Just got my first G&L and wow!

[Schwebel]

Hello all,

I just got my first G&L today. It's an ASAT classic in shoreline gold made from empress wood. I have owned several tele's in the past but after a back injury I could no longer sling the solid body tele's around for very long. I needed something lightweight and I never cared for a thin line. I ended up buying a Paul Reed Smith Custom 24 that I have been playing for a couple years, it weighs just under 7lbs. I tried to make it my swiss army instrument, but I really missed having a tele around. Then I learned about empress G&L's. I know the wood is a little controversial, but I am very pleased with the sound and weight. Mine weighs just over 6lbs. During rehearsals, I usually have the guitar on for about 3-4 hours so every ounce counts.

I am really impressed with the playability of the G&L's. Except for some bigger frets the modern classic with a 12" radius plays almost identical to my PRS, I also have the wider 1 11/16's nut. I couldn't believe how low the action was out of the box. My old teles could never get that low. The craftsmanship is top notch. It literally blows all but the Fender Custom Shop tele's away.

[Craig]

Hello all,

I just got my first G&L today. It's an ASAT classic in shoreline gold made from empress wood. I have owned several tele's in the past but after a back injury I could no longer sling the solid body tele's around for very long. I needed something lightweight and I never cared for a thin line. I ended up buying a Paul Reed Smith Custom 24 that I have been playing for a couple years, it weighs just under 7lbs. I tried to make it my swiss army instrument, but I really missed having a tele around. Then I learned about empress G&L's. I know the wood is a little controversial, but I am very pleased with the sound and weight. Mine weighs just over 6lbs. During rehearsals, I usually have the guitar on for about 3-4 hours so every ounce counts.

I am really impressed with the playability of the G&L's. Except for some bigger frets the modern classic with a 12" radius plays almost identical to my PRS, I also have the wider 1 11/16's nut. I couldn't believe how low the action was out of the box. My old teles could never get that low. The craftsmanship is top notch. It literally blows all but the Fender Custom Shop tele's away.

Welcome!

Congratulations on your first G&L. We would love to see some photos of your new guitar. To post photos, see: Tutorial: Posting photos.
Also, please add your ASAT Classic to our G&L Registry, too.

[meursault]

Welcome !!...

The typical first G&L encounters !

And yes, we want pics !

[glvourot]

I would love to try an Empress wood guitar. Welcome to the forum and congratulations on finding a guitar you love to play. Lets see it !

[DanDoulogos]

My KOA top Fender Select Tele has an Empress body (see below)...



It breathes some warmth into the tone without affecting the spank or twang. Love. It.

edit: spelling

[meursault]

Where can we find infos about that empress stuff ?

[sam]

Hi Schwebel

Welcome to the club, your new ASAT Classic sounds like a true winner in looks, weight and tone. As others said, please post pics. It doesn't exist without pics and we all love to look at pictures.

Jump in often, and tell us more about yourself and your band.

[DanDoulogos]

Re:Empress wood...

The name is more of a marketing choice than a floralogical (I made up that word just now) classification. The standard horticultural reference to the wood is called Paulownia Tomentosa (see: wiki or better yet, the wood database).

The tree itself is sometimes called a foxglove tree, or less often, a princess tree. In Chinese tradition, because the tree matures quickly, when a daughter was born, a tree was planted. When the daughter married, the tree (which was more or less mature by that time) was harvested, and items were made from it for the daughter's dowry.

But who gives a rats' bottom about that stuff?

What we want to know is what is this wood like, acoustically and whatnot. Well, you won't be making any guitar necks out of this stuff - as it has a Janka hardness rating of between 260 and 300 lbf - which is pretty "soft" as far as woods go softer than pine. It's often ranked as the second softest (common) wood in the world, Balsa being the softest. It is pretty similar to cottonwood/Aspen for softness, but slightly softer.

Acoustically, it has been a very popular wood used to make instruments in Japan (where the wood is called Kiri). Tonally, it resonates well.

The grain isn't very tight, so staining it would be like staining a two-by-four. I think it gets used a lot, and sounds great, but it seems to be always covered up by solid (non-see-three) paints, or as the body beneath a more exotic, stain-ready wood, ...in practice at least.

I can say this about my Tele - it picks up a lot of noise (mind you it has no shielding whatsoever, and has some really hot pickups - but I get the sense that the softness of the wood plays into that a little. I may be just imagining it - but I'm tossing that out there. I plan to "Faraday cage" as much of my tele as I can (still gathering parts), and we'll see how it handles hum after that - but tone-wise? I am sold.

Hope that helps a little.

[meursault]

Interesting !!!... the 2 first paragraphs as well !

Thanx for the infos !!!

[Fumble fingers]

sweet !! .... my new Bluesboy is Empress with Classic C+ neck all maple with vintage gloss tint , the Empress is pretty impressive (pun intended )

[Schwebel]

[Schwebel]

Last night I had a three hour rehearsal so I brought along the ASAT.

Things I liked,
The guitar sounds "punchy" and very defined. It really cuts through the mix when I need it to.
The light weight really helped my back.
The action is great, plays very fast and comfortable.
Stayed in tune.

Things I didn't like so much,
This might just be an adjustment issue with the bridge pickup but, the high E and B strings seemed to have a little less volume.
The light body throws the balance off a little bit when worn with a strap. (however I have been told I hold the neck up too high anyway, so now it just naturally drops into place)

So all in all, I am very pleased. This thing blows my PRS away when it comes to clean tone. My princeton reverb loves it. When it comes to the high gain stuff it holds its own too. I like the AlNiCo's a lot.
Every once in a while I need 24 frets, so my PRS won't be leaving anytime soon. I think the guitars will fill their roles well for me.

Hopefully the empress wood holds up. I play a lot, but I have always taken very good care of my instruments. So a ding here and there should be alright.
I'm wondering what the shoreline gold would look like with a tortoise shell or black pick guard.

[Craig]

A great looking ASAT Classic Alnico.

Thanks for posting the photo. When you get a chance, please add it to our G&L Registry.

I'm wondering what the shoreline gold would look like with a tortoise shell or black pick guard.

Check out this post: Examples of Standard Finishes ....

Hope this helps.

[meursault]

Hey ! That's the asat that try to be a telecaster !!!

It looks really nice !! That white PG looks pretty cool... i checked Craig's link and the white PG is the way to go... never paid attention to that finish but i really like it...

[WitSok]

I like the white pickguard too. You have one sweet looking ASAT Classic Alnico. I think this is the best example of Shoreline Gold I've seen. Congratulations! Cheers, Dan

[glvourot]

Your guitar looks great as is , thanks for the pic. That colour is a nice choice.