But G&L is the guitar I choose to play. I have been this excited ever since my first one back in 1989.