G&L ASAT Deluxe Semi-Hollow

[Marty Grass]

This has a carved maple top and a semi-hollow solid mahogany body. The fretboard is ebony. Pickups are SD 59 and JB with coil split toggle switch. It's about 6 lbs as a guess. The build quality is excellent, as with other G&Ls I've had from Fullerton.

I bought this without having tried it. Reviews from others weren't helpful, as often is the case with a guitar often used for rock and blues. They ranged from blah and boring to rich, warm, and sparkley. You'll find similar reviews of 335s, LPs, and more. My opinion is that it is pretty light without the SG neck dive problem, the controls are easy to use, it's comfortable, and it sounds very good. I have no complaints. The semi-hollows cannot have a "tummy carve". That doesn't bother me.

You can imagine the tone is fuller than a typical Tele. The coil split works better than I thought, providing a nice, usable sound.

[marcwhy]

Very cool - congrats! G&L's are excellent guitars!

[alltunes]

curious as to the weight on something like this?

Edit: ah I see you mentioned around 6lbs. I really love my Dano (avatar) it’s a little over 6lbs but very resonant unplugged which is how I do a fair amount of my playing around the house.

But I’m always gassing for another Tele!

I imagine your G&L has a nice unplugged sound as well.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

That’s a seriously wonderful Tele. By the time he started G&L, Leo had left his miserly ways behind. With high quality parts, excellent workmanship, beautiful finishes etc, G&Ls really raised the bar for factory built Fenders. Enjoy it !!

[jads57]

Wonderful Guitar! Just could never bond with their thinner neck shapes. Tried several times,,and even tried custom order with them to no avail.

[Cunamara]

Leave it to you to find the best looking ASAT I've ever seen. Congratulations! That's a beauty.

[Stringswinger]

Congrats, may she inspire your playing for many years to come!

[Marty Grass]

Wonderful Guitar! Just could never bond with their thinner neck shapes. Tried several times,,and even tried custom order with them to no avail.

I have three G&Ls. Compared to the round '59 LPs, they are thinner. But they are not close to the Gibson '60's in thinness.

A friend sold me a couple of '59 fat Thorntons. They are wonderful instruments. After a few hours I adjusted to the thickness. I get that some people have hand restrictions where that won't happen. I'm not one. Maybe it's because I played clarinet and sax for years in school band. Now those are fat on the hand dynamics compared to guitar.

[Woody Sound]

Very nice. Check out this Jaquar Thinline.

[Marty Grass]

Very nice. Check out this Jaquar Thinline.

That's a beauty. And I've always loved the complex circuits. Leo was brilliant.

[jads57]

I noticed that your from Kalamazoo,Michigan. I can’t help but laugh at the irony of your posting Leo Fenders’s designs, Lol!

[Marty Grass]

I get your point. And I did grow up in Kalamazoo. My mother's bridge partner was the CFO of Gibson. I used to visit the plant as a kid and more recently the Heritage factory. I grew up in that culture. Nonetheless I had a Jazzmaster, Hofner and a Gretsch as a teen.

Everyone knows who Leo is. He was practical and clever. No one knows who designed electric Gibsons because it wasn't a single person in charge. Even the Les Paul models were by a group with marketing research. If I had to pick a Gibson hero, it's Seth Lover.

Gibson quality is better now. In its heyday it was variable. The same is true about Heritage. My personal experience with G&L is consistently positive.

The only Gibson I have now is a Howard Roberts Artist. This model was preceded by the Epiphone Howard Roberts in the same plant. The Epiphone was my main guitar learning jazz as a teen. The Gibson version doesn't have the carved spruce top but is equal in pleasure it brings.

Seeing the actually building process and knowing the people demystifies the instrument but doesn't diminish the respect at all.

Gibson had the best wood sourcing and maybe still has. Some or those who did finishing were true artists. The G&L I posted had those good aesthetics also.

Here is a Heritage semi-hollow of mine. It shows the skills of the "paint guy", Marv Lamb. The guitar was not a special order except the Bigsby. BTW, the Bigsby factory used to be right next to the Gibson plant.

[Marty Grass]

For the sake of completeness, here's the HR.

[Prossi@cozen.com]

Why three control knobs on the HR only one PU?

[Marty Grass]

That's a midrange tone control. It cuts mids. It is interesting.

[charleyrich99]

Congratulations! I had one and replaced the pickups with Seth Lovers. I sold it but wish I didn't. Yours looks particularly nice. Enjoy!