G&L ASAT Special

late 80's model, bought used; solidbody tele-style; solid black - has a lot of gig dings and a little bridge corrosion; 2 soapbar P-90 sound-alikes; rosewood fingerboard; fantastic neck - 1-5/8" at the nut, 7.5" radius; bridge has patented locking feature to improve sustain; tuners are that open style that I never can get to work

Can pull just about anything out of this rig, from country tele twang to really fat crying blues (may have the best blues sound of any reasonably priced guitar), to crunchy power chords; not really a jazz sound; hums like a son of a bitch, even with both pickups working (I'm going to try some body shielding, which apparently is lacking - come on G&L!) Only knocks are for excessive hum, even for single coils.

Best neck ever for short fingers; may be a little tight for people with Eric Clapton size hands. Some corrosion at the bridge but functions adequately with a litle clean up;

Neck has stayed remarkably stable over 15 years; this guitar can withstand a lot of abuse.

No need for it. Might call them about body shielding.

Fat blues sound with a neck that can't be beat for me. I'll never give it up except for another ASAT Special.

Pretty new, it's a 4-bolt model. Regular (non-locking) tuners, 2 big old honkin' MFD pickups, black body and headstock, maple neck and board, top loading string design. I think G&L's solid colors are always used on alder bodies, but couldn't say for sure. It's medium weight; most G&Ls aren't very light.

Really, really good for rock 'n roll. Man this is an awesome guitar. The one thing I'll say, MFDs are perfect for all amps. They work fine with my Crate VC3112, but with Marshalls for instance, they sound kind of harsh (they're ceramic). Bites hard, each string has definition, sounds cool clean or distorted!

Really good. Nice tight neck pocket, no finish flaws, frets are dressed real well. I bought it used.

Who knows?

Who knows?

G&Ls are really good, hand-crafted guitars. When buying used, you can especially get a killer deal.

tele style, american made 91-93 model is my best guess, 22 frets 7.5 radius, maple fretboard, 1-5/8" nut, solid ash, gloss black w/white pick guard, 3way p/u selector, 2 large G&L single coils, strap locks, Schaller non-locking tuners, G&L saddle lock bridge. if you want to see the exact guitar (w/specs) go to this web page:

http://www.glguitars.com/instruments/ASAT-Special/ASAT-Special.html

whether you prefer tele's or strat's everyone needs a single coil guitar in their quiver... this one is my preference. i will never get rid of it and i have no reason to keep looking for a better one... it doesn't exist. i will now focus my search for the humbucker guitar of my life (a much more difficult search).

this guitar does blues, county, southern & hard rock, funk, etc. yes it hums on single coil modes. perfectly quiet when the 2 are blended... but as anyone knows who plays on single coils its the dedicated neck or bridge positions where you get your maximum tone and the hum makes no difference when in full play mode, so no points deducted for that in my book.

bridge p/u is very bright when pushed in that direction for country and sings as a lead guitar when full open into a good tube amp.

neck p/u begs for the blues and does the slow stuff well.

i bought this from the owner of Guitars Etc in Havelock NC (great store). Pete had the action too low for me (he was using .009's). i have since had the guitar set up by Tony Questell (the man for eastern NC) with D'Addario exl110w's. while this was only a change of .001's it gives me a wound G string which along with slightly higher action makes a significant difference in tone. this did require the nut to be filed slightly. i have found no flaws regarding the guitar construction.

when i first looked at and handled this guitar my first thoughts were "no frills quality" and "serious equipment". this guitar was built to work the road (whatever that may be for you). evey piece of hardware is solid. the 3 way switch and pots are big and quality which is good because these items are the most problematic part of any electric guitar, finish is still looking good, i have thought about repainting it to look like the old baby-crap 'tele' yellow... but not yet! no back up required unless you are anal retentive.

never have had to bother them

been playing 27 years and some. own a Yairi Dreadnault and an Ovation Cutom Legend. Amps I use are Carvin AG-100, Musicman 112/65 and just ordered a Trademark 10 for recording... lots of other odds and ends (see reviews i've posted on some of this stuff). I would replace this with another G&L tele style (everyone knows they're better than the 'F' brand). this guitar is like a woman with a nice butt (i.e. my wife), i can't keep my hands off of it... it drives me to become worthy of its ability.

i long to play this guitar through a high end amp...

2001 G&L asat special, made in Fullerton,CA. Same basic features and set-up as most Tele style guitars, no frills here except swamp ash body , premium honeyburst finish and pearloid pick guard upgrade. The ASATs come with schaller tuners (not bad), a really cool bridge which is a big improvement over the old Fender style, and an ok abs case. The two features I had to have on this guitar were the 7.5" neck radius,& the large magnetic field, p-90 style pick-ups.

I got the fever for a new Tele a few months back, and wanted something different from my other Fender Telecasters sound wise. I heard a lot about the soapbar style pick ups on the ASATs, and never having heard them, I took a chance and ordered this guitar on a whim. Noise ? Heck yes, as with any true single coil passive pick up there is a little noise. Since I only use single coils in all my guitars I don't mind a little buzz , I don't think I could play without the reassureing hum of a good single. Seriously it's not that bad, the sound quallity far outweighs the buzz for me. I use the Line -6 amps live, and for recording & small jams I use an old Vox pacemaker. Though these amps or any other I have played it through the guitar retains it's character quite well. What is it's character? Compared with other teles I have owned or played, I can think of one word to describe the ASAT special's sound, BIGGER. I'm a country picker, and the twang factor for me is everything. The soap-bar style pick ups suit my style quite well, and I think the maple neck being a little brighter than rosewood, also has a role in this. The tone control is pretty well voiced, I usually roll it off just a hair because the pick ups have the potential to get downright glass shattering, but the guitar cleans up nicely when the volume knob's cut back. For me this guitar is about all I could ask for sound wise, but like I said I'm a country player. Could you tune down to low B and play Korn riffs? I don't know. If this intrigues you, you need to read a different review.

The G&L guitars are all handmade, and I guess that could be good or bad depending on who's hands we're talking about. Right out of the box, this was the best new guitar set-up wise I ever played. It was intonated properlly, and the action was phenominal. I hesitate to overly praise the dang thing but that's exactlly how I feel. To top it off I never even changed strings (different brand than I use) and took it to a show that night, never touched my other guitars. No, its not totally perfect, a fret buzz on the 17th fret b string, a dissapointingly scuffy fret job on the top of the neck, and my input jack crapped out last night. But that's fixed, and I'm really satisfied with the way this thing plays. I will not talk about how the guitar looks, I happen to think it's pretty, but heck I think Drew Barrymore is kind of pretty too.

It's a very solid guitar. I wanted to wait on this review until I had played a few shows with the ASAT, and I could have a better opinion. So far so good, but with ANY guitar I would never go to a gig without a backup.

10 year warranty ,haven't called anyone in customer service.

Been playing 18 years, owned dumptruck load of guitars, still own wheelbarrow load. Gig all the time, wish I had this guitar 32 years ago. It aint perfect, never played one that was. If you're into the twang thing, check out this guitar. If it were stolen or lost I would buy an Ibanez RG whatever and learn a bunch of Marillyn Manson tunes.

This is one bad ass guitar!!! Its 100% pure USA kick ass guitar. It is a Tele style guitar with a solid Alder body finished in a Blue-Berry burst (nice ass finish).It has a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard and 22 jumbo frets.The tuner's are sealed 6 inline and non-locking and are high quality (I rarely have to tune it even with the strongest bends!)

I manly play punk and metal (some blues some jazz) so pretty much this guitar is an all around guitar. I love the finish the most. The guitar has a really good bright sound. THe hardware is suppurb. Well lets just put it this way I pluged my Peavey Raptor I in my amp then I plugged my G&L ASAT special in there and it sounded no joke 200 times better!!!!

Lets just start here the pickups of this guitar are PERFECTLY lined up with the strings!!!! Not only do the pickups look badass the also sound badass! THe only dislike about this guitar is the edge of the body is kinda sharp and after a while of playing it it starts to hurt my side, but I am 15 I'll get over it. The one thing that I love about this guitar is the shine, it is soo shiny I love it.

Well I bought this guitar already 6 years old (came with all original paper work and certificate of authenticity) and no joke this baby looked brand new! The guy told me he played it alot so I guess this thing is pretty durable it'll last a lifetime and you'll never forget it I guarentee.

Never had to deal with em.

I love this thing to death!!! My dad got it for me for christmas and this thing really means alot to me and it is one thing I will never let go until I go!! If it was stolen or I lost it (I dought I will ever lose this thing) I would definatly buy a new one!!!!!!!!! THanx G&L

This guitar was built in 2000 and made in Fullerton Ca.It is a Tele style guitar with a solid Alder body finished in a Tabacco burst.It has a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard and 22 jumbo frets.The tuner's are sealed 6 inline and non-locking and are high quality.

I saved the bridge and pickup description's for last because this is where this guitar seperates itself from a Tele.The pickup's are overwound highoutput single coils that were hand wound at the G&L factory and are the most versitile pickup's(single coil)I've played.It has the traditional 3 position switch and 2 pickup Tele layout.The bridge is a unique Leo Fender designed hardtail that IMO adds the sustain to this guitar that a Tele could never acheive.

The guitar came with an ABS hardshell case.Im not a fan of ABS cases but it will do for now.

I play in a Contemporary Worship bamd at church but also play Country & Classsic Rock,a little Western Swing and as of late some Blues & Blues Rock.My setup is quite simple a Hotrod Deville 2X12 a Boss SD1 & CE5.Ther is alittle noise common to single coils(pos.1&3) but I live in a 45 year old house,center position is quiet.I've also heard that the pickups were harsh but IMO I feel that that is probably the amp thats being used.As I said earlier the pickup's are versitile if you want that Tele twang/snap no problem pos.3.Want the blues position's 1&2 to your taste.Now it wont do the metal thing but if you wanna rock crank it up and let em sing they will.They like to be driven.As far as the input jack popping and crapping out I to had that problem until I realized it was the cheap pin on the cord.I switched to a quality cable and no concern's since.

The guitar came setup with .009s on it and was ok but I put .011s on it at hte recomendation of another player that frequent's the shop boy what an awesome tone with the heavier string's.Just took a minor trussrod adjustment,set the intonation and I was able to bring the action down to my satisfaction with no fretting out.As far as pickup height it was fine but I have'nt experimented with the individually adjustable poles yet.The only problem I was able to find was that hte tone pot was a little noisey but was just a little dirty.The fit and finish were of very high quality and better than anything else I looked at in this price range.It was even better than some more expensive custom like/style inst.

I dont forsee any problem's with this guitar(not to say they couldnt happen)and I dont own a backup,When I do it will probably be another G&L.The hardware appears very durable and plated well and the finish seems thick enuogh to withstand constant play.I do know by experience though that if the input jack does fail they are a pain to replace,I wish they had used another design.Oh well it's only a little thing.With a 10 year waranty I think we'll be ok.

Have'nt had to contact them yet.

I have been playing for 30 years and also own a custom built 12 fret Koa dreadnaught built by Moze Guitar's and am currently waiting for him to finish a Brazilian Rosewood Dreadnaught for me.I played this guitar for a long time in the store and finally traded my Legacy and cash for this inst.I looked at other guitar's and even had thought's of having one built but this was the one for me and if someone stole it from me and lived I would definately replace it with the same model.I may even purchase one in another color for a backup.

I hate this question. Features? It's got 6 strings, 2 pickups and volume and tone, whaddya want???

Really good, when the jack's not crapping out on it (see below). Great for blues, great for rock, I even play a little country on it and it does fine. The MFD pickups are ceramic, and to some people they are harsh. They sound great to me (I play through a Peavey 5150).

New, special ordered, built in 2000. I can't begin to describe my displeasure over this guitar. First of all, I can LITERALLY slip a credit card ON BOTH SIDES! of the neck pocket. Whether or not this contributes to tone (and tuning stability), I'm not a luthier, I don't know. But that's just disgusting.

Secondly, there are obvious finish flaws in the paint. I can't describe them, but it's almost like a bubbling or something underneath the clearcoat. Worse, it's on the TOP of the guitar (in 4 places).

The frets will have to be dressed or filed or something, as they are jagged on the edges of the fretboard. Probably not an expensive fix, but for a CUSTOM ORDER? BRAND NEW GUITAR? Does G&L have quality control, I'm not being facetious, does it exist there? This is pathetic.

But I saved the best for last. A few hours after playing this over-priced piece of shit, the JACK CRAPPED OUT ON IT!! This is a joke, right? I mean, I have eavesdropped at the G&L discussion page for 6+ months and heard mostly good things. There were a few q.a. issues, but that's to be expected. STill, I wanted this sparkle-gold ASAT with the big MFD pickups and this is what happened.

My wife picked this guitar up for me while I was out of town, AND it was her anniversary gift (partially) to me. I can't even tell her how pissed off I am about this piece of garbage. I guess I'll keep it a couple of years and replace it with a custom shop something. She'll never know the difference.

Well, based on the above comments, I'd guess extremely poor, but who knows.

I wanted to take it back to the @sshole I bought it from, but really it wasn't his fault, it was G&Ls. I guess they enjoy charging poor dumb@sses like me $800+ for a brand new piece of crap. He would not take the guitar back and claimed that structurally, nothing was wrong. He did replace the jack for free which of course he should have.

I can't begin to describe my disappointment. I don't make a lot of money ($8.50 an hour), neither does my wife (she's the breadwinner at $9.35). We have 2 kids, daycare, credit cards and a car payment. Money is precious to us, and to be honest I felt guilty about this kind of expenditure. TO have it arrive like it did? I will NEVER be suckered by these dirtbags again.