I've seen many, many examples of this model over the years, but never pulled the trigger because I was less interested in a G&L with someone else's pickups. But this one caught my eye and it was reasonably priced (by today's standards, though many were available for less in the past 10-15 years). Now that I've played it some, it has earned a stall in the stable. The Duncan neck pickup has a rich tone that melds bass and treble, can be bluesy, jazzy, or "womanly." The hotter Duncan bridge pickup gives nice crunch. The coil splits give a clearer single-coil tone, and the volume change that results is useful for switching from rhythm to solo or for quiet/loud dynamics. This is more noticeable for overdrive tone.
What sealed the deal was test-driving it at a friend's with his JHS Andy Timmons overdrive and the Abasi Pathos overdrive pedals. These are typically higher gain than I use; however, they allowed the ASAT to emulate Robert Fripp's sustain tones in David Bowie's "Heroes," and overall gave it a sound that made a Les Paul redundant. The Abasi drive in particular has a bass control that is voiced for Tosin Abasi's eight-string guitar, so the pedal delivers more bass clarity than I have ever heard in heavy drive. For example, I played Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" through it, and the first, lowest bass notes of the closing ascending riff came through without a hint of muddiness. We both loved what the ASAT Deluxe could deliver.
As for the looks: Clear Red, or Red? (Some of the finer detail of the quilt is lost in the photo on this site.)
