While the G&L ASAT Classic is Leo’s final word on the traditional single-cutaway bolt-on axe with its Magnetic Field Design single-coil pickups, the new ASAT Classic Alnico has arrived to blend latter-day-Leo with uncompromising Alnico sonic flavor. Framed in a classic boxed-steel bridge, the single-coil Alnico V bridge pickup belts out meaty twang that that’ll stop you in your tracks, while individual brass saddles Leo upgraded for the ASAT Classic offer modern levels of intonation refinement. Flip to the Alnico V neck pickup and you’ll discover our spec offers a fuller tone that leaves those anemic old pickups in the dust. What’s more, the two pickups pair beautifully for an exceptionally sweet, jangly tone bursting with harmonics.
These Alnico wonders aren’t just another flavor-of-the-week, having been carefully refined by G&L’s Paul Gagon for personal guitars since the late 1970s. Back then, Gagon was an R&D engineer at another company when he was tasked with finding out what was so special about the early bolt-on guitars many players raved about. Gagon analyzed many examples of what were considered “holy grail” guitars, spending time out on the shop floor talking to builders still working in the pickup department since the ‘50s, all on a quest to discover where the real mojo was – and wasn’t. What he learned from the builders matched his own engineering analysis. You see, back in the day, the actual spec of pickups coming that down that old production line varied considerably. Moreover, that nagging imbalance between bridge and neck pickup was something he longed to improve on, and today, Gagon’s preferred pairing of Alnico V pickups has arrived to delight the ears of the discerning guitarists.
Like the G&L Legacy, the new ASAT Classic Alnico combines best-of Alnico tone with modern Leo touches for a brilliant blend of vintage and contemporary. If Alnico is your flavor, you owe it to yourself to experience what three decades of passionate development have achieved.
To commemorate the initial production of these Alnico pickups, G&L has commissioned a special 100-instrument production of ASAT Classic Alnico Launch Edition guitars. The Launch Edition features a Sugar Pine body and coated in a gorgeous new Autumn Burst finish developed by veteran G&L painter, Malcolm McLamore. The combination of a Sugar Pine body and Alnico magnet pickups harkens back to early prototype instruments created by Leo Fender, yet the Launch Edition isn’t a time-warp instrument: this is a thoughtful remix that blends the best of old-school Leo with 21st century G&L quality and playability.
Founded by Leo Fender in 1980, G&L USA instruments continue to be made in the historic G&L facility on Fender Avenue in Fullerton, California, the Birthplace of Bolt-on.