G&L ASAT Classic S Blonde

Blondes do have more fun, and for over 60 years Leo Fender's "plank" has been right at the heart of it all. The G&L ASAT Classic S is G&L's take on the "Nashville" Tele® style of this guitar and features a middle pickup, a 5-way pickup switch and a pull volume control for seven possible pickup configurations. With it's powerful and dynamic MFD pickups this guitar is a Swiss Army Knife of tone.  And unless you've got to have a Tremolo, this may be all the guitar you need for any gig.

This new G&L Classic S in Blonde has the following features:

• Swamp Ash Body
• G&L #1 Maple Neck, 12" radius
• Vintage glossy gun oil neck tint
• Dunlop 6100 medium jumbo vintage frets
• Tortoiseshell pickguard
• G&L drilled and split tuners (no sharp string ends!)
• ASAT MFD Classic Neck and Bridge Pickup
• S-500 Middle Pickup, reverse wound
• 5-way pickup switch
• Pull volume for Neck+Bridge or All Three
• Plek® Fret finishing
• G&L fitted Tolex Hard Shell Case
• Made in USA
• List price $2200

G&L's transparent Blonde finish is a nice rendition of one of the original Telecaster® finishes. It's a nice warm color, hides fingerprints and smudges well, and the broad grain of the swamp ash shows through in a subtle but striking manner.  Swamp ash is also an excellent tone wood, and the balanced midrange and sweet high end enhances the tone of the guitar.

While the ASAT clearly owes its lineage to Leo Fender's iconic Telecaster®, the concept of the ASAT was not to create a reissue, but an improvement. In this regard, the G&L Magnetic Field Design pickups (MFD) make the ASAT a different instrument with different capabilities. Using a bar magnet structure, adjustable pole pieces and a fairly low resistance coil, the MFD pickups have higher output than traditional design "vintage" pickups and a broad balanced frequency response. Unlike other high output pickups, they can be remarkably clean and detailed, but also drive pedals very well.

The ASAT MFD neck pickup has a warm round sound that is very classically Tele®, but with added clarity and punch. It much cleaner, clearer and has better attack qualities than a traditional Alnico pickup. It's quite responsive to playing style, and the tones can range from percussive to fluid. Rolling off volume a little brings out those bell-like and slightly hollow Tele tones, but with less compression. Give it some overdrive the neck pickup gets big and creamy, but not mushy and wooly like some humbuckers. The single coil note definition is still there, but with a lot of muscle.

The reverse wound middle pickup (from the G&L S-500) has more body and a little less high end response than a traditional Strat® middle pickup.  Many blues players like the unique snappy sound of the middle position, and the enhanced midrange and slight high end rolloff of this pickup reacts very well with some gain and grit. It's perfect for some Texas shuffle, or set it clean for a punchy rhythm tone that is clear without being shrill or thin.

The bridge pickup assembly combines plenty of rich twangy goodness, but with more body, midrange, and no icy top end. It also drives pedals really well, with lots of output and harmonic complexity. Big rock tones are no problem with this guitar, and it's got humbucker-like output with superior clarity and detail. It's a great pickup for lead guitar work, and with your favorite stomp box you go can go from Bad Company to Brad Paisley in an instant. The in-between positions on Classic S have that out-of-phase cluck, but are a little warmer and more punchy than the typical Strat®. Throughout the range, the MFD pickups add a touch more midrange and girth, providing that classic tone but with more body.

Pulling up the volume control lets you access the traditional neck+bridge pickup combination, which has that characteristic country twang that is perfect for shimmering rhythm playing, or a little chicken pick'en. Plus in position 2 or 4 you get all three pickups which yields a smooth, slightly warm timbre that is well suited for rhythm playing, and actually sounds somewhat like an ASAT Bluesboy in the neck position.

While many players crave what we would term "vintage" tones, in reality the demands of live playing and modern tastes have changed the requirements. In all styles of music guitar tones are much "heavier" than in the past, and most country bands today are sporting back lines that look more like Creed than Creedence. The G&L ASAT Classic S provides traditional vintage flavors but with the output, clarity and punch that makes it great for both recording and live performances. With its highly flexible morph of Tele/Strat sounds, and the ability to put out some serious crunch, the ASAT Classic S is the perfect go-to guitar for a wide variety of playing situations.