New ASATs Month
Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2018 7:06 pm
I’ve owned a series of Telecasters and other knockoffs over the years. I’ve always enjoyed the tone, especially of the bridge pickup, but never been happy with the quality. Two features of the Telecaster have always bothered me:
1) The Telecaster “baseball bat” neck is super annoying to me, especially as someone who loves Jazzmasters and is used to very slim necks.
2) This is kind of petty, but I fucking hate the design of the Telecaster headstock. It. Is. Terrible.
I have loved every G&L I have ever played, not to mention the hook design of the headstock is a thousand times better than Telecaster.
I first bought an ASAT Classic with MFD pickups. While I found the bridge pickup to be a bit on the dark side for my taste, I also found it to be incredibly unique, giving me a meaty sound I couldn’t get out of any other guitar I’d ever played. The neck pickup is the tonal opposite of the Telecaster neck pickup. It is bright and chimy while remaining full. Honestly, similar to a JM neck pickup, with just a touch more heft.
So… I bought two more ASATs, the two I have kept.
The ASAT Classic Alnico has all the great bridge sound you love from Telecasters, with maybe a bit more grunt when dirty. Oh. So. Nice. The neck pickup is about 80% as muddy as the average Telecaster I have played. Still gives you that great tonal distinction but without sacrificing clarity.
The ASAT Special, with its Jumbo MFD pickups is absolutely wonderful with its wide wind and vertical springing magnetic field. They have the power and ferocity of a P90 with the clarity of a JM pickup, leaving behind any trace of “ice pick” that a JM can bring.
The build on these is unequalled in import guitars. The Classic Alnico is swamp ash with a natural finish. The Special is mahogany with a translucent Irish Ale finish.
Beautiful to play. Beautiful to hear. Beautiful to look at.
1) The Telecaster “baseball bat” neck is super annoying to me, especially as someone who loves Jazzmasters and is used to very slim necks.
2) This is kind of petty, but I fucking hate the design of the Telecaster headstock. It. Is. Terrible.
I have loved every G&L I have ever played, not to mention the hook design of the headstock is a thousand times better than Telecaster.
I first bought an ASAT Classic with MFD pickups. While I found the bridge pickup to be a bit on the dark side for my taste, I also found it to be incredibly unique, giving me a meaty sound I couldn’t get out of any other guitar I’d ever played. The neck pickup is the tonal opposite of the Telecaster neck pickup. It is bright and chimy while remaining full. Honestly, similar to a JM neck pickup, with just a touch more heft.
So… I bought two more ASATs, the two I have kept.
The ASAT Classic Alnico has all the great bridge sound you love from Telecasters, with maybe a bit more grunt when dirty. Oh. So. Nice. The neck pickup is about 80% as muddy as the average Telecaster I have played. Still gives you that great tonal distinction but without sacrificing clarity.
The ASAT Special, with its Jumbo MFD pickups is absolutely wonderful with its wide wind and vertical springing magnetic field. They have the power and ferocity of a P90 with the clarity of a JM pickup, leaving behind any trace of “ice pick” that a JM can bring.
The build on these is unequalled in import guitars. The Classic Alnico is swamp ash with a natural finish. The Special is mahogany with a translucent Irish Ale finish.
Beautiful to play. Beautiful to hear. Beautiful to look at.