ItsaBass
New member
NGD: G&L Tribute Ascari GTS. I've wanted one of these since they first came out for the 2012 model year. Not long afterward, G&L reduced the component quality on their import models, and they stopped including the gig bag with them. So I've been stalking the early ones online for a few years now. I finally jumped when I found exactly what I was looking for: a NOS one made in late 2011.
It's a really good guitar, and a great value, especially with the nice gig bag that the Tribute guitars used to come with. They're made in Indonesia, then shipped to CA for final nut work, fret work, setup, and testing. It's a PRS-style guitar in the general ideological sense. Les Paul-esque construction and materials, but more ergonomic. (The body was co-designed by Grover Jackson.) But while I find every last PRS I've ever seen to be an aesthetic disaster, I think the G&L is actually a good looking guitar. It's still not exactly my cup of tea in terms of looks, but it's definitely not a dog.
In this line of guitars, there is also a model of the Ascari that has P90's. There is also a similar model called the Fiorano, with has a slightly pointier body, the Fender scale, 24 frets, and open coil pickups. Here is an article from when they came out: http://www.guitarplayer.com/miscell...es-ascari-gts-and-fiorano-gts-set-necks/14064.
The pickups are good. I might switch out all the hardware for nickel instead of chrome, and I might replace the nut with a bone or Tusq XL one. I might do a little fine fret work on the edges. Other than those changes, it's probably not going to be modded much, if at all. I might try to make a pickguard for it at some point too, and darken the rosewood if I can.
Here is a quick shotgun Photoshop sketch of a possible pickguard. The design is nowhere close to being refined, but I do think it would look better with a guard of this basic style.
It's a really good guitar, and a great value, especially with the nice gig bag that the Tribute guitars used to come with. They're made in Indonesia, then shipped to CA for final nut work, fret work, setup, and testing. It's a PRS-style guitar in the general ideological sense. Les Paul-esque construction and materials, but more ergonomic. (The body was co-designed by Grover Jackson.) But while I find every last PRS I've ever seen to be an aesthetic disaster, I think the G&L is actually a good looking guitar. It's still not exactly my cup of tea in terms of looks, but it's definitely not a dog.
In this line of guitars, there is also a model of the Ascari that has P90's. There is also a similar model called the Fiorano, with has a slightly pointier body, the Fender scale, 24 frets, and open coil pickups. Here is an article from when they came out: http://www.guitarplayer.com/miscell...es-ascari-gts-and-fiorano-gts-set-necks/14064.
The pickups are good. I might switch out all the hardware for nickel instead of chrome, and I might replace the nut with a bone or Tusq XL one. I might do a little fine fret work on the edges. Other than those changes, it's probably not going to be modded much, if at all. I might try to make a pickguard for it at some point too, and darken the rosewood if I can.
Here is a quick shotgun Photoshop sketch of a possible pickguard. The design is nowhere close to being refined, but I do think it would look better with a guard of this basic style.
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