G&L Special Pickups?

[TvontheRadiohead]

Hey guys im new here and i was just wondering What do the bigger MFD pickups sound like? Are they like p-90s? what kind of pickup are they similar to?

[Philby]

Hi there. The big MFD's don't really sound like a traditional P90, even though they share a passing resemblance.

I would describe their sound as a 'larger than life' tele pickup. There's more bass, treble and volume but you can still hear that it's a tele style guitar you're playing. By dialling back the bass, treble and volume you get the more traditional tele tones.

The large MFD neck pickup is one of my favourite sounds. It's a marked improvement on the standard tele neck pickup IMO.

You can hear an ASAT Special here

Hope that helps.

[TvontheRadiohead]

Now that's what im talking about! I don't think a normal tele pick up or the smaller MFD's can get that kind of sound, right? I'm just wondering if it would be redundant to have a guitar with p-90s and a Special... I need a guitar with single coils and love teles, but that drive sound is nasty Thanks for the info and tasty clip.

[Craig]

Hey guys im new here and i was just wondering What do the bigger MFD pickups sound like? Are they like p-90s? what kind of pickup are they similar to?

We have a list of pickups used in G&L guitars in the G&L Knowledgebase, G&L General Questions sub-forum:
List of pickups used in G&L guitars

Hope this helps.

[sirmyghin]

When playing clean you can get warm jazz tones that are very full from the neck, and extremely spanky super tele tones. When driven, you can get anything that you want out of them, I get old school metal crunch of Judas priest, marshall metal of Iron Maiden, and even touch on tones that work well for stuff like dream theatre (I am playing a Mark V though). If you want a taste of what they can do on the lead here is a tune demo that is currently in the process of being redone (the bass had no highs for who knows why, so sounds awful).

http://soundcloud.com/kylemaitland/to-bloom

The leads are all done with the bridge pickup of my special, if I recall in crunch mode (medium gain mode, gain a little past noon).

[gitman001]

Hey TV,

I have 3 specials and i few weeks back i posted some video clips of them in action in the lunch report section....

Semi-hollow,
http://guitarsbyleo.com/FORUM/viewtopic ... 46&start=0

Solidbody

http://guitarsbyleo.com/FORUM/viewtopic ... 56&start=0

Hope that can help you out
Scott

[TvontheRadiohead]

Cool Thanks guys! I'm guessing there isn't a pickup out there that you can just throw into a fender tele that sounds similar?

[sirmyghin]

Lets just say a prime motivation for buying a G&L, was this pickup. The other was it is the best 'tele' I have ever played, but pickups were a huge role.

[TvontheRadiohead]

Ya i hear ya... i just have reservations about the 7 1/2" radius because most of my guitars are 12" and i can't afford a custom build. I was gonna buy used. I'm keeping my i out for one with a flatter radius

[sirmyghin]

G&L doesn't charge extra for a custom order, I have a #3 neck (wider nut, 12" radius on mine) I ofcourse got a bunch of other options that ran the cost. The neck change doesn't run much at all either. All you have to do is chat up your dealer.

[TvontheRadiohead]

unfortunately the only way i can afford one is in a trade for my usa reverend rocco. Unfortunately that's why i can't afford a new one lol

[TvontheRadiohead]

Hey guys im new here and i was just wondering What do the bigger MFD pickups sound like? Are they like p-90s? what kind of pickup are they similar to?

We have a list of pickups used in G&L guitars in the G&L Knowledgebase, G&L General Questions sub-forum:
List of pickups used in G&L guitars

Hope this helps.

So after reading through this again A) I can't tell which of the soap bar ratings are for the Special B) It seems like they are pretty much a p-90 and it would be redundant to have a special and a p-90 guitar. Oh why does all the G&L distributors in Connecticut have to be so far away from me lol

[Craig]

Hey guys im new here and i was just wondering What do the bigger MFD pickups sound like? Are they like p-90s? what kind of pickup are they similar to?

We have a list of pickups used in G&L guitars in the G&L Knowledgebase, G&L General Questions sub-forum:
List of pickups used in G&L guitars

Hope this helps.

So after reading through this again A) I can't tell which of the soap bar ratings are for the Special B) It seems like they are pretty much a p-90 and it would be redundant to have a special and a p-90 guitar. Oh why does all the G&L distributors in Connecticut have to be so far away from me lol

The ASAT Special soapbar MFDs are 4.7K - 5.4K (post-1991).

These pickups have given G&L its enviable reputation for great tone. The soapbars have higher output than the Strat style MFDs and are "ballsy". They have more midrange than Gibson P-90 alnico soapbars while reproducing the P-90's well-known harmonic complexity. They are great for cutting through a mix. The bass response is strong and well focused. In the neck position, the soapbar MFD produces fine blues tone. In the bridge position, it has excellent spank and clarity for lead work.

Hope this helps.

[brianr0131]

Ya i hear ya... i just have reservations about the 7 1/2" radius because most of my guitars are 12" and i can't afford a custom build. I was gonna buy used. I'm keeping my i out for one with a flatter radius

Don't worry about the radius. I come from playing a Parker Fly which has a really flat compound radius. My 1986 ASAT is 7.5" radius and it didn't feel great until I got it set up. Once I had my tech set her up, she's perfect. No problem bending action is what I would call very low. Not very very low like my parker but it's a good deal lower than I can get on my Legacy. I wouldn't get caught up in Radii if I were you.

You could also always get a tribute as they're 9" Radius if you are that caught up in the numbers.

[sirmyghin]

Ya i hear ya... i just have reservations about the 7 1/2" radius because most of my guitars are 12" and i can't afford a custom build. I was gonna buy used. I'm keeping my i out for one with a flatter radius

Don't worry about the radius. I come from playing a Parker Fly which has a really flat compound radius. My 1986 ASAT is 7.5" radius and it didn't feel great until I got it set up. Once I had my tech set her up, she's perfect. No problem bending action is what I would call very low. Not very very low like my parker but it's a good deal lower than I can get on my Legacy. I wouldn't get caught up in Radii if I were you.

You could also always get a tribute as they're 9" Radius if you are that caught up in the numbers.

Care to be quantitative with 'really low', for me really low means no more than 1mm at 12 on the high E.

[TvontheRadiohead]

Ya i hear ya... i just have reservations about the 7 1/2" radius because most of my guitars are 12" and i can't afford a custom build. I was gonna buy used. I'm keeping my i out for one with a flatter radius

Don't worry about the radius. I come from playing a Parker Fly which has a really flat compound radius. My 1986 ASAT is 7.5" radius and it didn't feel great until I got it set up. Once I had my tech set her up, she's perfect. No problem bending action is what I would call very low. Not very very low like my parker but it's a good deal lower than I can get on my Legacy. I wouldn't get caught up in Radii if I were you.

You could also always get a tribute as they're 9" Radius if you are that caught up in the numbers.

Thanks... it was a combination of the radius and if i could get a normal tele sound out of these pickups that had me hesitant... It was between a tele and one of the specials, but i'll just have to put them both to the test and take the drive to try one before i take the plunge.

[brianr0131]

Care to be quantitative with 'really low', for me really low means no more than 1mm at 12 on the high E.

Sure thing.

I don't have mm ruler but I just measured my high E at the 12th fret. It's a small hair under 1/16th so I figure that to be at about 1.5 mm or so or less. That's on my ASAT.

I didn't bother measuring my Parker but it's definitely a good bit lower than that.

[sirmyghin]

Thank you,

What year is the parker, pre or post washburn acquisition? (they are still quite good but I hear pre washburn are quite amazing)

[brianr0131]

It's a 1995 Pre Washburn. I love it. I don't play it as much as I used to though. I actually play my ASAT the most right now.

[sirmyghin]

It's a 1995 Pre Washburn. I love it. I don't play it as much as I used to though. I actually play my ASAT the most right now.

Your problem is you were spoiled by probably the best 'mass produced' guitars every made I think (shame, I know).

[djyne]

TvontheRadiohead

You can get some compromise with the Asat Classic with small mfds.
You can have almost a regular tele sound by rolling off the knobs, but otherwise it's definitely hotter than regular tele pups, almost p90ish...

Well mfd have their own vibes

I have one with the 12 radius, custom ordered, it's a very good guitar, far much better finish and quality than any fender I tried for the price.
But not exactly the classic tele sound.

[TvontheRadiohead]

TvontheRadiohead

You can get some compromise with the Asat Classic with small mfds.
You can have almost a regular tele sound by rolling off the knobs, but otherwise it's definitely hotter than regular tele pups, almost p90ish...

Well mfd have their own vibes

I have one with the 12 radius, custom ordered, it's a very good guitar, far much better finish and quality than any fender I tried for the price.
But not exactly the classic tele sound.

So the smaller ones sound like the big ones then? I'm confused lol... what's the point of the bigger soapbar ones then? I thought the smaller ones were pretty much a perfected regular tele pickup and the soap bars were the overcharged version. Because that's what ive been looking for is a smaller version of the soapbars that sound exactly like the larger ones.

[suave eddie]

Because that's what ive been looking for is a smaller version of the soapbars that sound exactly like the larger ones.

You won't find a small version of the large MFD that sounds the same.
I just went through a process of choosing between ordering an ASAT Special, or an ASAT Classic. I played both side by side in a store for quite a while on separate occasions. It's hard to describe the difference between the large and the small MFDs. The large ones seem to have more of the low midrange coming through. The smaller ones are much more "Tele" sounding but still different than ALNICO tele pickups--more mellow IMO--You will not get the classic "ice-pick" Tele sound with the small MFDs. Both the large and small MFDs have quite a bit of drive to them--in fact to my ears the smaller ones may even be a bit hotter.
If you search Youtube for ASAT classic and ASAT special there are tons of videos of different people doing sample sounds. I found these much more useful than the sample clips on the G&L website. There are some old videos of the Hellecasters playing with the large MFDs also.
You can't go wrong with either pickup and neither of them will sound the same as a P-90. If you have a dealer anywhere near you try to sample them side by side.....it won't matter if they are Tributes or made in the U.S. models--the pickups are identical.

This guy knows how to make an ASAT Classic sound good:
[youtube]22Fc9B44BEU[/youtube]

Couldn't get this one to embed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpnwEmfF ... ure=fvwrel

And here's a good sample of the large MFDs
[youtube]veBQ4MHKhkI[/youtube]

[djyne]

I just went through a process of choosing between ordering an ASAT Special, or an ASAT Classic

So what did you choose?

I never tried the Asat special, they're pretty rare in France for a try, but I don't dig the look of these big mfd's on the tele body.
Nevertheless, I'm going to order one sooner or later...

So the smaller ones sound like the big ones then?

I don't think so...try both and you'll find the one you prefer.

[suave eddie]

I just went through a process of choosing between ordering an ASAT Special, or an ASAT Classic

It was a hard choice but I have an ASAT Classic on the way.

[djyne]

It was a hard choice but I have an ASAT Classic on the way.

They're great A regular classic? (vs classic custom or bluesboy)

(sorry to be a bit off topic...)

[suave eddie]

Yes, a regular ASAT Classic

[Lefty]

I just went through a process of choosing between ordering an ASAT Special, or an ASAT Classic

It was a hard choice but I have an ASAT Classic on the way.

I have purchased 3 G&L guitars from ASAT64 (playing the ASAT Special in the link above), including a Butterscotch Blonde ASAT Classic. It is one of my favorite guitars. I hope you enjoy the one you ordered as much.