The G&L Custom Shop is a dedicated area of the G&L factory in Fullerton, CA where magic often happens. Allowing the customer an even wider range of options than their Build-to-Order line, the Custom Shop is a place where "what if" can and does happen. For this build we grabbed one of the last pieces of "wallpaper" to build this ASAT Special S. Taking the excellent ASAT Special and adding a middle S-500 pickup opens up a range of MFD tones that are not to be missed. And we added a little spice by using the overwound ASAT "Super" pickup that was once standard in early SC-2's.
This Custom Shop ASAT Special "S" features:
- Alder body, 7.8 pounds
- Emerald Blue finish with Paisley paper top
- Rear body contour
- Matching Paisley headstock
- Hard rock quarter-sawn vintage tint Maple neck
- Indian Rosewood fretboard with synthetic abalone inlays
- Modern Classic neck profile
- 9.5” radius, 1-11/16” nut width
- Bone nut
- Jescar Medium Jumbo frets
- G&L split and drilled tuners
- G&L MFD ASAT Special neck pickup
- G&L MFD S-500 single-coil reverse-wound middle pickup
- G&L MFD ASAT Special bridge pickup, Overwound
- 5-position blade selector, volume, tone
- Pull tone to engage neck+middle or all three
- Custom Shop Premium gig bag
- Made in Fullerton, CA
The G&L large MFD (magnetic field design) ASAT Special neck pickup is a wonder of power, clarity, response and tone. Developed by Leo Fender, the MFD has the touch sensitivity, dynamics and slightly scooped midrange of a great vintage single coil, but with enhanced tonal flexibility and output. It has a glassy quality that is clean and articulate with a nice slightly hollow Strat tone on the upper frets. But it's broad frequency response and strong low end makes it very versatile, and rolling off the tone it can mimic a rounder Tele or even a Jazzmaster-ish vibe. It's is one of the sweetest and most versatile neck pickups available in any guitar.
So what's going on at the bridge? While the standard ASAT Special MFD pickup does a wonderful twangy rendition of Leo's original Tele bridge pickup, it can be a little light-bodied for more energetic styles of music and higher gain levels. Enter the ASAT "Super" pickup. Originally equipped on earlier versions of the SC-2, it has 1500 more turns that the standard pickup and an a resistance of around 6.4K. While no means a hot sounding pickup, it has just enough extra midrange content to toughen it up a bit, and adapt better to heavier styles of music. It does everything the original ASAT bridge pickup can do, but with a little more authority and gas. It's a pickup also sell separately as a hop up item for ASAT players.
The addition of the S-500 middle pickup adds the slightly metallic, grainy blues tones you'd expect from this position, but with that extra MFD midrange presence and dynamic range. With its 5-way switch, the in-between positions on the Classic S are pretty spunky -- not as much quack as a true Strat -- but fuller and with less output drop. And the pull-tone control is there to activate the traditional neck + bridge and even all three pickups together.
Finally, the vintage tint Maple neck is quarter-sawn for additional stiffness and response. What is quarter-sawn? It's a cut of wood where the grain of the wood is perpendicular to the length -- and to the fretboard -- which makes for a very stiff "beam" structure. Most necks are flat-sawn, with the grain parallel to the fretboard. Quarter-sawn necks are more stable, and the additional stiffness is felt by some to add more pop and attack to the notes.
We've always been big fans of the 3-pickup ASAT concept -- we have a couple of them amongst the shop staff -- and the power of the MFD pickups makes them a real do-all guitar. This guitar takes what we love about the ASAT Special and makes us love it even more. While not a radical departure from the G&L format, it's a great mixture of of craftsmanship and functionality that is meant to be played.
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