G&L Placentia Series Asat Bluesboy Electric Guitar Espresso For Sale (2023 Update)

I love this ASAT Special. Mahogany body, mape neck with rosewood fingerboard. Picture a Tele that sounds giant and is much more versatile. It's not the US model, but the feel is comfortable and the electronics and hardware are much better than similarly priced guitars. I can actually get a useable range of tones with the controls. They don't have to be wide open to sound good. The only thing that irked me was the pick guard cut around the control plate looks like a kindergartener did it. This wasn't listed as B Stock, so I'm not sure how it passed QA. I'm playing it, not staring at it, so I won't send it back, but I expected a new guitar to look 100%. Would rate looks excellent if not for that.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I love this ASAT Special. Mahogany body, mape neck with rosewood fingerboard. Picture a Tele that sounds giant and is much more versatile. It's not the US model, but the feel is comfortable and the electronics and hardware are much better than similarly priced guitars. I can actually get a useable range of tones with the controls. They don't have to be wide open to sound good. The only thing that irked me was the pick guard cut around the control plate looks like a kindergartener did it. This wasn't listed as B Stock, so I'm not sure how it passed QA. I'm playing it, not staring at it, so I won't send it back, but I expected a new guitar to look 100%. Would rate looks excellent if not for that.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I love this ASAT Special. Mahogany body, mape neck with rosewood fingerboard. Picture a Tele that sounds giant and is much more versatile. It's not the US model, but the feel is comfortable and the electronics and hardware are much better than similarly priced guitars. I can actually get a useable range of tones with the controls. They don't have to be wide open to sound good. The only thing that irked me was the pick guard cut around the control plate looks like a kindergartener did it. This wasn't listed as B Stock, so I'm not sure how it passed QA. I'm playing it, not staring at it, so I won't send it back, but I expected a new guitar to look 100%. Would rate looks excellent if not for that.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I love this ASAT Special. Mahogany body, mape neck with rosewood fingerboard. Picture a Tele that sounds giant and is much more versatile. It's not the US model, but the feel is comfortable and the electronics and hardware are much better than similarly priced guitars. I can actually get a useable range of tones with the controls. They don't have to be wide open to sound good. The only thing that irked me was the pick guard cut around the control plate looks like a kindergartener did it. This wasn't listed as B Stock, so I'm not sure how it passed QA. I'm playing it, not staring at it, so I won't send it back, but I expected a new guitar to look 100%. Would rate looks excellent if not for that.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

A lot of times I do not know how seriously to take some reviews because players are at different levels of expertise, commitment, musical challenges, talent and experience. A newbie may think that a certain low-end guitar is amazing whereas the experienced pro will be more critical. That being said, I am not a newbie. I have been playing, practicing, recording, teaching, etc for over 40 years and have owned all of the big name guitars. I play jazz, old blues, (Fats Waller, Gershwin, St Louis & Delta types), and classical music, all on my electrics. I have recently purchased the G&L Tribute ASAT Classic T-style, Candy Red and have added it to my collection. I had been thinking Am Std Tele and friends of mine who are pure Tele players recommended the G&L ASAT. Here is my take on this instrument. 1. Construction — as good as my Am Std Strat, my other Tele and Les Paul. 2. Electronics — Excellent. The electronics "feel" solid. The pots, cable jack and pups are above average in stability and definition of tone. 3. Tone — The tonal qualities are as good as any of my American Fenders and not only better than my LP, but more tonal variation. 3. Playability — Exceeded all of my expectations. Plays as well as all of my expensive, ( >USD 1000.00) guitars. 4. Looks — I bought it because it is red, I like red. 5. Upon arrival — Some people expect their guitars to arrive after 3-4 days brutal freight, temperature changes on wood and strings that are not broken in and play like it just came back from the luthier. This is very unrealistic. These are instruments mad from natural product, not telephones. I take all of my new guitars straight to my luthier for a complete going over and assessment. I have never heard of a guitar arriving in perfect condition. Therefore, I can say that this instrument arrived on time and in as good of condition as all other guitars that I have ordered over the Internet or purchased off the rack.GM

This is a very solid instrument of high quality and great sound. The pickups are hotter than standard Alnicos, of course, which I like. They aren't as noisy as standard Tele pups, but for recording I want very quiet, so I'm installing an Ilitch hum cancelling system which loses the noise but doesn't change the tone. Playability of the guitar is excellent, even though I prefer fat vintage necks. Setup and intonation was easy, and the neck is straight. I was skeptical about a guitar in this price range. My other two electrics are Fender and Gibson custom shop guitars that cost seven to ten times as much as this one, and it is no disappointment. I usually go for classic 60s tone, but it's great to have the more modern sound as an option. The MFDs do not have the standard Telecaster tone, but they sound great to me in their own right. The translucent orange on ash body looks terrific and inspires me to play. I got the tweed case and a leather Levis strap for it, which are also very nice. I don't gig, but play and record mainly classic rock style originals in my home studio basically every day.Tanuki

I was seriously thinking about buying another Classic Vibe Tele, because I love the Butterscotch blonde one that I've owned for several years. However, I decided to give this one a try instead, and I'm very glad I did. Right out of the box, everything about this guitar is exceptional–it was even almost in tune. The fit and finish of everything is perfect. No setup was required. When I received my CV Tele I had to adjust the neck and the string heights. None of those adjustments were necessary. I also think that the MFD pickups are superior to the Alnicos on the CV Tele, but that is a matter of personal taste.RNArizona

I have always been a fan of G&L products. This one does not disappoint. I love the color. The pickups sound super clear. The neck feels just right. After a string change, it brought it to life! I snagged one on a SDOTD and have no regrets. Buy this one!JBBIN

The guitar itself is beautiful, plays well, and sounds amazing. This is very similar to the Fender MIM Tele, at a fraction of the price. The frets needed polishing, but that's the only issue so had. I couldn't be happier with the instrument. I also love the neck carve. It's like Fenders Modern C shape, which feels great.Dave

While there are differences between the Tribute Series and the Placentia Series, I find both to be worthy to wear the G&L name. Since I am not a professional musician, I cannot justify the financial commitment to a Fullerton offering (even though they're worth the price).Robert

I love this ASAT Special. Mahogany body, mape neck with rosewood fingerboard. Picture a Tele that sounds giant and is much more versatile. It's not the US model, but the feel is comfortable and the electronics and hardware are much better than similarly priced guitars. I can actually get a useable range of tones with the controls. They don't have to be wide open to sound good. The only thing that irked me was the pick guard cut around the control plate looks like a kindergartener did it. This wasn't listed as B Stock, so I'm not sure how it passed QA. I'm playing it, not staring at it, so I won't send it back, but I expected a new guitar to look 100%. Would rate looks excellent if not for that.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I love this ASAT Special. Mahogany body, mape neck with rosewood fingerboard. Picture a Tele that sounds giant and is much more versatile. It's not the US model, but the feel is comfortable and the electronics and hardware are much better than similarly priced guitars. I can actually get a useable range of tones with the controls. They don't have to be wide open to sound good. The only thing that irked me was the pick guard cut around the control plate looks like a kindergartener did it. This wasn't listed as B Stock, so I'm not sure how it passed QA. I'm playing it, not staring at it, so I won't send it back, but I expected a new guitar to look 100%. Would rate looks excellent if not for that.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Chose this G&L against the relative Fender as it played and felt better. Fingerboard and bridge were vast improvement over the Fender. I wish I'd chosen the showroom model as the my boxed version needs a set-up.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I bought this guitar on a whim as a cheap and cheerful alternative to more expensive Fender Telecasters. I own a G&L tribute SB-2 bass which I'm very happy with, and the G&L MFD pickups used in the Asat Special were particularly appealing as I'd never owned a guitar with them in before. The guitar itself is made in Indonesia, however it is well built with good quality components (I believe the electronics are the same used in American G&Ls). One thing it was lacking was a good setup – the nut was very high and when I bought it the previous owner had it set up for slide. I had to shim the neck to attain an agreeable action however with the high nut I was unable to get it to play well without string buzz and choking – I initially attributed this to a vintage fingerboard radius however my tech measured it and found it to be a thoroughly modern 12". This made my day as I'd been searching for a Fender with this radius to no avail – I have a Gretsch Corvette with a 12" board and it not only feels great, but I've never had issues with strings fretting out when bending high up the neck. After a professional setup by local guitar wizard Eltham Jones (no fretwork was required but the nut needed dressing, alongside a few tweaks to neck relief and action) the guitar plays very well with great sustain provided by the solid mass of the G&L bridge. There is no choking out when bending strings and the neck itself it very comfortable, with a fairly shallow profile. It has something of a gloss finish on the back which I may try and mattify at some point with wire wool, however it's not sticky and feels fast. The pickups are wonderful – I've backed them off nearly as far as they will go from the strings and then brought the bridge pickup up just enough to balance with the neck pickup. The output even down low is very good and they seem to capture a wide frequency range – this is the first guitar I've owned where using the tone control is not only required, but is rewarding – the tone pot itself in conjunction with these wide range pickups seems to provide a very musical roll off of treble without resulting in any kind of mud/muffled tone when fully rolled off. I'm finding the sweet spot for general playing to be about 30% roll off, where normally I would leave the tone pot entirely alone (on some guitars I remove it completely!). Tonewise, online I have seen comparisions between these pickups and those found in the Jazzmaster. I don't know if there is any truth in this but with the placement of the pickups and general differences between the two guitars, I don't findthem to be tonally similar, to my ears at least. The G&L pickups are very clear, powerful and articulate, with more upper midrange presence than a Jazzmaster (again, IMO). They respond very well to rolling off the volume as well as the tone knob to clean up the sound – even at low volumes they remain clear and full sounding. Despite an abundance of treble on tap the high end is less "icepick" than Fender Strats I've played and less "twangy" than your average Tele. It's got character of it's own which is nice to have in what is ostensibly a Telecaster. I've also discovered a slightly bizarre wiring quirk where if both pickups are on and the tone is entirely rolled off, it sounds as if the guitar has switched out of phase – it sends distortion boxes absolutely wild, and i've never quite heard a sound like it from a guitar. I wonder if this might be a mod from a previous owner or if they all do this – whatever the case, I love it, it seems to flatter my playing and helps me pretend i'm Frank Zappa. Overall, I'd absolutely recommend a G&L Tribute Asat Special to anyone looking for a Telecaster that isn't a Telecaster, on the basis that the parts are good, particularly the wonderful pickups, but it'll probably need a good setup by your local luthier of choice to get the best out of it.ebolamonkey11

I love this ASAT Special. Mahogany body, mape neck with rosewood fingerboard. Picture a Tele that sounds giant and is much more versatile. It's not the US model, but the feel is comfortable and the electronics and hardware are much better than similarly priced guitars. I can actually get a useable range of tones with the controls. They don't have to be wide open to sound good. The only thing that irked me was the pick guard cut around the control plate looks like a kindergartener did it. This wasn't listed as B Stock, so I'm not sure how it passed QA. I'm playing it, not staring at it, so I won't send it back, but I expected a new guitar to look 100%. Would rate looks excellent if not for that.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Got the tobacco finish and it looks great. Great hardware, I really like both pickups – good 'honk' from the bridge, and very warm tones from the neck. I love the middle position – nasal clean – also. This guitar is all about "clean" sounds, it just doesn't do distortion well. Clean rock, country, surf, R&B, Chicago blues, Stones – sounds top notch, especially for the finger-picker. I had to set it up to a bit – mild neck adjustment, lowered the strings and intonated. Very easy set up. The hardward is very nice. The tuners are solid, and I love the "ash tray" string-through bridge. It is hard to see from the pic, but it is the same "side walled" bridge used on the US ASAT. And again, I really like the pickups for clean playing – including chick'n pick'n. My only complaint is the metal plate has a scratch below the tone knob. However, everything else looks so good – the swamp ash with the tobacco finish looks outstanding – I simply was not willing to send it back. Also, the pick guard is sort of boring so I may replace it some day. I might also upgrade the P/U switch because I see the US version uses a better switch. I bought it when they were running a special on purchases four ninetynine or more, so I feel I got a very good deal on a very nice guitar. I give it four stars because of the scratch and the slightly lower-grade pick guard and PU switch. Also, it doesn't come with a case or even a gig bag. Bottom line: If you want a nice Tele but don't want to spend a grand+, go for it.Mr. Highpants

A lot of times I do not know how seriously to take some reviews because players are at different levels of expertise, commitment, musical challenges, talent and experience. A newbie may think that a certain low-end guitar is amazing whereas the experienced pro will be more critical. That being said, I am not a newbie. I have been playing, practicing, recording, teaching, etc for over 40 years and have owned all of the big name guitars. I play jazz, old blues, (Fats Waller, Gershwin, St Louis & Delta types), and classical music, all on my electrics. I have recently purchased the G&L Tribute ASAT Classic T-style, Candy Red and have added it to my collection. I had been thinking Am Std Tele and friends of mine who are pure Tele players recommended the G&L ASAT. Here is my take on this instrument. 1. Construction — as good as my Am Std Strat, my other Tele and Les Paul. 2. Electronics — Excellent. The electronics "feel" solid. The pots, cable jack and pups are above average in stability and definition of tone. 3. Tone — The tonal qualities are as good as any of my American Fenders and not only better than my LP, but more tonal variation. 3. Playability — Exceeded all of my expectations. Plays as well as all of my expensive, ( >USD 1000.00) guitars. 4. Looks — I bought it because it is red, I like red. 5. Upon arrival — Some people expect their guitars to arrive after 3-4 days brutal freight, temperature changes on wood and strings that are not broken in and play like it just came back from the luthier. This is very unrealistic. These are instruments mad from natural product, not telephones. I take all of my new guitars straight to my luthier for a complete going over and assessment. I have never heard of a guitar arriving in perfect condition. Therefore, I can say that this instrument arrived on time and in as good of condition as all other guitars that I have ordered over the Internet or purchased off the rack.GM

I just took delivery of one of these, in Butterscotch, and I have to say I love it! I consider any tele to be a niche guitar and this is no exception. It is built and set up to produce a specific sound. Still, the tone knob does in fact produce a range of alternative sound (darker, naturally)which is more than I can say of some of my other guitars. More importantly, the pickups are absolutely fantastic, at least when played through my Blues Jr. III. I was worried, some say the factory pups are too hot for a tele, that the guitar as equipped is soul less. Not to me me, these things ring out more clearly, with more punch than anything else I own. They respond well to attack, and do so consistently across the range. We'll have to see how they break in but at this point they are great, better than my Texas Specials and my ProBuckers. In addition, like the tone knob, the pup selector switch produces a nice array of very nicely balanced sound. Not startling, not unrelated but a nice progression. As for fit and finish, this Indonesian guitar shows well. That said, it is, to me, a small step down from my MIM Strat and my Korean guitars. In fact, it is that same small step down from my Indonesian Epi Les Paul Standard Pro. Small things, e.g., an itty bitty tiny tiny bit of exposed neck glue and the not perfectly glossed bottom edge grain of the maple fret board, the plastic knob on the pup selector. Small things that no one but one of us will ever notice. Of course, this cost a couple of hundred less than the Epi. Mine came out of the box set up and ready to play. YMMV. The Butterscotch photographs a bit brighter and more consistent than it really is, at least mine is a bit more 'natural' than I expected. In addition, the grain shows a soft maple painted looking 'gray' instead of a more traditional reddish brown stained grain. I do a lot of woodworking and know maple quite well. This guitar carries an excellent treatment of a classic maple look, but you have to like maple and the grays they can produce, and like it buried under a mile of soft gloss. I like, again, YMMV. Hope this helps.myatuck

This guitar for the price that it was during the stupid deal of the day was a great buy i would say its paid its self off, thats to say if you know how to actually play a guitar. That being said after maybe 5 gigs i noticed it needed set up again I only thing ive done was set it up and put new strings on it NYXL.s 10"s to be exact. No high frets no twisted next, overall nice next also, has that strat sound forsureEz

I've play in rock and country bands for MANY years, and own a couple G&L guitars as well as a les Paul, a couple strats, Yes Fender, and two custom guitars, I bought this one because I thought the paint job was cool… When I got this (for the price I paid) I wasn't expecting much…WOW was I mistaken. This guitar was flawless! Right out of the box. I've read some things about how folks didn't think the quality was good… I disagree, frets were smooth, neck pocket was tight, neck was set right, sound was classic! Came shipped in the G&L factory box, inside another protection box inside a shipping box. Paint job was better than I even imagined. I still say musicians friend did an awesome job gettIng these guitars in, and thankful that I work with that team for all of my music needs (which have been many). Btw the only thing I would change on that guitar is a black plastic piece on the whammy instead of the white one it comes with, small aesthetic thing but it's in the details…would match the pickups and pick guard. Hahahaha, I love this guitar !!! MWMike

I wanted a strat style guitar to practice with and saw this guitar. I have been a G&L fan since the 70's and always wanted one. Out of the box it plays great and has good tone. The alnicos have less output than standard magnetic pickups, but the tone is great. I will get the tele style on my next purchase.Kenny

When I opened the guitar and took it out the neck felt like a rough baseball bat. I thought, if I were at a store I'd likely not even play it. Keep in mind, I have mostly high end guitars so I am picky.The neck was very rough, the frets were not polished so the strings felt rough sliding on them when you bend them. The back of the neck was not "satin" or stained, it just felt like a piece of wood. The rosewood doesn't appear to be oiled, it looks really dry but I decided to take it home and try it out before just sending it back. The Ash body looked very good though, the workmanship was superb, and the hardware does appear better than even my American Tele, it was just the neck I was concerned about. I compared it to my 2012 American Tele, alder body, maple neck and they had quite a different sound so because of that, it helped me want to keep it more. The bridge output on the this guitar was a bit louder and had more of a twang than my Fender. In my opinion it was my reason for keeping this guitar The neck pickup on my tele is a single coil so really no comparison there, this guitar has a much darker and fuller sound. As others mentioned it maybe is a little too dark and warm, it's almost like they purposely built a low pass filter to make it that warm. You can still hear the individual strings as you play, so it's very articulate but I also own a few Gibsons and other humbucker guitars and they do not sound like them, although it is a very nice mellow and different tone. Now for the good part, after playing it for about 2 days the frets have polished themselves from my playing and the neck is starting to pick up the oils from my hand so they feel more polished. The strings now bend easily without feeling like fingernails on a chalkboard. Plugged into a solid state amp, this is very comparable and probably even better sounding than my American tele. In a tube amp though, the fender at least to my ears sounds better. This guitar PUPs also has less noise.zzzrain

I was hoping for exactly what this guitar delivered sound wise, feel wise, and together with the looks for feeling good about taking the chance on it, this and the Epiphone Broadway have given me the best experience out of the box and down the road, for inexpensive Guitars that allow me to try many different builds and styles of guitars with out going broke. The GB10 Ibanez (econo-concious model) closer to a grand included was also very nice) I would buy this guitar again, and am exceptionally happy with my purchase. I agree with all the great detailed reviews that point out the solid quality, design, and execution of this instrument. I got the clear orange/ with (finished) all maple neck and absolutely love it. I don't think this Guitar is a classic tele in any sense of course, and I wish it and all modern teles (& asats) had a p/u blending/balancing feature. But for a humbucker sound, this guitar feels and sounds like Leo took a second look at his first try at the country tele, and made it new again, his way for blues and rock (even Jazz!) Just my take on it.Some guy

This is a great sounding easy to play instrument that I am already comfortable playing after just two days. My first Tele-type is everything I wanted it to be. I wanted an easy to strum electric semi-hollow to add to my collection of mostly acoustics (Martins, Gibson, Takamine and Fender) and one solid Fender custom shop electric. I mostly play acoustic and I feel my touch is too heavy to sound good just strumming my strat. And unlike my custom shop American fat strat I wanted the humbucker in the neck position instead of the bridge. This new G&L ticks all the boxes and sounds great either strumming or picking notes and intro riffs. I'm not a shredder – just looking to accompany vocals. Very, very satisfied with the bluesboy. Love it, love it, love it. And not at all disappointed it comes from overseas even though I have been a brand snob most of my life. Long story short the bluesboy tribute compares well with all my much more expensive guitars. I will not hesitate to purchase another imported G&L in the future. This new axe sounds very nice through my old-school Fender Twin as one might expect but I think it sounds even better through my Mesa Express 5:25 that I played it through literally all day today.Intro

I love this ASAT Special. Mahogany body, mape neck with rosewood fingerboard. Picture a Tele that sounds giant and is much more versatile. It's not the US model, but the feel is comfortable and the electronics and hardware are much better than similarly priced guitars. I can actually get a useable range of tones with the controls. They don't have to be wide open to sound good. The only thing that irked me was the pick guard cut around the control plate looks like a kindergartener did it. This wasn't listed as B Stock, so I'm not sure how it passed QA. I'm playing it, not staring at it, so I won't send it back, but I expected a new guitar to look 100%. Would rate looks excellent if not for that.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Love it! My first G&L guitar. My first tele style body. I am a new fan. Personally, I love the humbucker pickup. Love this guitar. Feels good right out the biox. My only complaint is the nut needs to be replaced.dotribb

Nice guitar with solid build quality. The neck pickup is a bit muddy, but the bridge pickup is nice, crisp, and clear. Great value. Would but another without hesitation.joshclements21

This is my 7th G&L, and my 4th tribute series. I've never been disappointed by Leo Fender's greatest creations, this one is no exception. G&L's tribute series is by far the best quality import guitars I've ever seen. There are other very nice import guitars out there, but how many have the same American made pickups and hardware as their US made counterparts? Only G&L!awp1964