First impressions of the rogue G&L ASAT and the unexpected Gibson Robby Krieger SG

Ravelleman

I should preface this by saying that I only have a couple of pictures, which don't do either guitar justice. Nevertheless, I'll try to upload them later tonight or perhaps tomorrow.

The time I had with both guitars was also extremely limited but I thought it would be interesting to comment anyway.

First the G&L ASAT Special Deluxe No-Top, which I had been waiting for since before Christmas. At 8.4lbs it's by far my heaviest guitar. The mahogany body is certainly gives it a distinct tonal characteristic.

I expected the guitar to be quite twangy, like ASAT Specials tend to be, but it's actually quite smooth. The MFD pickups are the big attraction of this guitar and they certainly are unique, in my experience at least. They're very loud and can be very dynamic, depending on pick attack. The neck pickup sounds great clean but the bridge by no means gives a classic Tele sound - I suppose that is to be expected given the vast differences between classic Tele-style instruments and this. My favourite position is the middle one, however. It's really sweet and chimey.

The build quality is excellent, as expected. As with most G&Ls, I reckon that the rosewood fretboard will need a little lemon oil to bring out the best in it. I don't know why, but G&L always seems to send out guitars with dry fretboards. Anyhow, that's an easy fix. The case is a G&G Deluxe Tolex model, the same as the one that came with my Legacy. Although both are 2011 builds, the ASAT came with a spec sheet, which the Legacy did not have. They introduced that around this time last year, just after I go the Legacy. The serial number of the ASAT is also printed on to a metal plaque, which is screwed on to the back of the headstock. The Legacy's serial number is printed directly on to the headstock.

I'll definitely need a lot more time with the ASAT to work out exactly what it can do. It's quite exciting. With the Legacy I knew exactly what to expect but this one will need a little more patience.

The Gibson Robby Krieger SG is a feather-weight. I haven't weighed it but it could easily be under 7lbs, even with the Maestro attached. In terms of first impressions, I feel I understand this guitar a lot better than the ASAT.

The '57 Classics are great pickups and the phase switch adds a little variety to the sound when required. The Maestro is a lot of fun but obviously only serves to add a little wobble - no divebombs here, I'm afraid. From a design point of view the Maestro is a bit of a disaster. I mean, the change in pitch comes by decreasing the tension on a thin, slightly curled piece of metal as you push down on the handle. There are no springs or real moving parts that allow movement. It's so basic.

At the moment it's kind of hard to keep it in tune if I use the trem because, surprise, surprise, the nut is an absolute nightmare. It's been cut so badly. Most of the strings are just kind of resting on top of the nut, rather than in their individual slots. This one will definitely be getting a setup from Mr. archtop.ie over the summer.

Other than that the quality is fantastic. The binding is perfect, the headstock inlay beautifuly set, no nitro burn from the shop, fantastic grain and no visible join lines in the wood. The one problem I have is that now, with such great upper-fret access, I find myself disorientated as I play. On most of my guitars the upper horn/bout acts as a visual cue for the rough position of the 12th fret. On the SG it's more like the 17th fret!

I'm already back at work so I don't have access to either until 6th April unfortunately but I'll get some real pictures then.

Ravelleman

Rubbish photos but the best I could do with limited time.

wild turkey

Two very nice guitars
The Robbies Stunning & the G&L looks great, kinda like a lp special that leo got a hold of
& as you said middle pos all the way
I traded my sg standard for the g&l for the very same reason as you say but moreso a problem for me as i'm more a les paul player

Good luck with them & happy playing !

boycey

Two at once? Who's your sugar daddy!

Man, love SGs, love Telecasters, and those two are particularily nice.

I had thought of buying a short tail Maestro for my old '68 SG, for the look of it more than anything! They just look so nice on an SG.

How would you describe those G&L pickups? Are they aiming for P90 territory or more single coil? I really gotta get my greasy mits on some more G&Ls. I've played a Strat which I loved , I'd imagine I'd fall in lust with the Teles!

Enjoy 'em both man!

Ravelleman

boycey wrote: »

Two at once? Who's your sugar daddy!

Man, love SGs, love Telecasters, and those two are particularily nice.

I had thought of buying a short tail Maestro for my old '68 SG, for the look of it more than anything! They just look so nice on an SG.

How would you describe those G&L pickups? Are they aiming for P90 territory or more single coil? I really gotta get my greasy mits on some more G&Ls. I've played a Strat which I loved , I'd imagine I'd fall in lust with the Teles!

Enjoy 'em both man!

My sugar daddy is brief employment and frugality!

Most people on the internets say that the Maestro is really just a visual thing and, even from my short experience with it, I´d tend to agree! Still though, they look so, so cool.

I think I´m going to need a little more time with the large MFDs of the ASAT to really tell you what their niche is. As far as I can tell though, they have a higher output that a regular p90. That´s totally unscientific though. To my ear they´re much louder and perhaps more dynamic that a regular single as well, especially if you play some heavier one string lines like ´Play that Funky Music Whiteboy´.

Rented Mule

Why buy one guitar when you can buy two at twice the price ?

Very nice looking planks !! I've been looking at a Gibson SG '61 re-issue for a while now. There is something about the SG that has always intrigued me from the time I was old enough to crank 'Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap'.