G&L Tribute ASAT Deep Dive
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
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Dude! I had a warped pick guard that I thought I was going to have to send away to have a custom one made to replace it. I saw this and immediately threw it in the oven and it's perfectly flat now. Thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU!
Is she still playing good fam?
Regarding the pickguard, you can also cover it with a towel, and just press it with a typical clothing iron. Just use caution and pay attention. Total time should be 5 minutes or less
My ASAT Classic Tribute also has a loose jack and a warped pickguard. I actually use the space between the pickguard and the body to hold picks.
Mr McKnight...! Your a genius, a really thorough overhaul...☝😶👍 Love this series of sharpen someone's axe...
This video is an example of exactly why I subscribed in the first place. You have taught me many things. I work on guitars everyday and I improve a little more after each one of your videos. The second pick up sounded much better.
Thank you Phil.
-Ron Remark
Sully had a great tip for taping fingerboards. Basically start with 2 long pieces that run at the edge of the frets (side of the neck) then tape between the frets like you normally would. It's cool because you can remove all the tape in one peel when you're done. :)
And it looks less likely that the tape along the sides will get peeled off by the file.
I have straightened pickguards using a clothes iron. Sandwich the pickguard between two towels on the ironing board or another hard, flat surface, set the iron the lowest steam setting and the pass the iron over one or two passes, using mostly the weight of the iron. Remove the top towel to check for desired straightness. Repeat if needed. It actually takes less time to do it than does to explain it 😂
Thanks for the warped pickguard fix. Worked like a champ on my 20 year old Peavey EXP 'lake guitar' that spends its life on the boat. Our hot Austin summers got to it about 5-6 years ago and I was resigned to it staying warped.
Awesome fix!
skip to 13:48 for a 432Hz vs 440 Hz shootout. Just teasing. Good video as always!
hahahaha, for real!!
Thank god. I thought I was going crazy.
I thought I was going crazy too
But really though! It's difficult to compare pickups when the instrument isn't tuned to the same frequency.
Gavin Wild that’s really bizarre, maybe it’s because he intonated it?
Great, great video Phil, without guys like you, us gigging guitarist would be screwed, we need guys like you, thanks bro !!!!
Wow! What difference. As usual Phillip great video.
Taking in my vintage 89 American standard Stratocaster for a refret and new electronics. I did a lot of research and will be meeting the Luthier this weekend at his shop. He has done work for the Smashing Pumpkins here in Chicago. His specialty is refrets on Maple necks.
Pete from Chitown.
You’re honesty is just so refreshing Phil.
Great Series!
Cheers,Flo
Phil... thank you so much for the tip on straightening a pickguard. I have a Gibson V I bought used with a bowed pickguard and could never get it flat, until today. I took your advice and thanks to you, it's flat!
Great "hack" for the warped pick guard. Shows you don't always have to buy new stuff, and "fixing" some things are within reach. And WOW, that neck pickup is a HUGE improvement.
I love my Tribute ASAT Classic. I've played it up against some American Tele's and preferred the sound and feel. Maybe it's just mine and how used to it I am, needless to say I'm happy with my G&L. Cool Video Phil, thanks for featuring a G&L.
I upgraded the pots (500k) and neck pickup - sounds great! We all appreciate the advice. Thanks for the channel.
That pickup sounds a lot better. A lot of times I can’t hear much difference, but those were like night and day. Very cool!
Baking that pickguard was such a cool trick! Thanks for the premium content Phil!
I have this guitar but without the "F" hole. One of my favorite guitars. It plays as well as or, in some cases, better than American Teles. On mine, I kept the neck pickup because I like the fat sound; especiallty for clean tones. My guitar came with a neck pickup that is a 4 wire type with the 2 coild wires shorted together. So I changed the volume pot to a push-pull CTS so I can split the coil on the neck pickup (grounding out one coil). This gives me a huge range of tone from the guitar for only the cost of the CTS push pull volume pot. I highly recommend this mod. THANKS PHILLIP FOR ALL THE VIDEOS AND INFORMATION YOU SHARE!
I own this guitar also and like it a lot. Incidently I have the same one as the video, color and everything. I'm on the fence with the neck pick up, sometimes love it, other times not so much. I've often felt coil split would be a sensible upgrade. Is there a wiring diagram you would be willing to share?
I also have a Tribute ASAT Bluesboy, with an f-hole. Mods I did to it are push/pull coil split, 4 way switch with both pickups in series (Fender Baja like). It is an awesome guitar, I love. I also have a G&L Legacy Tribute but I prefer ASAT.
Prasanth Selvadurai yup. The Indonesian ones have American made bridge pickup
Love the video man, thanks so much for putting my pic up at the end I can't tell you how awesome it feels to be a part of it.
Mmmmmm the smell of freshly baked pick guard. haha! great tip Phil. You never cease to amaze. Great sharpen my axe, overall seemed to really improve the playability, and the new pickup sounded much much better. Great work!
That,s a very nice lookin guit-box Phil and I love what you,re gonna do to it! What you,re doing on this could be the future of guitar! Thanks for posting this!
Thanks for all that you do Phil!! The gator grip is one of my favorite tips of all the many great tips you've shared... THANKS! Note - I ended up getting the king gator grip which fits better over taller tuning posts. the standard gator only has about a 1/2" throw/retraction. You rock!
wow the two different neck humbuckers were night and day. No definition in the G&L humbucker at all, but it also sounded like it had a higher output. Perfect combo for low end muddiness.
Phil still amazes me how he picks the pickups that work best together & work best in a partcular guitar!
That bridge pickup sounds superb. Great articulation but very full too
Wow the new pickup is like removing a blanket or cardboard box for the tone; so much cleaner, clearer, and brighter sounding
I've got an ASAT Special from '92 and from what I understand, the USA G&L guitars all have a unique truss rod situation. The neck is sawed down the middle, from the heel to the head stock, right thru where the middle of the fingerboard would be. Then the truss rod cavity is routed out, the rod is installed, and the neck is glued back together again, then the finger board is put on. So the planes of glue wind up making a T-shape, greatly stabilizing the neck against twisting and bending and warping. My ASAT Special has the best feeling Fender-style neck I've ever played.
If the tributes are done the same way, you might be able to see a very subtle "gap" in the wood grain pattern along the middle of the back of the neck where the cut was made.
Love the SMA series! I've started doing my own setups and minor repairs/upgrades because of these videos that have given me not only the information, but also the confidence! Thanks Phil!
That neck pickup is a huge improvement. Well done.
Man, the after on those pickup tones is phenomenal. U the man Phil.
I have several G&Ls - the necks are usually cut in half and reglued cross-grained (at least they used to be), improving strength (?). I also have an ASAT Bluesboy model like this one, and I fixed the dark, overpowering neck pickup issue by merely flipping it around. Total change, much better now.
(I should add, the neck p'up in my USA Bluesboy is a Duncan Seth Lover, which is already a great p'up...)
I was going to say the same thing. I've got a G&L Legacy Custom Hardtail with a Seymour JB in the bridge position.
Awesome job Phill and yea that new neck pick up sounds great you certainly did it Justice, great work, Cheers
The pickup hchange out was a well made choice. It warmed up and widened the tonal range nicely. I have a Gator Grip socket as well.
I fitted a four wire SD JB in the neck position and a split coil tone knob to go single coil. Now a very versatile gigging guitar for me.
I have an American Classic Bluesboy, came with exact same pickups, the neck humbucker sounds so dark and jazzy, I ended up routing the hole to fit a single coil, and put a set of Fender V-Mods in it, pretty nice
Middle of June in AZ, you could have probably put that pick guard on a baking tray outside and got the same result. 🏜 I love that you use a mix of guitar tools and non-traditional tools for these upgrades.
Nice upgrades on that G&L Tribute ASAT. I’m impressed by how much the StewMac neck pickup improved the sound.
Nice video, love the presentation style of the different feature segments. Well done and getting even better as they evolve!
cooking with phil on Sharpen my axe lol you baked that pickguard just right awesome video thank you
Much improved after upgrades Not sure about Pat but I like it. Rock On
I got a steal of a deal are on one of the solid body versions of this guitar. With that came some work and a few modifications. The ashtray bridge and saddles had some issues, switched that out with a Fender Modern bridge and saddles. I actually didn't care for the bridge pickup, so I swapped that out with a Fender '62 Tele bridge pickup. I had to reverse the wires from the humbucker to keep the middle position from not being out of phase. The controls/control plate was replaced with a handwired 920D. No skunkstripe on the neck of my Blues Boy. The necks, tuners, and pick guards are not direct swaps with Fender made products. The bridge plate swap worked without modifying the pick guard route, but just barely.
I actually thought the original neck & bridge pickup sounded better when used in unison.
But the new neck pickup alone sounds wonderful. Great job, man!
I got one of those used-- pretty sure the bridge pickup was swapped with something super hot, and the bridge saddles are changed to graphite ones. I love it to death, plays like a dream
I have this same guitar and took your advise by installing the Stewmac Golden Age. I am so impressed with that $50 pickup that I am going to convert my USA model ASAT from a single coil at the neck to the Blueboy config with that pickup. One thing I did was took a green scrubbing pad and scratched off the lacquer on the back of the neck until it had a satin feel. I did this slowly taking a little at a time and then played it for a while until I got it the way I like it. For the money its really hard to beat this guitar. I gig with it and its a joy to play.
Great vid again Phil, as always, and I would like to give you just a small recommendation on taping the neck: put a long piece along the sides of the neck FIRST and then mask the fretboard itself.
So when you're done with the fretwork you can simply pull of the whole tape in one shot by pulling the side tape off first, taking all the other tape with it.
It'll save you lots of time!
Best regards from Warwick-Country :)
Fun episode, Phil! Thanks.
I'd be really tempted to get an oversized humbucker mounting ring and leave that pickguard off. That ash looks too nice.
but then the finish would be ruined by the plugged holes
Tell me more
I agree. Shame about the holes.
Custom clear pickguard would run you about $25.
Really enjoyed this. you make it look easy. I liked the sound improvements .
I love this series honestly. It gives me a lot of ideas on how to modify my guitars and make them better
In case this could help anyone, I have a G&L tribute legacy and I replaced my stock tuners with Kiesel Locking tuners as they also line up with the holes perfectly. They seem to be nice quality and a simple drop in replacement for less than half the price of the Ratio tuners he used in the video. Should work with any G&L tribute series guitars.
Thank you very much for your advice, those tuners that he uses are overpriced and I've read some reviews that are not good on them.
Agree - thanks for this.
Could you please link the exakt ones you used? I'm looking to replace the tuners on my legacy strat :)
Just ordered the tuners from Kiesel. Hoping they work well on my Tribute Fallout. Thanks for advice.
I'm late.... But thanks!!!
When taping off the fretboard, run the long horizontal piece down the side of the neck first before the top. That way when it comes time to remove it all comes off in one piece. Clean and easy.
Sounds amazing now! Great job Phil!
I love this series, great work again Phil!
That neck pickup is worth more than the guitar itself lol what an upgrade, Phil! You're awesome😈
Ummm no not even close
really came alive
cheers great job phill
I use to have this model. It was for long time my best guitar untill I give that guitar away, and bought Squier Telecaster and installing Duesenberg Multibender. Now I kind a miss this model.
I believe the USA made G&L's are also maple capped w/o a skunk stripe! I would guess you can special order a 1-piece though.
Great video as always, I love G&L's and really appreciate you walking through the upgrades and improvements
Great job as always, the neck pickup is night and day!
I bought a G&L Bluesboy ASAT that had the same pickup in it. I too hated it and I went with an Alnico II for more clarity. Great guitars for the money and your improvements were perfect as always!
Another great video. Phil you rock.
Sharpen my ax is my favorite series of guitar related YT vids. The only thing I notice is Phil talks so fast he's running out of breath. Slow down and enjoy the ride bud! Seriously though, this series is great and I'm always excited to see a new episode has posted. Thanks for the always great content, no matter the subject.
I like the new introduction.
This has become one my absolute favorite series of videos! Thanks Phil!
Now I'm motivated to set up my Legacy Strat. Only really use it for Eb stuff but love the idea of fixing it up a little.
Nice job Phil ! That guy is going to be very happy !
As usual this man tells it like it is. All other reviewers take note!
These are great . Your pickup choices are always interesting. Some tips on adjusting pickup height would be appreciated. Thanks for the time you put into your videos!
Love the video! I owned one of these before, and had the same thoughts about the mismatching of the pickup combination. Now I’m definitely wishing I hadn’t sold it.
How do you season the pickguard? Cajun spices?
Shallibodhran just salt and pepper and maybe some garlic?
I prefer curry and paprika
Salt-n-peppa?...
...hit em with that spice weasel! #bamm!
Great video. I have a Reverend Manta Ray that has some issues IMO. If you ever need another guitar to work on. :)
Hey Phil, thanks as always for the great content! I have an American made G&L ASAT Classic, and it’s got no skunk stripe either. Truss rod went in under the fingerboard same as that one, great fiddles though!
Wow that neck pickup really changed the whole tuning of the guitar! LOL
Happy first day of Summer Phil!
My import G&L 2011 Ascari will hang with any guitar at any price. I actually own mostly expensive american/japanese guitars. I think I just got lucky, because this one was at a shop for cheap and it is perfect. The only thing I changed: the tuners. But the guitar is flawless at any price. They may not all be that way, but this one is a keeper for life... very impressed and it was dirt cheap.
“Keep your work are clean” ;)
I have a Squire Vintage Modified Jazz bass (70's aesthetic but its a 5 string) made in Indonesia. The workmanship is right up there with Mexico Fenders but it did have the cheaper Asian hardware when I got it. It came with budget model Duncan pickups which still sound better than regular Squire pickups.
Hey Phil, I’m a gigging guitarist and a long time subscriber. Love all of the content you put out. It’s helped me greatly! I’ve got my workhorse tele that I’d love to have you work your magic on! I’m more than willing to help with the cost! I’m just convinced that you have a magic touch :)
I think I prefer the original pickups :-/ Neck pickup was warmer and better for mellow jazz tones, the bridge had more bite.
Great video man. Really like watching your channel grow.
I haven't much like most of the g&L's I've played. I owned one of the Tribute Legacy for a couple months but just couldn't get on board with it. Just kind of bland or something. But something about that Tele style with the neck humbucker has peaked my interest. It sounds great after the pickup swap. Nice job as usual Phil!
Neck pups; night and day. And the Cream Tone electrics; What Phil did there was added 'fruitiness' to that guitar. Luvverly.
Nice result! Definite improvement!
I´ve been looking for replace tuners for G&L asat tribute series for a long time without plate or drilling. Nice to know that ratio tuners fit perfectly. I guess these tuners go asat special tribute series as well. :)
It's 3/20 now, and since this video was made I've used that Cream Tone setup on 2 guitars so far. I love it! It makes a nice difference in tone and options, and sounds great! Thanks much!! ---gary
From Leo: I would like to share a tip that may help someone. I recently bought one of these guitars. I dropped the neck pickup deeper into the pick guard, a little more than 1/8 inch farther from the strings. Then I brought the pole screws up closer to the strings. The neck pick up brightened right up and the volume became more even. Also, it is a 4 wire pickup, and responds nicely to splitting. Just ground the white and red wire connection.
George and Leo: G&L instruments are similar to the classic Fenders, but with some modern innovations. They are built at the same facility on Fender Avenue in Fullerton, California that produced the early Music Man instruments. G&L instruments are not widely distributed but are highly regarded by many musicians and collectors. The relatively small scale of production further allows for more custom options that are not possible on larger production lines.
I gotta admit those golden age pickups are really good value for money. I had the high output neck PU in one of my Dean guitars and it was great
Did fitting the heavier locking tuners introduce any neck dive, given the light, semi-hollow body? According to my scales, the stock Tribute tuners weigh 35g each vs the PRL-8721's 38 g each, so the difference is 30g more weight at the headstock.
I'm not usually a fan of tele style guitars without pickguards but the color and grain of this guitar looks great without it.
Great guitars whether US or Indo, and that colour and finish is really nice!
I literally have a squire classic vibe thi line tele in the same colors
Having just acquired one these albeit G&L semi hollow Telecaster ASAT Tribute Special Edition to be precise, I liked your
bridge pick up swap but thought the original neck ones were ‘mores true to
the guitar and sounded better, more mellow and rounded - the quintessential jazz sound I bought this (early model) G&L Telecaster for - not just the exquisite mother of pearl
pick guard. :-)
She’s a beauty in every sense and already christened Sis (Kt) after my baby of the family sister
Great video Phil. Hope to see one of my axes on there one day.
The hoover scene at the end should reveal the "sharpen my axe" logo. That would look cool!
I have a ASAT Deluxe trib. My sharpening consisted of Duncan Jazz in the neck, 59 in the bridge, PP linear taper 500k volume (no need for and treble bleed etc, it sounds great over nearly the whole range) it does a straight coil split for both pups. The tone is a PP 500k audio taper with .013uf (an orange drop PP and a PIO K40 russian) for tone cap. It partial splits the pups with 2.2k for both going to ground. Solid core silver wire 24awg(had it from making ic's) cardas solder and switchcraft jack and 3way.
Bone nut and Keisel locking tuners (drop in for the tributes series and they a $54 a set, very nice) graph-tec srting tree and gotoh knobs and that's about it. Only thing I didn't do was the nut as I didn't want to spring for files but it and the tuners keep it in tune very well, after the strings get a little stretch it stays.
Very nice now and has a lot of different useful tones. Funny I put a 59 in the neck and a JB in the bridge like the USA deluxe has and I thought it was not good, I like this combination much better which make s me think the woods are somewhat different even though I think they are spec'd the same (not sure)
Thanks for the details of your build - very helpful.
Cool stuff Phil. The new neck pickup is day and night compared to the original.
This is a great demonstration of how quality pickups and electronics can affect a guitar's tone. The sound opens up and the mid-range from the semi-hollow body is more apparent. I especially like the dirty tone at 15:05 which brings out a Malcom Young vibe with a tightness and definition to the rhythm tone.
Looks awesome! I love the tone of that StewMac pickups.
I have this exact guitar, and I'm planning a few upgrades to it, and I'm also going to refinish it. If I get time, I'll make a video as I do it. I agree that the neck pickup is ridiculously dark and difficult to use. I think I'm gonna stick a TV Jones in mine and see what that does.
As far as I know, all G&L guitars have the truss rod installed from the front like that.