Sat Feb 18, 2012 3:47 pm
Sat Feb 18, 2012 3:58 pm
Sun Feb 19, 2012 9:31 pm
Sun Feb 19, 2012 11:20 pm
10drum wrote:Greetings,
I'm new here.
I hope I've chosen the right forum.
I took a 2003 asat classic in trade for one of my Martins. I'm a Fender guy so I was glad to give it a try.
The neck pick-up had some static issues and after doing some research I think it is a cheap replacement pick-up. I'd like to replace it with this original G&L p/up:
http://www.glguitars.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=241
I will also need the pickguard because the one that came with this guitar has 2 adjustment screw holes. Will a standard Tele pickguard be cut right for this guitar & p/up and if not where can I find an original pickguard? I think tortoise shell would look good on this guitar.
Thanks for all replies
louis cyfer wrote:tortoise shell will not look good on that guitar.
Mon Feb 20, 2012 2:20 pm
Mon Feb 20, 2012 4:10 pm
10drum wrote:Thanks all,
I know the holes are to adjust the p/up height, I haven't seen any asat classics with the adjustment screw holes. This guitar has a tele style chrome neck p/up. Did G&L make some like that? I may try a seymour duncan '54 in there first, I can pick up one of those for less than $40 from a friend, but I was just trying to keep it original.
I did wonder why he thought tortoise wouldn't look good, oh well, I'll try a different p/up before I buy a pickguard anyway.
Any suggestions as to which is the best photo storage site? I'll post some photos soon.
Thanks again.
Mon Feb 20, 2012 5:53 pm
Mon Feb 20, 2012 8:14 pm
Fri Mar 09, 2012 3:31 pm
Craig wrote:Please do post a photo of the bridge pickup. If it is the stock MFD, then I can
understand why the neck pickup sounds bad. Leo designed the bridge pickup so that
aftermarket neck pickups will not work well with it. That's why there is a modified bridge
pickup in the USA ASAT Classic Blues Boy, so that the neck SD Seth Lover blends well with it.
See the Gallery Album: Instrument Manuals and Wiring Schematics:
Album: ASAT Classic Bluesboy Wiring Diagram and Picture Diagrams.
If the stock bridge pickup is still there, I suggest you get a stock neck MFD pickup and you should
be good to go.
Hope this helps.
Fri Mar 09, 2012 3:55 pm
editorjuno wrote:"Leo designed the bridge pickup so that aftermarket neck pickups will not work well with it." While I certainly agree that the ASAT Classic's bridge MFD (essentially a P-90 in the Tele bridge form factor with ceramic magnets instead of Gibson's alnico, not so much a design per se as an adaptation) doesn't play well with traditional-style Tele neck pickups, there's a universe of aftermarket Tele neck pickups that work perfectly fine with it. Of course if you already know that you like how the stock MFD neck pickup performs, it makes perfect sense to get one -- but there are tons of usable alternatives out there if the MFD isn't your cup of tea, and there's also the option of replacing both pickups for assured balance and blend.
I replaced the bridge pickup in my Tribute Classic Semihollow and at first thought the neck MFD was sort of OK, not wonderful but passable as in "I can live with that." Now that I've replaced both pickups, I'd no longer consider an MFD for either position -- but that's just me, I know a lot of players swear by their factory pickups. The bottom line that there is more than one way to arrive at "good to go" -- assuming you have the standard (non-Bluesboy) bridge MFD, installing a neck MFD is just the most straightforward way to get there.Craig wrote:Please do post a photo of the bridge pickup. If it is the stock MFD, then I can
understand why the neck pickup sounds bad. Leo designed the bridge pickup so that
aftermarket neck pickups will not work well with it. That's why there is a modified bridge
pickup in the USA ASAT Classic Blues Boy, so that the neck SD Seth Lover blends well with it.
See the Gallery Album: Instrument Manuals and Wiring Schematics:
Album: ASAT Classic Bluesboy Wiring Diagram and Picture Diagrams.
If the stock bridge pickup is still there, I suggest you get a stock neck MFD pickup and you should
be good to go.
Hope this helps.
Fri Mar 09, 2012 4:23 pm
louis cyfer wrote:editorjuno wrote:"Leo designed the bridge pickup so that aftermarket neck pickups will not work well with it." While I certainly agree that the ASAT Classic's bridge MFD (essentially a P-90 in the Tele bridge form factor with ceramic magnets instead of Gibson's alnico, not so much a design per se as an adaptation) doesn't play well with traditional-style Tele neck pickups, there's a universe of aftermarket Tele neck pickups that work perfectly fine with it. Of course if you already know that you like how the stock MFD neck pickup performs, it makes perfect sense to get one -- but there are tons of usable alternatives out there if the MFD isn't your cup of tea, and there's also the option of replacing both pickups for assured balance and blend.
I replaced the bridge pickup in my Tribute Classic Semihollow and at first thought the neck MFD was sort of OK, not wonderful but passable as in "I can live with that." Now that I've replaced both pickups, I'd no longer consider an MFD for either position -- but that's just me, I know a lot of players swear by their factory pickups. The bottom line that there is more than one way to arrive at "good to go" -- assuming you have the standard (non-Bluesboy) bridge MFD, installing a neck MFD is just the most straightforward way to get there.Craig wrote:Please do post a photo of the bridge pickup. If it is the stock MFD, then I can
understand why the neck pickup sounds bad. Leo designed the bridge pickup so that
aftermarket neck pickups will not work well with it. That's why there is a modified bridge
pickup in the USA ASAT Classic Blues Boy, so that the neck SD Seth Lover blends well with it.
See the Gallery Album: Instrument Manuals and Wiring Schematics:
Album: ASAT Classic Bluesboy Wiring Diagram and Picture Diagrams.
If the stock bridge pickup is still there, I suggest you get a stock neck MFD pickup and you should
be good to go.
Hope this helps.
what pups did you replace them with?
Mon Mar 12, 2012 1:35 am
editorjuno wrote:louis cyfer wrote:editorjuno wrote:"Leo designed the bridge pickup so that aftermarket neck pickups will not work well with it." While I certainly agree that the ASAT Classic's bridge MFD (essentially a P-90 in the Tele bridge form factor with ceramic magnets instead of Gibson's alnico, not so much a design per se as an adaptation) doesn't play well with traditional-style Tele neck pickups, there's a universe of aftermarket Tele neck pickups that work perfectly fine with it. Of course if you already know that you like how the stock MFD neck pickup performs, it makes perfect sense to get one -- but there are tons of usable alternatives out there if the MFD isn't your cup of tea, and there's also the option of replacing both pickups for assured balance and blend.
I replaced the bridge pickup in my Tribute Classic Semihollow and at first thought the neck MFD was sort of OK, not wonderful but passable as in "I can live with that." Now that I've replaced both pickups, I'd no longer consider an MFD for either position -- but that's just me, I know a lot of players swear by their factory pickups. The bottom line that there is more than one way to arrive at "good to go" -- assuming you have the standard (non-Bluesboy) bridge MFD, installing a neck MFD is just the most straightforward way to get there.Craig wrote:Please do post a photo of the bridge pickup. If it is the stock MFD, then I can
understand why the neck pickup sounds bad. Leo designed the bridge pickup so that
aftermarket neck pickups will not work well with it. That's why there is a modified bridge
pickup in the USA ASAT Classic Blues Boy, so that the neck SD Seth Lover blends well with it.
See the Gallery Album: Instrument Manuals and Wiring Schematics:
Album: ASAT Classic Bluesboy Wiring Diagram and Picture Diagrams.
If the stock bridge pickup is still there, I suggest you get a stock neck MFD pickup and you should
be good to go.
Hope this helps.
what pups did you replace them with?
These (toward the bottom of the page), and they're never coming out. The website may be a bit quaint and amateurish, but the pickups are simply astonishing:
http://wildepickups.com/Home_Page.html
The cool thing is that a Tele set costs less than what many "boutique" Fender clone makers get for one pickup! Like the MFDs (and P-90s), MicroCoils have mild steel adjustable pole pieces, but that's where the resemblance ends. I could write a lot more, but I suspect I'd come off too much a like a shill for Bill's work, especially since we've known each other for 40+ years.
Mon Mar 12, 2012 11:28 am
louis cyfer wrote:editorjuno wrote:louis cyfer wrote:editorjuno wrote:"Leo designed the bridge pickup so that aftermarket neck pickups will not work well with it." While I certainly agree that the ASAT Classic's bridge MFD (essentially a P-90 in the Tele bridge form factor with ceramic magnets instead of Gibson's alnico, not so much a design per se as an adaptation) doesn't play well with traditional-style Tele neck pickups, there's a universe of aftermarket Tele neck pickups that work perfectly fine with it. Of course if you already know that you like how the stock MFD neck pickup performs, it makes perfect sense to get one -- but there are tons of usable alternatives out there if the MFD isn't your cup of tea, and there's also the option of replacing both pickups for assured balance and blend.
I replaced the bridge pickup in my Tribute Classic Semihollow and at first thought the neck MFD was sort of OK, not wonderful but passable as in "I can live with that." Now that I've replaced both pickups, I'd no longer consider an MFD for either position -- but that's just me, I know a lot of players swear by their factory pickups. The bottom line that there is more than one way to arrive at "good to go" -- assuming you have the standard (non-Bluesboy) bridge MFD, installing a neck MFD is just the most straightforward way to get there.Craig wrote:Please do post a photo of the bridge pickup. If it is the stock MFD, then I can
understand why the neck pickup sounds bad. Leo designed the bridge pickup so that
aftermarket neck pickups will not work well with it. That's why there is a modified bridge
pickup in the USA ASAT Classic Blues Boy, so that the neck SD Seth Lover blends well with it.
See the Gallery Album: Instrument Manuals and Wiring Schematics:
Album: ASAT Classic Bluesboy Wiring Diagram and Picture Diagrams.
If the stock bridge pickup is still there, I suggest you get a stock neck MFD pickup and you should
be good to go.
Hope this helps.
what pups did you replace them with?
These (toward the bottom of the page), and they're never coming out. The website may be a bit quaint and amateurish, but the pickups are simply astonishing:
http://wildepickups.com/Home_Page.html
The cool thing is that a Tele set costs less than what many "boutique" Fender clone makers get for one pickup! Like the MFDs (and P-90s), MicroCoils have mild steel adjustable pole pieces, but that's where the resemblance ends. I could write a lot more, but I suspect I'd come off too much a like a shill for Bill's work, especially since we've known each other for 40+ years.
i am quite familiar with bill's work so no need to talk them up, they are great pups indeed, and his prices exceedingly reasonable. i have not tried those microcoils, but would love to, and to have a little more understanding about them. i have used bill's pups form the days when he still owned bill lawrence, i have a few old ones around. i also like the l280's and the keystones.
i read ron's summary of the conversations he had with bill about the microcoils on tdpri, and i have a lot of respect for rons's opinions, but after reading all that i am still not clear about the technology that is going in these pups.