new to this forum but not to G&L

[jfine]

Hi! My name is Jon and I'm on my third G&L ASAT. The first one was a standard '89 ASAT in 3-color sunburst with a curly maple body that I bought in '91 from a friend of mine who ordered it new. Looked great, sounded terrific, but I couldn't get along with the narrow neck, so I got rid of it and got an ASAT Classic that was supposedly made for John Jorgenson (although I've never been able to confirm that), in Metallic Goldburst with an ebony fingerboard and Leo Fender fulcrum tremolo. Again, I had the same problem with the narrow neck (I got it used), so I decided to bite the bullet and order one new in 2001. I still have it--it's an ASAT Z-3 semi-hollowbody with figured-maple top, double-bound, in transparent orange with a tortoise pickguard and white pickup covers, birdseye maple neck with vintage tint and bound ebony fingerboard, big profile (I think it's a #2 neck) with medium-jumbo frets and locking tuners, standard Saddle-Lock bridge. I think I got everything except a color-matched headstock and gold hardware! It weighs next to nothing, which is great as I traded off a Les Paul that I'd had for twenty years to get that Z-3. I'll try to get a pic up if I can figure out how to do it.

[fianoman]

Welcome! Looking forward to the pic. Sounds like a great guitar. Any problem with the Z3 stepping into the shoes of the LP? Those z-coils are supposed to be pretty meaty.

[jfine]

Fianoman--I wasn't looking for a substitute for the LP, as I'm more of a Tele player and I was looking to get more of that type of sound. What I really wanted was an ASAT with three of the big soapbar-looking MFD pickups, the original '80's Broadcaster/ASAT/SC-2 ones, and G&L has made a few ASATs like that in the past, but not very many of them, and they keep discontinuing them! I've never been able to find one when I had the money, and they wouldn't make me one on special order (darn!), so I went with the Z-3 as the next-best alternative. I wouldn't describe it as being fat-sounding, but it does sound good--I actually used it on some big-band jazz gigs at one point, neck pickup with the tone control backed off some, and it sounded a lot like an archtop. The bridge pickup, the heart of the Tele, was a bit harder to dial in, especially on the third string which was a bit overwhelming, but I finally got it adjusted to where it was balanced without being shrill. Gotta love adjustable polepieces!

[fianoman]

I have enjoyed the jumbo MFDs. Very versatile once you start moving the tone controls and volume. I was used to running everything wide open and it took me a bit to adjust.