This custom ordered ASAT Special Deluxe features:
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Mahogany Body with Premium Clear Red Finish
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G&L #1b Heritage C maple neck
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Rosewood fingerboard, Dunlop 6100 frets
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(2) G&L Large MFD pickups
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G&L Saddle Lock Bridge
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Rear-mounted Volume and Tone Control
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3-way pickup selector
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Black painted headstock
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Plek® Laser guided fret finishing
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Deluxe tolex hard shell case
Like any all-Mahogany guitars, this ASAT Special Deluxe is no featherweight. At about 8.6 pounds, it has the heft of a LP, but you're also rewarded with a nice rich acoustic tone and lingering sustain. The G&L Saddle Lock bridge creates a solid foundation, and don't forget to tighten the little set screw on the side to actually "lock" the saddles together for even better coupling. As with all G&L guitars, the clear red finish is glass-like, with nice mahogany grain showing through. We added a black painted headstock to pay homage to the classic looks of a LP Junior.
Mahogany is normally associated with a fat full sound, strong midrange, and a softer high end. While you get some of that with the ASAT Special Deluxe, the MFD pickups still break through with their characteristic detailed and extended high end. The high frequencies are a little more rounded, but the touch sensitive attack and open breathy high end of the G&L large MFD pickups is retained. It's both bright and warm at the same time, if that's possible.
When played clean, the Special Deluxe is clean and bouncy with a beefy Strat-like vibe from the neck pickup, and jangly, twangy bridge tones. Roll off the tone control a bit and the guitar is smooth and jazzy, or select both pickups for some chicken pick'in. It's not a drastically different sound from a Swamp Ash ASAT Special, just a little rounder and firmer in the middle. Kick in your favorite stomp box or gain channel and the Mahogany characteristics become more noticeable. Played through a Love Pedal Kalamazoo, the distortion tones are rich and full with a rounded high end that is creamy but still manages to sparkle. There is plenty of low end, and a wonderful "chunk" regardless of pickup selection. Using a JHS Charlie Brown, the sound was more glassy, with a little midrange scoop, and that spongy vintage amp feel that makes you want to break out into a little "Little Wing" or "Axis".
The all mahogany ASAT Special Deluxe is a great "third option" in the ASAT tonal palette. Less bright and punchy than Alder, and fuller than Swamp Ash, the Special Deluxe combines warmth, clarity, and a broad spectrum of clean and dirty tones. It's a simple yet effective guitar that let's the personality of the player shine through.
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