Reinventing the guitar that nobody likes!

[Virg]

So I bought a lovely G&L recently.
It has been through 4 sets of Melbourne, Australia hands in just over 2 years.
( this forum revealed as much, after owner 3 claimed otherwise )

There was something to this ASAT.
It was pretty, and well made..
Yet it kept on being rejected..

I played it and wondered what to do..
The strings were heavy, the pickup selector didn't have much range..
The tones didn't quite create any movement in the crotchal region.
Those reasons were becoming evident. Was it time for owner 5?


Then I tuned it down half a step, and everything changed.


The moral to this story, is be skeptical of guitars on ebay.
And if you're planning on selling a guitar on ebay (especially if not so truthful),
make sure you check that the previous owners aren't all on a forum discussing their purchase and sale of said guitar..

[yowhatsshakin]

Your point is well taken, Virg. The very first G&L I ever bought, a Legacy Special, got the cold shoulder treatment after some ASATs had come in. But after slapping on some 11s on that one and setting it up, it became a whole different and wonderful guitar that gets frequent play time. Next experiment you might try: slap 11s on it, use open G tuning, and play Keef riffs.

- Jos

[Ahryn]

I had a parlor with the same problem, It just sounded tinny then a little downtuning later...

Mhmm.

Glad the guitar is working out for you, I'll second the motion on trying the 11s.

[blargfromouterspace]

Next experiment you might try: slap 11s on it, use open G tuning, and play Keef riffs

+11 . I have 11's on all of mine, in standard tuning. If you're tuned down go even heavier.

You might want to have a look at the wiring on it too. I'm pretty sure the last thing I did before giving up on it completely was to change it to the Ted Greene style Tele wiring. IMO the standard wiring is far, far superior.

[Virg]

ok, I'll look into the wiring.

Don't see how it could make too much difference...
That being said, I had a strat with two Duncan Antiquities and a JB Jr.
Wiring it up it sounded ... just ok..
I removed the tone pots, and had one volume.. oh my.. so much better!

are your tone pots sucking you dry?
Do you really need tone pots?

[Lazer]

Keefs riff's on a legacy??? Isn't that heresy ?

Cheers
L-zr

[blargfromouterspace]

ok, I'll look into the wiring.

Don't see how it could make too much difference...

It's surprising. I had the same wiring on another ASAT for ages and only recently changed it back to stock. It sounds plain old better.

And one more thing - already you're at least the 5th owner. The guy I got it from bought it used - he wouldn't have been old enough in 1998 to have been the original owner (not that there's a minimum age, but he was around 20 when I bought it from him at a guess). If it has changed hands as often as it has here - thats two per year - then extrapolating out to 15 years means there are possibly 30 owners

[darwinohm]

Interesting thread. The former singer in our band had an American Strat that would not stay in tune. I have worked on that guitar many times and replace the tuners with locking, made sure the nut wasn't binding and went through the trem. Although the frets are worn quite a bit this is the worst playing guitar I have ever played. He doesn't use it anymore. I have played it and it stayed in tune just fine. He plays it and it goes out within minutes. Anyway sometimes you find bummer out there that will get passed on. I had a Musicman JP that was a beautiful guitar and for being 4 years old, it has already had 5 owners and could be more by now as I only see it if it appears on the local CL.-- Darwin.

[yowhatsshakin]

Keefs riff's on a legacy??? Isn't that heresy ?

Cheers
L-zr

No not at all as it turns out. On some recently released film footage of the Rolling Stones' 1972 tour one can see Keef come on stage with a Strat slung around the neck and diving into the Brown Sugar opening riff. Will admit I had to take a double take too but there it was ...

- Jos

[Lazer]

Wow, poor guy... must have felt lost ... probably never happened again.

Cheers
L-zr