The place to discuss, post photos, video, and audio of the G&L products (US instruments, stomp boxes, etc.) produced after 1991, including the amps & gear we use with them.
Just acquired a 2004 Tribute ASAT and I have to say I am loving it. As someone who plays a lot of bass and acoustic guitar, it just seems to me more substantial than a Telecaster.
Question: I am still messing around with amp settings, etc., but the MFD pups seem somewhat bass heavy. Is this something others have noticed? I am playing currently through a borrowed Fender FrontMan 20, not the greatest amp. I have adjusted the pole magnets as high on the upper strings as I can without messing up the action.
Also, although the neck width is supposed to be the same as a Fender, the ASAT seems more comfortable to me. I have big hands, stretched out by years of bass playing. What is the neck radius? It seems flatter than my US Strat and maybe that is why it is more comfortable?
Finally, anyone willing to comment on replacing the neck pup with a mini humbucker to create a quasi-Blues Boy?
Standard ASAT radius is 7.5", too round for me, but I agree in terms of G&L vs Fender necks. I trip fall and bumble around on strat and tele necks, they just seem congested. G&L necks I can play no problem (even the 7.5"s). There is also a chance your ASAT was a custom order, in which G&L offers neck radii/nut width options. For example I have a 2010 ASAT special that I put in an order for, it has a 1" 11/16 nut and 12" radius (#3 neck), so I guess similar to a Les Paul (which I normally don't care for, but G&L has a fantastic neck carve and jumbo frets). I would recommend measuring the nut width, (1 5/8, 1 11/6 and 1 3/4 are offered) and as the last 2 have only 1 radius it should be pretty tell tale. If it is the first, pickguardian's website has a printable radius guage.
You may be right. I measure 1 11/16 on the nut. Hard to imagine that would make a difference but square that out over the length of the neck and that's extra real estate.
I just got my first G&L as well! Sunburst Bluesboy with a natural binding and rosewood fretboard.
Plays beautifully, in fact I prefer over it over all the various Fender Custom Shops I've played. The sound is great... the seth lover humbucker is really great. I definitely prefer this to my current Fender Am. 60th ann guitar, which has been my main one for while... although it desperately needs to be set up.
Anyway, I appreciate the wide neck and the ease with which I can play jazz on it.
Congrats on the new tribby ASAT! I love ASAT's, you will get GAS for more.
The trib neck radius is a 9 and width at the neck should be 1 5/8. The USA models are the 7.5 same neck width. The trib ASAT HB has a 13.25 neck radius, but it doesn't sound like that is the model you have. Interested in what model you have, post pics if you can to see what has specs like described.
I'm a new ASAT Tribute owner as well. Two big selling points for me were the chunky neck and pickups..Now for your original question, keep in mind I am no expert this is my personal experience. That Fender amp might have a little to do with it. In no way bashing your gear dude, or saying that you need to buy a handwired boutique amp but you might consider a little upgrade..kinda like a brand new awesome car with mediocre tires. It's still good, but fix those tires and it'll be great. Seriously it doesn't take a whole lot of cash just take your guitar in and play on some stuff and see if it helps. If not then consider the pickups or somethin but after you've ruled the amp out as an issue. I was jammin with a buddy and his only second amp since I didn't have mine was a 15r. It wasn't terrible, but it sold the guitar short.
My ASAT Tribute has a 0407XXXX serial, so I assume July 2004 for the manufacture.
No question I have to do amp shopping next, in fact that is why I waited for an eBay bargain. I play small venues only (the kind where you sometimes need to stand sideways!) so I don't need too much power. When I play bass I use a Line 6 Lowdown 110, which is more than enough (and which I highly recommend, BTW). I'm seriously researching the Vibro Champ XD for the ASAT.
While I'm not sure about the Tribute series, I know there is no way to tell the year of manufacture from the serial number on the USA G&Ls, so I would assume that is true of the Tributes as well.
With the USA models, the only way to nail down the date of manufacture is to take the neck off, the body is date stamped in the neck pocket and the neck is date stamped where it fits into the pocket.
Someone with more knowledge on the Tributes can clarify whether that applies to them or not.
The Super Champ XDs seem to be decent amps...tried one in a store once and thought it had some good tones. My biggest concern was whether it'd have enough headroom to play a gig...if your venues are small enough it might, but I would advise timing your purchase so that you can test that out while still in the return period, that way if it's not loud enough, you can take it back for a full refund and look at something with more output.
I personally think you can never go wrong with a Fender Deluxe Reverb... bought that amp two years ago and use it for everything from jazz to hard rock. Its famed for its bright sound... so if you want something less bass heavy that be a good alternative.
My bluesboy seems to be very high output. Roughly twice what my strat does. I've actually had to plug into the second input on the amp so I can get the amp volume past three where I think it sounds best (below two just sounds too cold and overdrive pedals sound like crap).
Also a matter of opinion.. do you prefer setting the amp volume high and then turning it down with the guitar or vice versa? I've usually found that volume/tone controls on amps are better than those on the guitar. Turning down the guitar too much makes the sound rather muddy.
Good advice from all. I gigged last night and towards the end of the evening we got pretty loud (ain't that always the way?) My Line 6 bass amp was fine with my Jbass Deluxe, but a small guitar amp would have been swamped. Even an honest 5 watts from a Champ would not have been enough and I'm not lugging an extra speaker cab. My rule nowadays is "one trip from the car".
Deluxe Reverbs... Mesa Boogies... you guys are Old School!
Thanks to Sa for the link to the info posting. Seems I have a 1 5/8 neck, 9" radius, a "Premier" finish (clear) on a swamp ash body. Sounds good to me!
And, feare, I always do my volume controlling on the amp. OK, I'll leave the guitar knob at "9" in case I need a quick boost, but yeah, at the amp. And as I said at the beginning of this thread, the MFDs on the ASAT seem pretty high output for single coils.
Congrats on the new guitar. I just recently got an ASAT Special Tribute model and love it. Just good guitars.
If you are looking for a reasonable way to get more amp, consider a Peavey Classic 30 or even a Delta Blues which is the same amp with a bigger speaker and a tremolo. You can find C30's used between $300 and $400 and they are great gigging amps. Not as high brow as some but they sound good, especially if you find one with an upgraded speaker, they are plenty loud, and they are reasonable. Kind of a blue collar amp.
, so check out the Posting Photos section in this document:
