G&L ASAT Z-3

Guitarist Magazine (United Kingdom)

By Mick Taylor

Since then, various incarnations have emerged with different pickups, finishes and even a semi-hollow body, but this particular guitar is the most striking yet.

BUILD QUALITY

Ask any tone freak what makes a great electric guitar, and they'll tell you it all starts with timber.  G&L uses two-piece alder or swamp ash bodies, and I'm told by Jon Gold (Sound Technology's G&L man) that see-through finishes get swamp ash, and solid finishes get alder: confirmed by a peek inside the neck cavity.  The neck is maple, with a rosewood board in this instance, and features G&L's off-centre split for truss rod fitment.  This is so neat, you have to squint to follow the join to its end on the peghead.  Tidy.

Fretting is as good as you'll see, with 22 medium round examples, topped off with a precisely cut nut.  Hardware is also top-notch; the tried-and-tested sustain-tastic G&L patented bridge features a saddle-lock screw to eliminate squealing caused by vibrating saddles, while the sealed tuners feature sloping posts for extra break angle over the nut.

The flawless silver-sparkle finish is matched only by those bizarre looking pickups, resulting in a guitar that makes jaws drop and eyes pop out in equal measure.  G&L's Z-Coils (first introduced on the Comanche of the late eighties) are similar to the 1957 Precision Bass pickup.  These are single-coils, although the coil is split and wired out of phase to cancel hum.  The Comanche featured six mini toggles to offer seemingly endless combinations of coils, but thankfully things are kept simple here with a five-way selector and single volume and tone knobs.

I'm always pleasantly surprised when I examine a G&L.  There's a definite feeling that caring, skilled hands have crafted the guitar; almost like someone has loved it into its present state.

PLAYABILITY

Stung with 9-42s, the Z-3 offers an exceptionally action.  If you haven't played a fixed-bridge guitar in a while, you'll be astonished at the resonant, responsive feel of the ASAT, and the way everything seems so perfectly intonated and in tune all the way to the uppermost frets.  That's as much to do with a good set-up, and if this is anything to go by, G&L is making damn sure your ASAT reaches you in optimum form.

The 7 1/2" radius fingerboard may seem curvy if you're used to Gibbos of modern rock necks, but lovers of the latter will find solace in the slim-ish C-profile.  String bending is a joy thanks to the choice of fretwire, and choking only becomes a problem around the upper end of the top E string, where anything more than a tone-and-a-half stops short.  But that's a pretty big bend...

With just two pots and a blade selector, everything on the electrics is easily accessible with the minimum of fuss.  Other than that, the guitar balances perfectly, sitting or standing, although the lack of body contours may feel strange at first if you're not used to it.

SOUND

An initial strum offers that sustaining 'brraaang' you only get with a fixed bridge, although it seems slightly more rounded and not as resonant or twangy as my own ASAT Special.  But to many ears, i.e. those who find this style of guitar just too toppy and cutting, that's a good thing.

Jon Gold tells me that the Z-3 was designed to be a good deal more versatile than, for example, an ASAT Classic, perhaps more akin to Leo's other timeless design, and in that respect, it hits the spot.  There are a huge range of sounds available and if you listen to my demo on tracks 13 & 14 of this month's CD, you'll hear me switching from bridge/middle to neck to neck/middle to bridge and then finally to bridge/middle again.  I left the volume and tone controls on full for comparison and added a bit of extra gain for the final section, as the bridge pickup responds beautifully to overdrive.  It'll perform those classic country tones, too, but bear in mind that the bridge pickup is mounted in the scratchplate, not in a metal plate like on a Fender Telecaster, which is hugely significant in why Teles sound like they do.

As with most guitars, the neck unit becomes mushy with too much drive, but roll off the gain, and those honky, woody blues tones are there for the taking.  The in-between sounds are good, too, providing the perfect forum for cleaner, chordal moments.

So you have all the presence of standard single-coils, with marginally higher output (although not higher than G&Ls other Magnetic Field Design pickups) and, most importantly, no hum thanks to the split-coil design.  If you're always switching between single-coil guitars, you'd do well to offer one of these an audition.

VALUE FOR MONEY

It's a lot of money, this guitar - especially when you look at what else is available at the price.  Indeed, companies such as Fender are quick to point out that its Standard USA guitars are a good deal cheaper, but that's missing the point because there's absolutely no comparison.  The curves may be familiar, the inspiration obvious, but the Z-3 deserves it's own individual place in your perception of the electric guitar market.  Hand building, small production runs, and let's face it, heritage and reputation all add to the price of a guitar.  But if you're playing-earned wedge is fat enough to justify a truly pro instrument, 1,299 [Note: UK pounds] will seem a fair price for an individual, versatile workhorse.  There's also a quality SKB hardshell case included.

VERDICT

If you like the idea of this style of guitar, but are put off by the slightly toppy nature of the tone, go and try one of these.  G&L guitar are a  big part of the new country scene, and while this guitar would be right at home there, it'll happily lay it's hat in almost any musical situation.  Out-and-out rockers will bemoan the lack of a powerful humbucker, but the Z-3 was never meant for them anyway.

One thing's for sure:  wherever I took the Z-3, it elicited more comments than any other guitar I've known (bar that wierd Roswell Rhoads thing).  Bear that in mind:  if being noticed is part of your agenda, you might consider Flash Harry here as a good friend.  If not, consider another colour and feel safe in the knowledge that you're playing a great-sounding and fairly exclusive nugget of guitar history.