Did the ASAT Classic pickups change at some point?

[krosser]

....because I have an older one and the stock Classic pickups sound a tad darker than most of the newer ones I play...maybe it's some other factor, but I was just curious if the recipe behind those pickups was ever significantly altered over the years

And it's not because I don't love the 'darker' ones I have now...because I do...

[Craig]

....because I have an older one and the stock Classic pickups sound a tad darker than most of the newer ones I play...maybe it's some other factor, but I was just curious if the recipe behind those pickups was ever significantly altered over the years

And it's not because I don't love the 'darker' ones I have now...because I do...

Yes, there have been some changes. G&L changed from handwinding to machine winding (not sure exactly when)
and the bridge pickup has been changed: 4.8K (bridge, pre-1993); 5.6K (bridge, post-1993).

Check out How are G&L pickups currently made? in
our G&L Knowledgebase, General G&L Questions sub-forum.

We also have these posts in the same sub-forum:

List of pickups used in G&L guitars
List of pickups used in G&L basses

Hope this helps.

[krosser]

Hope this helps.

It does, immensely. Thanks so much

[westsideduck]

Here is an old post by Gabe from 2007, He's talking about the ASAT Special but most of the info here will appl;y to the Classic also.



Just wondering what the differences are, technical or tonal, real or imagined Thanks! -E

The two instruments look very similar on the surface but once you dive in you find many, many, many differences all of which add up to different sounding sounds and feels.

1. Pickups. Look identical but under the covers are very different. The 2007 model has considerably more turns than the 1986 to 1991 version and the 2007 model pickups are machine wound as compared to the vintage pieces that are hand wound. The coil wire used in 2007 is poly coated #42AWG whereas the vintage wire has PE #42AWG. The frequency response is different between the two for positive with the newer pickups being less bright and less lively. The new pickups tend to have more capacitance which is a function of more turns and machine winding.

2. Control circuit. Big differences as the 2007 version has carbon film Mexican made pots whereas the the vintage piece uses CTS USA Carbon Composition pots. Both serve the same purpose, however, the carbon composition construction of the old pots adds shimmer to the signal that is otherwise absent in a carbon film pot.

3. Body Wood. This varies...most early ASAT's are made from soft maple then later they were made from mostly ash and sometimes soft maple. New ASAT's are either ash or alder. The body shape itself has changed a little bit and the body thickness has increased from 1.625" to 1.75". The maple bodied ASAT's do not sound much like the ash or alder versions.

4. Fingerboards and Fretwire. All the vintage ASAT's have low-wide frets that I personally cannot stand. The newer guitars have tall jumbo wire...which I love. Fingerboards on the old guitars were either fretted straight into the maple or fretted into a thin ebony or rosewood curved veneer. Modern ASAT's have either a fretted maple neck or a big-ole slab rosewood or sometimes ebony fingerboard. The thick rosewood or ebony fingerboards definitely alter the sound a little...many folks prefer these to the old guitars.

5. Bridges. The bridge designs are more or less unchanged though the newer bridges utilize billet brass saddles which are considerably better than the die-cast zinc used previously. These interchange to the old models and are a highly recommended swap.

5. Geometry. The vintage G&L's have less than ideal tuner placement on the headstock meaning the strings exiting the nut don't really have a truly straight shot to the tuners which was fixed by G&L in the 97' timeframe. Does it effect the sound? Not much but I like the modern geometry better.

6. Pickguard. Most of the old ASAT's have aluminum pickguards which have a pronounced effect on the sound of these guitars. They also provide some shielding from 60 cycle hum. Some very early examples have plastic pickguards. All 2007 ASAT Specials have plastic pickguards.

These are the more major differences...there are others...

The proof though comes when you A/B a modern ASAT against a vintage piece. The two guitars feel different and definitely sound different. Personally, I prefer the feel of the new version and the sounds of the old. I prefer the fit and finish of the new guitars (most of the time) to the old versions as in the 80's the quality of the finishes sprayed on the bodies was nowhere near as good as it is now.

What you will find with the 2007 ASAT Special compared to the old is a guitar with less highs (though no shortage of treble for certain) and nice tight bottom end and a decent midrange but nothing in the same league of a good P-90. The Alder bodied modern ASAT's have a less spanky top end and sound a little more rounded off in general...I personally prefer the alder ASAT's to the ash.

The old ASAT's with the ash body are bright yet still meaty. The parallel connection between the neck and bridge pickups has a nicer jangle to it than the modern guitar and more complex overtones...a killer rythm sound for certain. The bridge pickup is less authoritative than the modern guitars. 60 cycle hum is less noticeable on the old guitars partially due to the aluminum guard but also due to the lesser turn count.

The maple bodied old ASAT's are my personal favorites of the model. I've never played one that didn't sound superlative and they are less peaky than the ash vintage ASAT's I've played. Soft maple makes for a very balanced signal when coupled with those large MFD's. When you play one you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

I say give them all a whirl and then decide...there are plenty of old ASAT's out there to go around...

And if you want a new one...G&L will be glad to build you one.

That's my dos pesos on the subject.


Gabe

[Craig]

Here is an old post by Gabe from 2007, He's talking about the ASAT Special but most of the info here will appl;y to the Classic also.

Yep, I posted it in the G&L Knowledgebase back in October 2010.

Do hope Gabe is doing well and that he and Greg get the time to complete their book on G&L (soon).