G&L Tribute Ascari Gts Hb3 Electric Guitar For Sale (Jan 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 bought a used one since no new were in stock. I own 2 USA G&Ls a 2019 Legacy Standard and 2007 ASAT Custom. And have owned about 10 older USAs including a comanche. And this one isent lacking. Great fretwork/ends. Light under 8lbs sounds like i remember my USA Commanche did. Now is the USA pure perfection, yes. Is it worth $1000+ more no. This one feels just like my 2006 ASAT. Satin neck and same 1 5/8 nut profile. Grat color also, love the emerald blue.Matt

Guitar sounds great and build quality as good if not better than any other, this is the second G&L I have bought from andertons and have a third on orderReviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Most import guitar makers save money by using cheap pot metal and pick ups. However, the G&L Tribute series instruments use the made in USA pickups and cast bridges. The body and neck are flawless and the quality is equal to their US counterparts if not better. I own an S500 as well as an ASAT Deluxe and am extremely happy with both. Get these while you can at these prices. Thanks G&L.sh-guitarworks

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

Drawn to it by its sheer unconventionalism, the Fallout Tribute is a very decent, different guitar. However, I had very bad luck with the thing, so I'm obviously a little biased. Straight up- those tone controls feel incredibly cheap and loose. As well, I found construction to suffer more than a Squire. The strap button on the bottom looks like someone whacked it with a hammer, so I unscrewed it to find that it was merely drilled…very crooked. Not to mention a few finish issues! This guitar, sadly, wasn't made with the highest amount of TLC. Pickups-wise, this guitar is pretty solid. The middle position has to be my favorite. While the spilttable humbucker mattered little to me, The humbucker itself is A-okay. This is my first time experiencing a P-90, and yes, it is quite powerful. When playing, however, realize you'll be very restricted getting the highest frets- the part of the guitar where the bolt-on is located is chunkier than Superchunk. All in all, I ended up returning it due to the manufacturer defects (it even had a tragically bent allen wrench…dear lord, what was going on?). While it at least looks cool, I didn't like it.Burp

There's a lot to love about the Tribute Fallout. Not least is the price, which made it easy for me to pull the trigger and order my first G&L. Right out of the box, I was struck by the solid construction, super-stable and well-made bridge, smooth tuners, comfy neck profile and nicely-rounded fret ends; all much better than I had expected for the "entry-level" price-tag. The sound doesn't disappoint either – this is a lively and resonant guitar that's loud and spanky acoustically and has a tight, focused tone when plugged-in. The humbucker in the bridge position is right on the money; strong and present and the coil-tap works great. I really don't care for the P-90 at the neck, which sounds kinda wooly and vague to my ears, but to be fair this is a matter of personal taste and playing style – for all I know it might be just right for subtle jazz parts or rootsy blues. Aside from the neck pickup, the only real negative comment I have is about the electronics, which are on the flimsy side. The knobs/pots and switch feel wobbly and loose and there may be some kind of grounding problem too. But perhaps these issues are to be expected at this price and would be easy/cheap things to fix.Ronson

Guitar came nicely set up by Andertons QC and almost in tune. Guitar quality seems perfect to me. Medium weight. Looks solid and certainly not flashy. Nice factory strings. Medium jumbo and 12" radius neck make it easy to play. Love the rather thick sound from the P90 and thinner one from the humbucker pickups. Excellent value. Recommended.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Beautiful guitar that I've bought as a treat after practicing on my acoustic for the past year. Build quality is superb with a great range of tones available. A definite keeper that I'll enjoy for years to come.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I can echo what was said here. I would consider this an under the radar guitar that represents a tremendous value. I guess it isnt popular because it doesnt say 'Fender' or 'Stratocaster' on the headstock..The irony is that it was designed by Leo Fender himself and represents upgrades and improvements over the Strat he designed, Anyway, this thing is a tone machine. More tones than a Strat…and better tones w. more resonance and sustain than the Strats i;ve played. (Squire Standard, Squire ProTone, Strat Clapton. Can control tone on bridge pickup and you just dont get those harsh icepicky tones unless you really want to dial them in. A couple small negatives. The frets on the one I got were not finished/polished. You could actually hear them rub when you bend..and the guitar comes with 10's not 9's. Makes it really hard to bend and i would think would wear out the strings quickly. So unless I got an outlier, be prepared to do < or have done> some fret work. Also the push pull is hard to engage. You gotta put a fingernail underneath the knob and pull up hard to engage…it does seem to become a little looser and easier to engage with some use. Other than that, levels above the Strats I have played in most all ways. Musicians Friend doesnt do setups I dont think…they just ship them out without taking them out of the box they arrived in. (double boxed) Oh, i bought the sonic blue one. To me, it looks like a very pale green..or maybe i have some color blindness. It's a cool retro colour though i thinkNoBadMojo

If you're looking for the Jazzmaster vibe with some modern touches, then this is worth looking at. This has the usual G&L quality fit and finish you would expect from their USA line. Nice neck profile, rolled fretboard edges make it feel worn in already, but comes with modern 55×110 frets which I like. Great sounding pickups too, have that JM chime and jangle with a little more full frequency response from the MFD pickups. They can be really bright if needed, but roll in the tone knob and you get some sweet smooth neck tones. I think the icing on the cake with this thing is the DF trem. It is a very smooth and stable trem that I much prefer to the fender 6 screw on the player series JM or even the traditional JM trem units. If you have never played the G&L DF trem you should really check one out. Overall just a great guitar that gets you into Jazzmaster territory.RickC

Hate to write a negative review and glad others received better instruments than i did. I purchased via SDOTD and the guitar received today 5/13/2021 was bad and returned. Had really great expectations based on reviews. This is aimed at G&L's qc dept. The guitar arrived with 1 inch scratch in the back on the lower horn, dimples in the finish, scratches on the belly cut, areas that were dull from not buffing to a high polish, dents on back of the neck that could be felt and frets that felt like playing strings over sandpaper. Returned back same day. No damage to shipping boxes and purchased new just extremely poor qc. I wasnt expecting this to play like a +1k guitar but this feels like a Rogue guitar. Needs alot of work and setup. No comparison to Squier's in the same price range.B

I've been playing the guitar since the 7th grade, over 40 years! I've wanted to buy a bass for a long time, but I just put it off and stuck to the guitar. But when I found the G&L JB2 Swampash Bass on Musician's Friend's website,.and read the reviews, I knew that I had to get one! I already own three G&L guitars so I knew that the quality would be excellent! I was not disappointed!! This bass could not be any better! First of all, I buy guitars for three reasons, the way they look, the quality of the way that they are put together, and the most important thing..THE WAY THEY SOUND! This G&L JB2 Excels at all three of these! The Swamp Ash body is So Unbelievable! The clear gloss finish and the pattern in the body wood is unique and absolutely gorgeous, and the Rosewood fret board is superb! The quality of the build and the pickups and other parts that are used are Outstanding! Which all result in a Wonderful and Powerful sound that is as good as any bass you can find, even those costing 3 or 4 times as much!! If you're looking for your first bass or your 10th bass, you won't be disappointed with this G&L JB2 bass!! I'd suggest getting one while they're still being made!Pickin' Jack Flash

Love the feel and sound of this bass. I was after a jazz bass with a chunkier neck than the typical fender or Squier jazz. I'm not usually a sunburst guy, but this looked beautiful and was the nicest looking of the 3 different finishes available. I also prefer a maple fingerboard, so this was a winner. I was also looking at lighter basses due to recent back pain issues and this came up in my searches. The smaller P bass body shape certainly shave off a few pounds, yet it still balances beatifully. A couple of QC issues that are all fixable (poorly cut nut), tone knob was rubbing on finish and one of the volume controls doesn't fully turn off the pickup, and the pickups needed a little extra padding underneath to stop them moving. But all fixable, like I say. The rest of the hardware and finishing is perfect. Tidy fretwork, rolled edges, solid lockable bridge and stunning burst finish. And the pickups sound great. Just the sound I was after. For an inexpensive jazz bass, I highly recommend this if you want something a little different to a Squier (that are also equally great these days).Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I've been playing bass and regular guitar over 50 years. I've always played a Fender bass both precision and jazz. I bought this bass on a whim cause I was hearing great things about G&L. This bass is like picking up a pre CBS Fender. How do I know cause I have one. Amazing, just amazing, the feel, the tone etc….just like one; and the G&L bridge locking bridge is also great. I love playing this bass and for now is my main instrument. The sunburst finish is just beautiful. I put some fender 55 flatwounds and you got a deep mellow punching tone. So so good 👍. You won't go wrong getting this bass. I just love it. This is the made in Indonesia model. Don't let that scare you. The quality and workmanship is as good or better than some if my Fender basses, USA, MIM and CIJ. Basically this is like a pre CBS made and designed by Leo after he sold Fender.Bob the bass man

I've had this guitar for about a week now. Still have not gigged with it yet. The frets were quite rugged and had deep leveling marks – felt like bending a string over sandpaper. On the upside the frets were level. Here are the things I needed to do to get the quitar gig worthy: Frets polished, neck relief adjusted, intonation adjusted. Also needed to place some copper shielding on the back of the pickguard – the pickups were pretty noisy and there was a static problem with the P/G – why guitar manufacturers or P/G sources don't simply do the shielding is silliness. I will probably replace the Tortoise P/G anyway as it actually detracts from the beautiful wood coloring and grain. Problem is not many sources for G&L P/G. I was very, very pleased with the somewhat odd choice of wood for this guitar as it has a beautiful resonance that the pickups transmit to the amp. The PTB controls make a lot of sense and should be an option on Strats – in fact I'm considering making this mod to my 70's Strat. I also have to say the Bridge is about the best I have played and equal if not better than a Wilkinson. Stays in tune and great for me since I love floating tremelos. Might need a hipshot to keep everything in tune during bends. In all now that I've done set up and fret dressing and shielding the guitar will be a great player with smooth action and great tone.Drew

So after having spent a couple of weeks with this guitar, I will give a little more objective review of this guitar. I still give it 5 stars. The fit and finish playability, fretwork, neck pocket, etc. are really much better than the price point would suggest. The finish is absolutely beautiful. And the pickups are absolute heaven. I was thinking about swapping them until I actually plugged it in and played it. They really are very good. I can get everything from country, jazz, early rock, classic rock, and metal out of this axe. And the pickups really do sound good both clean and with obscene amounts gain/distortion thrown at them. I play with a noise gate so noise is not as much of a concern as it would be otherwise. That being said, they are pretty quiet. Even under my neon bar lights in my rehearsal room. Even under gain. My only quip is that it does slip out of tune, but only with a LOT of trem use. Nothing like my Big Apple Strat did without lockers, and not even close to my other American Strats, and Mexican Strat. So like everything else I have with a non locking trem, I am installing locking tuners. Aside from that, I have no complaints. I will even go one step further, this guitar is actually a refined version of what us Strat guys are used to. Better vibrato, better pickups, flatter radius. If you are thinking of going with an "S" type guitar, and want some of the classic features, but with some improvments, I would strongly suggest you try out a G&L. Leo just improved what most of us think he got right the first time. Really.guitar74

Just got this on a whim when it showed in my email up as the SDOTD. I already have a 1990 American-built legacy, but I loved the look of this one. Fit-and-finish are first rate. It came out of the box ready-to-play. Factory strings weren't even bad. Intonation was almost spot-on, so I threw it in a gig bag and took it to a gig literally an hour after receiving it. I was only going to "try" it, but I ended up playing it all night. Neck feel is great. Sound is great. This one's a keeper. As a previous reviewer noted, the strings DON'T align properly with the pole pieces on the bridge pickup. I was disappointed to see that, but it's not a deal breaker for me. I can swap out the pickguard and move things around a bit (I usually do that anyway). That being said, there was no noticeable effect on the sound. String output is even from string to string, so I might not even bother. Compared to my American legacy, this one is heavier and actually has a nicer feel to it. The sound is different, but just as good. The one is "chimier", whereas the American one is "plinkier" (probably because that one has a maple neck). This one has a little more meat to the sound. At SDOTD pricing, this was a no-brainer. This is my 7th strat, and I think it's as good as any of 'em.Carl

I got this new but as a repair, I found a big knot at the 12 fret. and it broke in two. I emailed g&l and they didn't care at all and just blew me off . I have pictures to prove. don't buy from g&l.mccoysguitars

I've had this guitar for about a week now. Still have not gigged with it yet. The frets were quite rugged and had deep leveling marks – felt like bending a string over sandpaper. On the upside the frets were level. Here are the things I needed to do to get the quitar gig worthy: Frets polished, neck relief adjusted, intonation adjusted. Also needed to place some copper shielding on the back of the pickguard – the pickups were pretty noisy and there was a static problem with the P/G – why guitar manufacturers or P/G sources don't simply do the shielding is silliness. I will probably replace the Tortoise P/G anyway as it actually detracts from the beautiful wood coloring and grain. Problem is not many sources for G&L P/G. I was very, very pleased with the somewhat odd choice of wood for this guitar as it has a beautiful resonance that the pickups transmit to the amp. The PTB controls make a lot of sense and should be an option on Strats – in fact I'm considering making this mod to my 70's Strat. I also have to say the Bridge is about the best I have played and equal if not better than a Wilkinson. Stays in tune and great for me since I love floating tremelos. Might need a hipshot to keep everything in tune during bends. In all now that I've done set up and fret dressing and shielding the guitar will be a great player with smooth action and great tone.Drew

So after having spent a couple of weeks with this guitar, I will give a little more objective review of this guitar. I still give it 5 stars. The fit and finish playability, fretwork, neck pocket, etc. are really much better than the price point would suggest. The finish is absolutely beautiful. And the pickups are absolute heaven. I was thinking about swapping them until I actually plugged it in and played it. They really are very good. I can get everything from country, jazz, early rock, classic rock, and metal out of this axe. And the pickups really do sound good both clean and with obscene amounts gain/distortion thrown at them. I play with a noise gate so noise is not as much of a concern as it would be otherwise. That being said, they are pretty quiet. Even under my neon bar lights in my rehearsal room. Even under gain. My only quip is that it does slip out of tune, but only with a LOT of trem use. Nothing like my Big Apple Strat did without lockers, and not even close to my other American Strats, and Mexican Strat. So like everything else I have with a non locking trem, I am installing locking tuners. Aside from that, I have no complaints. I will even go one step further, this guitar is actually a refined version of what us Strat guys are used to. Better vibrato, better pickups, flatter radius. If you are thinking of going with an "S" type guitar, and want some of the classic features, but with some improvments, I would strongly suggest you try out a G&L. Leo just improved what most of us think he got right the first time. Really.guitar74

Just got this on a whim when it showed in my email up as the SDOTD. I already have a 1990 American-built legacy, but I loved the look of this one. Fit-and-finish are first rate. It came out of the box ready-to-play. Factory strings weren't even bad. Intonation was almost spot-on, so I threw it in a gig bag and took it to a gig literally an hour after receiving it. I was only going to "try" it, but I ended up playing it all night. Neck feel is great. Sound is great. This one's a keeper. As a previous reviewer noted, the strings DON'T align properly with the pole pieces on the bridge pickup. I was disappointed to see that, but it's not a deal breaker for me. I can swap out the pickguard and move things around a bit (I usually do that anyway). That being said, there was no noticeable effect on the sound. String output is even from string to string, so I might not even bother. Compared to my American legacy, this one is heavier and actually has a nicer feel to it. The sound is different, but just as good. The one is "chimier", whereas the American one is "plinkier" (probably because that one has a maple neck). This one has a little more meat to the sound. At SDOTD pricing, this was a no-brainer. This is my 7th strat, and I think it's as good as any of 'em.Carl

I've owned a few G&L Tributes, so I knew what to expect quality wise. Cons: small rub place on the upper horn, easy to buff out. Frets were a little oxidized, took 15 minutes to polish them and oil the fretboard. Pros: Easy to tell these are USA pickups. Position 2 and 4 are very quacky but very usable. Bridge pickup is actually usable, not thin. Better finish than my MIM Fenders (I own several), better pickups. LOVE the vibrato. I'm not a big user of them, but this is a very nice floating design, ahead of even the 2 point Fender. Basically, with no threading of the arm. It just works. You get something nicer than a Mexico Fender for a lot less money. To compare, I have one of the MIM Strat HSS Player series (750 bones), and I like it, but this is still better. I gigged for years and would not hesitate to take this on stage at any bar or club.Pharmboy

I wanted to try a G&L as I had heard about their high quality, and they are used by one of my favorite guitarists. I've been gigging with a deluxe player's strat for 8 years, among several other guitars. I have played guitar for 40 years. What I notice about the tribute legacy right away is: excellent quality finish of the neck and body (black, with maple board, tortoise shell guard, white pickups/knobs), nicely trimmed medium jumbo frets, superior quality dual fulcrum tailpiece/bridge/vibrato (big improvement over the competing brand), master "PTB" treble and bass tone controls that can be used with all pickup settings and are actually useful in EQ'ing the sound of the guitar depending on the pickups selected, the amp and the song. I never used the tone controls on my strat, and always wished for one controlling the bridge pickup. Hooray! The pickups are a little brighter than the noiseless pups of the DPS and they produce high quality strat tones across the spectrum. They do well with a good amp and effects, in a band situation. The guitar is nicely resonant unplugged, no dead spots. It's well made. concerns: neck was bowed with excess relief. truss rod was loose, initially, but with proper careful adjustment, the neck relief was easily corrected with the supplied hardware. I changed the strings to those of my liking, 10-46, and adjusted the bridge saddles which were set too high. (Nice saddles!). String alignment was off a little. I found a fix for this on an online forum for G&L's. There was excessive crackling/static on touching the pickguard, while plugged in. I also found a fix for this on the online forum and was able to perform this myself by shielding the underside of the pickguard with aluminum tape. This worked well. I put straplocks on it, and obtained a quality gig bag for it, as it did not come with a case. So, I've had to do a bit of work to tune it up, but the outcome is a high quality/high value guitar that meets my standards, and is superior to the competition in its price range, for a better price!drjho7

I got this guitar a few weeks ago and I have not been able to put it down!! I upgraded from an Ibanez RG and I couldn't possibly be happier! I've been wanting a Strat style guitar for a long time now and I've always been a fan of G&L, it just took me a long time for some reason to make the jump. But I absolutely love it. I play it through a Marshall DSL15 and its the perfect match. Shoot, this guitar even made my 10 year old Marshall solid state sound absolutely amazing! The one and only thing I wish this amp had is a delay, but I'm planning on getting a Flashback delay anyways so its a non-issue. But I don't have a single complaint about this guitar. Its very reasonably priced for the amazing tones you get out of it, pair it with the right amp and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about because you definitely won't regret it!!!!BluesGuy90

This guitar is beutiful visually, confortable in hand, crafted beyond the price tag and above all sounds amasing. Surpassed my expectations in all fields. Definitely a keeper.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.