|
the blueshawk bought a G&L ASAT Special Deluxe in October 2002... a great guitar, but a bit flash for me, and not the ideal blues instrument. I traded it in in July 2002- find out more at the G&L website and Guitars by Leo - some of the material on this page is reproduced from those sites.
specification | Phyllis Fender, Leo Fender's widow, holds an |  |
PICKUPS | 2 large rectangular G&L Magnetic Field Design high output single coil pickups | |
BODY WOOD | Maple top on American Tilia (Basswood) back | |
NECK WOOD FINGERBOARD Radius Nut width | Birds-eye Maple Rosewood 7 1/2" (190.5mm) 1 5/8" (41.3mm) |  |
TUNERS | Schaller non-locking | |
BRIDGE | G&L "Saddle Lock" | |
CONTROLS | 3 position pickup selector, volume, tone | |
FINISH | Natural gloss | |
OTHER | Rear-mounted controls; chrome hardware; no pickguard; molded hard case | |
pickups | |
| Magnetic Field Design pickups use a ceramic bar magnet installed underneath each coil, with soft iron adjustable pole pieces to transfer the magnetic field to the surface of the pickup. By contrast, traditional Alnico type pickups use nonadjustable Alnico pole pieces leaving the only adjustment being pickup height. MFD pickups offer individual adjustment of each pole piece, letting the player effectively adjust the output of each string on each pickup. They also yield about twice the output per wind, making the pickup quieter whilst allowing a greater overall output. The sound of MFD pickups is warmer than conventional single coils with a broader frequency response. | |
| These pickups have given G&L its enviable reputation for great tone. They have more midrange than Gibson P-90 alnico soap-bars, while reproducing the P-90's harmonic complexity. They are great for cutting through a mix. The bass response is strong and well focused. In the neck position, the soapbar MFD produces great blues tone. In the bridge position, it has excellent spank and clarity for lead work. The pickup impedance is 4.7K - 5.3K ohms - adapted from GbL FAQs |  |
saddle-lock bridge |
| The Saddle-Lock bridge, is used on most ASAT models. It's design is revolutionary for a number of reasons. The most significant feature is an Allen screw on the side of the bridge, which presses all the saddles together and against the sides of the bridge, so they resonate as a single mass. This eliminates the loss of string vibration energy caused by side-to-side saddle movement. The strings don't therefore need to be routed though the rear of the body for optimum sustain. The bottom of the bridge has a large protrusion which fits into a rout in the body. The protrusion fits snugly against the end grain of the body wood, allowing the bridge to transfer much more of the string vibration energy directly to the core of the body, yielding much greater sustain than earlier fixed bridge designs. An innovative saddle design minimises string breakage. |
neck and truss rod |
The traditional method of truss rod installation on Fender-style guitars involves routing out the back side of the neck, installing the truss rod and covering the rout with a rosewood stripe commonly referred to as a "skunk stripe". Alternatively, the rout for the truss rod is made on the face of the neck, covering it with the fingerboard. The G&L Bi-Cut method involves cutting the neck blank in half longitudinally, making a rout on the inside, inserting the truss rod then gluing the two halves together. The new completed neck blank is glued and pressed, assuring a nearly invisible truss rod installation and exceptional resistance to warping and twisting. The joint is actually stronger than the wood on either side. |
 | One of the selling points of G&L guitars is the traditional techniques used in their construction - harking back the the methods used by the Fender company in the '50s and '60s. One of those techniques involves the use of pin routers to form necks and bodies - evidence of the their use can be found in these two filled holes in the back of the ASAT's body... |  |
| That distinctive G&L headstock - somewhere between a Tele and a Strat... |  |
