ASAT Custom Special - Custom Deluxe 3

[Pat Absent]

Hi all, long time lurker, first time poster. I'm becoming more and more of a G&L fan and my collection is starting to grow. I probably have plenty of guitars at this point but when I saw an unusual ASAT for sale online, I was really intrigued. It was listed as new, but had the old metal plate for the serial. And it was a USA ASAT Special Deluxe (so RMC), flame maple top over swamp ash, but with three jumbo MFDS. There were too many uncommon factors for me to leave it alone so I inquired with the seller, Midlothian School of Music. They responded to tell me that it was part of a run of 24 custom ASAT Special 3s that they had commissioned in 2011, a subset of which were deluxe, and each had their own unique look. The seller told me that G&L had used the best wood they had at the time. I haven't been able to find photos of any more of these online, though I did find a description of another configuration in a description of limited runs somewhere on this site.

Having read about the Trinity and the S-3 online, and having started out with a reissue SC-2 that I love the sound of, I've always been curious to hear what a three pickup configuration with the saddle lock bridge would sound like... so I could not resist!

I'm curious if anyone knows how "rare" this can actually be considered, and if anyone knows what the other 23 of the MSoM run looked like.

Here are a few photos, and I can take more for anyone interested:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/cbnPnvzguAxHqb1u8

I'm not comfortable taking the neck off, but it did come with two build sheets for some reason.
I'm pretty sure these are stainless frets, though it doesn't say anything about it on the listing or the sheet. They just look and feel a bit different from the frets on my other guitars, with a deeper shine. Does anyone know how to tell for sure?

This a great feeling guitar in my hands. It turns out that I really like the #2 vintage C neck, and the 7.5" radius feels better to me than I expected as well. The middle pickup has a great sound of its own as do the in between settings, though I'm not sure if the all pickup setting sounds as useful. The saddle lock bridge is great to finally have on a guitar, it seems like it will make muted playing and picking super easy for me.

[Craig]

Hi all, long time lurker, first time poster. I'm becoming more and more of a G&L fan and my collection is starting to grow. I probably have plenty of guitars at this point but when I saw an unusual ASAT for sale online, I was really intrigued. It was listed as new, but had the old metal plate for the serial. And it was a USA ASAT Special Deluxe (so RMC), flame maple top over swamp ash, but with three jumbo MFDS. There were too many uncommon factors for me to leave it alone so I inquired with the seller, Midlothian School of Music. They responded to tell me that it was part of a run of 24 custom ASAT Special 3s that they had commissioned in 2011, a subset of which were deluxe, and each had their own unique look. The seller told me that G&L had used the best wood they had at the time. I haven't been able to find photos of any more of these online, though I did find a description of another configuration in a description of limited runs somewhere on this site.

Having read about the Trinity and the S-3 online, and having started out with a reissue SC-2 that I love the sound of, I've always been curious to hear what a three pickup configuration with the saddle lock bridge would sound like... so I could not resist!

I'm curious if anyone knows how "rare" this can actually be considered, and if anyone knows what the other 23 of the MSoM run looked like.

Here are a few photos, and I can take more for anyone interested:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/cbnPnvzguAxHqb1u8

I'm not comfortable taking the neck off, but it did come with two build sheets for some reason.
I'm pretty sure these are stainless frets, though it doesn't say anything about it on the listing or the sheet. They just look and feel a bit different from the frets on my other guitars, with a deeper shine. Does anyone know how to tell for sure?

This a great feeling guitar in my hands. It turns out that I really like the #2 vintage C neck, and the 7.5" radius feels better to me than I expected as well. The middle pickup has a great sound of its own as do the in between settings, though I'm not sure if the all pickup setting sounds as useful. The saddle lock bridge is great to finally have on a guitar, it seems like it will make muted playing and picking super easy for me.

Welcome to our site!

See this post in our G&L Knowledgebase:
List of Special Edition & Non-Production ASAT-style guitars.
Yes, the frets are supposed to be stainless steel, but the factory did not include that in the Build Specification sheets on your guitar.
See: Why 2 copies of the Custom Build Specification Certificate?.

Your's is the first one registered in our G&L Registry, so I don't the details of the other ones, except for what I put in the post of the List of Special Edition & Non-Production ASAT-style guitars.

Hope this helps.

[Pat Absent]

Welcome to our site!

See this post in our G&L Knowledgebase:
List of Special Edition & Non-Production ASAT-style guitars.
Yes, the frets are supposed to be stainless steel, but the factory did not include that in the Build Specification sheets on your guitar.
See: Why 2 copies of the Custom Build Specification Certificate?.

Your's is the first one registered in our G&L Registry, so I don't the details of the other ones, except for what I put in the post of the List of Special Edition & Non-Production ASAT-style guitars.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, Craig. That explains the two sheets! This is my first G&L with the plate on the headstock so it was a surprise to me.
Your special edition link is the one I'd read before when researching this guitar. I'm really curious about the others while still being very glad to have one for myself

[Craig]

I am curious how the bridge pickup in your SC-2 compares to the middle pickup of the Custom Deluxe 3.
They should be the same pickup as the bridge pickup of the ASAT Super. Can you get the DC-R of those pickups?
See: List of pickups used in G&L guitars and
Measuring Pickup DC-R.

TIA.

[Pat Absent]

I am curious how the bridge pickup in your SC-2 compares to the middle pickup of the Custom Deluxe 3.
They should be the same pickup as the bridge pickup of the ASAT Super. Can you get the DC-R of those pickups?
See: List of pickups used in G&L guitars and
Measuring Pickup DC-R.

TIA.

I borrowed a multimeter from a neighbor and got these readings:

bridge: 4980
bridge + mid: 2515
mid: 4860
neck + mid: 2500
neck: 4920

neck + bridge: 2531
all three: 1691

---

For reference my SC-2 reissue is reading:
bridge: 5630
neck + bridge: 5480
neck: 5510

---

Does this point to the standard Special MFDs in this Special Deluxe 3?

[mutts]

Very cool, congratulations!!

[Craig]

I am curious how the bridge pickup in your SC-2 compares to the middle pickup of the Custom Deluxe 3.
They should be the same pickup as the bridge pickup of the ASAT Super. Can you get the DC-R of those pickups?
See: List of pickups used in G&L guitars and
Measuring Pickup DC-R.

TIA.

I borrowed a multimeter from a neighbor and got these readings:

bridge: 4980
bridge + mid: 2515
mid: 4860
neck + mid: 2500
neck: 4920

neck + bridge: 2531
all three: 1691

---

For reference my SC-2 reissue is reading:
bridge: 5630
neck + bridge: 5480
neck: 5510

---

Does this point to the standard Special MFDs in this Special Deluxe 3?

Yes, does seem to be. The Build Specifications sheet also indicates that but with the error in the type of frets listed, it may be another omission.

I no longer can find the Ad for your guitar on Reverb nor on the dealer's website, so I cannot confirm whether or not they mention the middle pickup as being the same as the ASAT Super bridge pickup. Do you happen to have a copy of the Ad?

[Pat Absent]

Yes, does seem to be. The Build Specifications sheet also indicates that but with the error in the type of frets listed, it may be another omission.

I no longer can find the Ad for your guitar on Reverb nor on the dealer's website, so I cannot confirm whether or not they mention the middle pickup as being the same as the ASAT Super bridge pickup. Do you happen to have a copy of the Ad?

I have a working reverb link: https://reverb.com/item/60776829-g-l-us ... oss-finish
It just says jumbo MFDs which seems accurate enough.

[Craig]

Yes, does seem to be. The Build Specifications sheet also indicates that but with the error in the type of frets listed, it may be another omission.

I no longer can find the Ad for your guitar on Reverb nor on the dealer's website, so I cannot confirm whether or not they mention the middle pickup as being the same as the ASAT Super bridge pickup. Do you happen to have a copy of the Ad?

I have a working reverb link: https://reverb.com/item/60776829-g-l-us ... oss-finish
It just says jumbo MFDs which seems accurate enough.

Thanks! So, only the "ASAT S-3 Special Build" [listed as "ASAT S-3 MSofM Special Build" in the G&L Registry] came with the ASAT Super pickup in the middle position. I will re-write the description in the G&L Knowledgebase post for the "ASAT S-3 Special Deluxe Special Build" [listed as "ASAT S-3 Special Deluxe MSofM Special Build" in the G&L Registry] to indicate that the middle pickup is a standard MFD Jumbo single-coil RW/RP pickup.

[Pat Absent]

Interesting! So it seems that what I have is basically an ASAT S-3 with an expander switch in a Special Deluxe RMC body style, right? Or were the S-3s wired differently? I'm not sure if their middle pickups were reversed wound like this one claims to be (it is less noisy in the in between positions than with just one pickup selected).

[Pat Absent]

The comparison seems to be between this, the Trinity, and the original S-3. As far as I can tell this one isn't chambered like the Trinity. Nice pieces of wood though!

[Craig]

Interesting! So it seems that what I have is basically an ASAT S-3 with an expander switch in a Special Deluxe RMC body style, right? Or were the S-3s wired differently? I'm not sure if their middle pickups were reversed wound like this one claims to be (it is less noisy in the in between positions than with just one pickup selected).

Yes, same as the ASAT S-3 with the addition of the expander pickup function, Flame Maple top, RMC, and no pickguard.
The pickups are standard MFD Jumbo single-coil pickups with the neck and bridge wound with the same polarity and the middle pickup reverse wound/reverse polarity.

[Craig]

The comparison seems to be between this, the Trinity, and the original S-3. As far as I can tell this one isn't chambered like the Trinity. Nice pieces of wood though!

The Trinity body wood is soft Maple and is chambered without F-hole. The pickups are also wound differently:
6.5K for the Neck, 7.25-7.3K for Middle RW/RP, and 7.25-7.3K for the Bridge on the ASAT Trinity Special Edition.

Hope this helps.

[Pat Absent]

The comparison seems to be between this, the Trinity, and the original S-3. As far as I can tell this one isn't chambered like the Trinity. Nice pieces of wood though!

The Trinity body wood is soft Maple and is chambered without F-hole. The pickups are also wound differently:
6.5K for the Neck, 7.25-7.3K for Middle RW/RP, and 7.25-7.3K for the Bridge on the ASAT Trinity Special Edition.

Hope this helps.

Now I still want a Trinity to hear those pickups