SuperTele? A very good value in a professional guitar
Written: Aug 15 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great value, great tone, reliable, versatile w/ vintage vibe (Leo Lives!)
Cons: No metal tones, not 100% vintage tone (but maybe better)
The Bottom Line: Overall, this guitar is a very good value, with good versatility... a better Fender at 2/3 the price.
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| mikeyjake's Full Review: G&L Asat Classic Sboy Semi-Hollow Electric Guitar |
This is a great value for folks looking for a professional Fender Tele-type guitar with a bit fatter and less twangy tele tone than "standard". The semi-hollow body adds much warmth and detail to the tone.
There is a reason that these guitars have become “standard” with many Nashville session players (replacing vintage Teles), and I think that the rest of the world will soon be conquered as well. IMHO, G&L gives you new Fender quality (or better) at 2/3 the price. I feel comfortable in saying this as I own 4 Fenders (including two semi-hollow Thinlines) and now own this G&L. This is the Semi-Hollow Telecaster that Leo was making at the time of his death (just not under the Fender corporate name, which he sold). Also, unlike a lot of the "SuperStrat" and "SuperTele" builders out there, G&Ls say pretty true to the Fender "vibe" in terms of looks, functionality, neck shapes, etc... much more "comfortable" to Fender players IMHO.
FEATURES
22 frets, swamp ash body with F-hole and neat cavity under the controls, volume and tone, 3 way selector, maple neck/fretboard. Two of G&L MFD pickups designed to look like "traditional" tele pickups, and white sparkle pickguard (1-ply). Non-trem bridge similar to most teles (ashtray style)... instead a G&L design that is very effective. Neck is maple, also a nice piece of wood. The body finish is Polyester and the neck finish is Polyurethane. The neck is very comfortable – definite mass to it for tone and substance, but the right shape to make it very comfortable. Very effective volume and tone controls (unlike on my Fenders, I use this one).
From the factory it was close to perfect, after an easy setup its the easiest guitar to play I've ever owned, including Gibsons, Fenders, Gretschs, Rickys. Unbelievable metal flake finish - so 3D you'll blind your friends, I own other G&L's and in general they are great, but this one is mind blowing fast with perfect action. I just can't say enough good things about it, I've had it for a year, and I've never grown board of its tone. The action was set very low - so low that I raised it a tad, but its nice knowing that the guitar is well enough put together to do that. No visible flaws or scuffs on the guitar. The finish is perfect, the frets are perfect... we're talking top quality workmanship here.
SOUND
The guitar is much louder acoustically than any “standard” tele (giving it nice plugged-in sustain as well), but it won’t feed back even with significant amounts of volume and distortion.
This is a lovely guitar. All three pickup positions sing, differently, and well. I repeat, this is a guitar with a singing voice, especially the neck position. I roll back the treble a bit and get lovely variations in tone. This thing sounds great through ANY amp I tried. Clean, it had that great twang. Distorted, it had that amazing bite, and changing your picking attack or backing off on the volume control could bring about an ever greater range in sounds. Coupled with any decent amp (I tried a Boogie, a JCM 800, a Fender Vibrolux, and a Bruno), I don't need anything unless I want some different effects (Flange, Tremolo, etc.). You get enough variety from just that and changing the way you play.
The G&L MFD pickups sound extremely close to "regular" single coils, but they're louder and almost noiseless. You can pretty much hit anything but extreme metal with this one – from Keith Richards rock to Twang Rockabilly to Big Rock Solos (think Prince in Let’s Go Crazy) to Hollow Jazz to Andy Summers with the Police. It really just depends on using a decent amp on the right settings. I play a fairly wide range of styles, and feel comfortable using this guitar for any of them, especially since the character of the guitar stays consistent through all of them. The ideal setup might be this guitar through an AB box going from a classic Fender Blackface to a Vox or Marshall-vibe Boutique Amp – no guitar or pedal will make those amps sound like one another, and between the two you’ll have an AMAZING range.
This guitar does it all, fat rock leads, pop leads, even country sounds, can sound like a Gibson ES 135 in the bass position.
Overall, this guitar is a very good value, with amazing versatility. This comment applies to the G&L as well as Semi-Hollow Telecaster Style guitars in general. My only reservations might be that 1) you can't do death metal with it and 2) its not 100% tele tone... if that's what you want... but I say this is better
I also thought the F-Hole would take away most of the steel twang... but, truth be told, its still in there (more than my Fender thinlines, and almost as much as my Anniversary Tele). Yet the added fatness is there.
RELIABILITY/DURABILITY
This guitar is totally dependable and doesn't need a lot of maintenance. I've knocked it up a few times, and the finish still looks that same as when I got it. It's got such a range that it could be the only guitar you use at a gig. This is a very low maintenance guitar. I play hard, and it generally doesn’t go out of tune. I thought I’d need locking tuners, but that just isn’t that case.
VALUE
Overall, a phenomenal value for the money. I own 14 guitars, including a PRS Custom 24, an American Telecaster, and a Gretsch Jet, and this has surprisingly become one of my main guitars. I find it much more versatile – changing picking attack and playing with the volume brings about very different and very usable sounds, while still keeping the guitar’s “signature” tone.
Mind you, this is not a cheap guitar, but I find it a much better value than any Fender in the price range. Try getting a Fender with all of the options and choices that this comes with, plus "custom shop quality" (meaning you won't have to set up the guitar after you buy it ;-)) and you'll easily pay $2000-2500, if not more. And for all of you that want a "real Fender", this guitar is closer to the real thing than anything corporate Fender puts out today. Leo spent the last 20 years of his life at G&L, and the stuff vibes closer to the original Fenders he made than the new "Fenders" do. Yes, I love Fenders, but be aware that much of what you are paying for with Fender brand guitars is the payments they still have to make Leo's estate for using the name.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
mikeyjake
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Member: Mike Jacobs
Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 10
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
Guitarist/Vocalist for rock band Evil Jake. Called a "guitar virtuoso" by Lycos Music.
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