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G&L ASAT Classic Bluesboy Vintage Natural w/ Stainless Steel Frets

The G&L Bluesboy combines the rich and powerful G&L ASAT MFD bridge pickup with their Alnico wound humbucker. This combo yields smooth and clean neck tones combined with the twangy-but-rich sound of the ASAT bridge pickup. This fully loaded Bluesboy with vintage natural finish with white top binding has other high-end features like a quarter-sawn neck and stainless frets

This ASAT Classic Bluesboy features the following:

  • Vintage Natural finish on Swamp Ash, 7.4 pounds
  • Original Leo. Spec 1.625" Body Depth
  • Top White Binding
  • G&L 'Classic C' neck, 1-5/8" width at the nut, 12" radius
  • .830 thickness at the 1st fret, .960 at the 12th
  • Quartersawn neck for extra stability
  • Satin light tint finish, matching fretboard
  • Stainless Steel medium jumbo frets
  • G&L locking tuners
  • Black 1-ply pickguard
  • G&L A2S4248N Humbucker neck pickup
  • G&L ASAT Classic MFD bridge pickup
  • Ashtray bridge with 6 individual brass saddles
  • 3-way switch, volume and tone control
  • Plek® laser guided fret finishing
  • Deluxe tolex hardshell case made in USA by G&G Case

With G&L providing their own Alnico humbucker pickups these days the Bluesboy has never sounded better. The worlds of Alnico and MFD collide to create sonic landscape that is truly diverse. This particular build is also totally decked out with premium appointments like: top white binding, quartersawn Classic C profile neck, and stainless steel frets.

The G&L A2S4248N Humbucker is a lower output humbucker that is meant to emulate early PAF designs. The "A2" means Alnico 2 magnets, and the "4248" indicates 42 gauge wire at 4800 turns. Compared to the more common Alnico 5, Alnico 2 has a softer magnetic pull which gives the pickup a looser more free-sounding feel, with good sustain. Low end response is a lot like a traditional vintage Telecaster® pickup: The attack is slightly soft, with a warm character and a tactile vintage feel. Plain strings ring out cleanly but with a soft edge. Using mild gain like our Sparkle Drive opens up the pickup nicely, and there's more bite and detail than you'd expect from an A2 pickup. Pile on the gain and it gets creamy with more of a singing tone. If you like the warm characteristics is a traditional Tele pickup, but want a cleaner and less compressed top end, the A2S4248N does the trick.

The tempered midrange and sweet top end of swamp ash is a great match for the ASAT Classic MFD pickup. With its strong output, piano-like lows and fuller midrange than a traditional bridge pickup, this ASAT can dish out twang and rock tones in equal measure. The ASAT's solid output also makes it a great lead pickup, and it absolutely loves overdrive pedals, creating harmonically complex rock crunch packed with glistening overtones. Nothing sounds better in drop D than an ASAT with a little grind going on.

Both pickups together produce a full, sweet chime that is spot-on for rhythm, picking, or faux-Rickenbacker tones that are more dimensional and less anemic. Compared to a standard Tele® the humbucker adds more power and a fuller middle, but the notes are still clean and marvelously bell-like, with a nice poppy twang.

The neck on this puppy is the former standard 'Classic C' profile. It's got a a fatter taper than the standard Modern Classic neck so it's helps fill out the palm as you slide up the neck. The radius is a modern 12" for speedy fretwork and the 1-5/8" nut has the same string spacing as the now standard 'Modern Classic' neck profile. While the Modern Classic has been a hit with Fender fans, the Classic C remains our personal favorite. This neck also features two great performance upgrades: Quartersawn maple and stainless steel frets. A quartersawn neck is cut with the grain perpendicular to the fretboard which fortifies it from movement due to temperature change, and it has an extra snappy response to boot. Smooth and silky stainless frets are the hardest fretwire available which means you don't have to worry about fret wear anytime in the near future, even if playing is your day job.

We really liked the balance of this Bluesboy, and we found it to have a better tonal balance neck-to-bridge than most. Part of that is the swamp ash, which both lightens up the humbucker and slightly softens the bridge pickup. And some is that no two guitars are exactly alike. A solid instrument for a variety of genres, and with G&L's top-shelf fit and finish, this Bluesboy is a winner.

We are an authorized G&L Premier dealer located in Bellingham, Massachusetts, and this is a new guitar with all tags, tools, paperwork and certificates. We have over 40 G&L’s in stock at all times, and please feel free to browse our other listings, or contact us for information on a custom order.