Neck pickup location of USA ASAT Classic vs Tribute

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themikeaustin
Posts: 92
Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2015 10:36 pm

Neck pickup location of USA ASAT Classic vs Tribute

Post by themikeaustin »

All,

Does anyone have both a USA ASAT Classic and a Tribute model? Or, does anyone know of a YouTube video that does a side-by-side comparison? I'm curious as to how this affects the tone of the guitar, if at all.

I'm considering getting an ASAT Classic Tribute and putting in either the Fluence Core pickups or the G&L alnico pickups. I don't buy the "24th fret" argument - as soon as you play a chord the 24th fret moves. I suspect that the pickup locations are chosen more to maximize tonal differences between the pickups. I read on this site that the Tribute location is different because the factory in Indonesia already had done the CNC programming for the Tribute location.

If you own a Tribute ASAT Classic, have you looked under the pickguard to see if the routing will accommodate replacing the pickguard and moving the pickup to the same position it has on the USA model without re-routing?

TIA,

Mnike
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Craig
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Re: Neck pickup location of USA ASAT Classic vs Tribute

Post by Craig »

themikeaustin wrote:All,

Does anyone have both a USA ASAT Classic and a Tribute model? Or, does anyone know of a YouTube video that does a side-by-side comparison? I'm curious as to how this affects the tone of the guitar, if at all.

I'm considering getting an ASAT Classic Tribute and putting in either the Fluence Core pickups or the G&L alnico pickups. I don't buy the "24th fret" argument - as soon as you play a chord the 24th fret moves. I suspect that the pickup locations are chosen more to maximize tonal differences between the pickups. I read on this site that the Tribute location is different because the factory in Indonesia already had done the CNC programming for the Tribute location.

If you own a Tribute ASAT Classic, have you looked under the pickguard to see if the routing will accommodate replacing the pickguard and moving the pickup to the same position it has on the USA model without re-routing?

TIA,

Mnike
I am quite certain that the Tribute neck pickup route is just the size of the pickup and therefore will not accommodate placing the pickup in the US ASAT Classic neck position without re-routing.

Regarding the location difference between the US and Tribute version, see this post: https://guitarsbyleo.com/FORUM/viewtopi ... =12&t=4094 .

:ugeek:
--Craig [co-webmaster of guitarsbyleo.com, since Oct. 16, 2000]
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themikeaustin
Posts: 92
Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2015 10:36 pm

Re: Neck pickup location of USA ASAT Classic vs Tribute

Post by themikeaustin »

Thanks, Craig. I didn't think it would be so easy. I checked out a number of USA and Squier Teles on eBay and it seems that most of them have the same pickup placement as the USA ASAT. I did find one Squier Tele that had its pickup between the USA and Tribute ASAT models.

I wonder what guitar the factory had its machinery set up for. Is the pickup location the same for the Korean and Indonesian ASATs?

It would be nice to have a side-by-side comparison to see what the tonal differences are, if any.

Thanks again.
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Craig
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Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2009 10:52 am
Location: Either Coto De Caza, CA or Paso Robles, CA

Re: Neck pickup location of USA ASAT Classic vs Tribute

Post by Craig »

themikeaustin wrote:Thanks, Craig. I didn't think it would be so easy. I checked out a number of USA and Squier Teles on eBay and it seems that most of them have the same pickup placement as the USA ASAT. I did find one Squier Tele that had its pickup between the USA and Tribute ASAT models.

I wonder what guitar the factory had its machinery set up for. Is the pickup location the same for the Korean and Indonesian ASATs?

It would be nice to have a side-by-side comparison to see what the tonal differences are, if any.

Thanks again.
The neck pickup location is the same for Made In Korea and Made in Indonesia:

US ASAT Classic:
Image

Tribute ASAT Classic (Made in Indonesia):
Image

Tribute ASAT Classic (Made in Korea):
Image

Search youtube.com, there are many comparisons there.

Hope this helps.
--Craig [co-webmaster of guitarsbyleo.com, since Oct. 16, 2000]
Welcome! Read This First
Got a G&L question? Check out the: G&L Knowledgebase
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