NuGD - A Sweet One from 1999!

To be honest, I never thought I'd run across one of these for sale. Wasn't really in the market for a new guitar, but just couldn't pass it up. I had been looking to add a Z-Coil guitar to the collection. Had been eyeing some Z3s but managed to avoid GAS. On a whim, I searched for ASAT Z2 and would't you know it, one popped up at Guitar Center. Mentioned to the wife what a sweet guitar I found. She asked, "you're not buying it?" I replied, "I'm thinking about it." Later that evening decided to go for it, told the wife the next day (No, I'm not in trouble... But she still thinks we have too many guitars). I'm pretty stoke about this one. It's #1 of 10 to boot!



The certificate of authenticity was even included. Haven't had a chance to play it yet, hoping to get string time tomorrow.



She is super light being semi-hollow, resonates nicely, with increased volume unplugged. Looks much better in person than on the Guitar Center photos.



Looking forward to running it through the VOX AC15C1.



Also looking forward to running through the pedal board I put together back in March. Really loving the Ghetto Stomp, Two Timer, and Neo Holy Grail!



Her she is with her other G&L sibblings! Ughh... Why is this picture so grainy...



Cheers, Dan

Sweet LE-2 Dan!

Hi Dan, nice find. Very unique and good looking ASAT Z-2!

Hey Dan,

congrats...you beat me to the phone on that one by a couple of hours. When I saw it online I called GC and they said I just missed it.

Glad it stayed in the GLDP family for sure! We are looking for tone report.

Wow. That is suh-weeet!

I'd buy that in a heartbeat.

Beautiful Z 2 and nice collection !! nice pedal board too , is the Vox the amp you been using lately ??

Dan,

Really nice. I had inquired about that guitar when it went on the market and if they had sent me photo's as good as yours, I would have snagged it. It is really a great looking example of cool, rare b.b.e. era G&L.
Tim Page really came up with some nice ideas for G&L.

Enjoy that sweet guitar,

y2kc

Nice guitar, congrats. Is there a special name for this guitar? I know Tim and the herd had designed several guitars for G&L but most of them had some kind of special name.

Tom

I do believe that this was called the Asat Z2. I also think this is number 1 from that series. There are some good stories about that guitar. Tim Page is a stickler for detail and this guitar is nice.

Y2kc

I really wish Buffalo Brothers was still around...

Thank you everyone! So happy that I was able to acquire this special guitar.

Sweet LE-2 Dan!

Thanks, I thought it turned out really sweet in LPB. Not sure why the LE-2 isn't on the Rarebirds list

Hey Dan,

congrats...you beat me to the phone on that one by a couple of hours. When I saw it online I called GC and they said I just missed it.

Glad it stayed in the GLDP family for sure! We are looking for tone report.

I was going to wait a full day, but I when I got home from the kid's band concert I decided it was just too good to pass up and potentially miss out if I waited. So I jumped on it that very evening. It sure would have fit in with your ASAT collection if I hadn't got it. Tone report to follow below.

Beautiful Z 2 and nice collection !! nice pedal board too , is the Vox the amp you been using lately ??

Thanks, I had been using a Vox Tonelab EX prior to building this pedal board. At the church I play at I had been using one of their Line 6 multi-effect board, not sure of the model. Decided it was time to build a pedal board. I find it simpler and more intuitive than the multi-effect boards. Plus now I'm back to using my Vox AC15C1. We'll mic it up and run it into the house PA. At the previous church I used my Vox as well but with the Tonelab. My AC15C1 is my only tube amp. I have a couple small practice travel amp that are SS. I think it works pretty well. Have been thinking about trying out a Supro on of these days.

Nice guitar, congrats. Is there a special name for this guitar? I know Tim and the herd had designed several guitars for G&L but most of them had some kind of special name.

Tom

y2kc is correct, it is an ASAT Z-2 and it is number 1 from the series.

We are looking for tone report.

Spent some time to formulate a quick tone report. I primarily concentrated on the pickups individually so far.

Comparing the sensitivity of the pickups from most responsive to least:

Bride pickup: 1. F-100 MFD bucker in LE-2, 2. Large MFD in ASAT Special Deluxe, 3. Tie ASAT Classic S and Z-2
Neck pickup: 1. ASAT Special Deluxe, 2. Tie ASAT Classic S and Z-2 (didn't compare LE-2)

Qualitative description:

Bridge Pickups:
F-100 MFD Bucker was the darkest of the bridge pickup.
ASAT Classic S MFD was surprisingly second darkest. bit more range than the F-100 bucker.
ASAT Special Deluxe Large MFD, more twang wider range. Most harmonics.
Z-2 - twang city, dead quiet, wow surprising bright. very precious and clear.

Neck Pickups:
ASAT Classic S MFD was the darkest, full body, thick with s smooth character.
ASAT Special Deluxe MFD - rich, full bodied, widest range with harmonics.
Z-2 - precious, but smooth, much brighter than either the ASAT Classic or Special. dead quiet.

Impressions with Overdrive and Fuzz
Z-2 in both position handles the overdrive and fuzz the best. I think it is the clarity, preciousness, and brightness that really makes these work much better with these two different pedal.
ASAT Special worked really well with overdrive in both the bridge and neck, but the neck does not pair well with the fuzz. I think there is so much signal it turns to mush with fuzz. The sparkle in the bridge allows it to work with both fuzz and overdrive.
ASAT Classic S - Worked well with both overdrive and fuzz. However, I thought the ASAT Special was better in overdrive for both positions. Classic was better for fuzz in the neck.

Overall, I'm impressed with the Z-2. The Z-coils are great with distortion. Plenty of twang - I'm believe Tim even described these as twang monsters. While overall it is brighter than the ASAT Classic, it is closer to the Classic in range than the Special. Overall for predominately clean tones, I would give the edge to the Special.

time to go play some more!

Cheers,
Dan

I was the first owner of Z-2 #8, which is now in the collection of forum member yowhatsshakin. Great guitars, enjoy!

Sweet LE-2 Dan!

Thanks, I thought it turned out really sweet in LPB. Not sure why the LE-2 isn't on the Rarebirds list
/quote]

As mentioned in the G&L Registry Rarebirds section:

Just for grins, I thought it'd be cool to keep tabs on all of the rare, hard-to-find G&Ls that have been submitted to the Registry (*). Below you will find a fairly exhaustive listing of G&L's "Rarebirds (1981-2007)"; click on the model names (or images) to view detailed subpages containing background information, photos, and a complete listing of all registered examples. For a current complete list of G&L Rarebirds, see the Knowledgebase (General G&L Questions sub-forum).

Here is the full list of G&L Rarebirds in the G&L Knowledgebase: List of G&L Rarebird Instruments (USA).

Hope this helps.

Thanks Craig! Indeed it is there (need to read to the end...).
Cheers, Dan