MFD pups

Mon Jun 03, 2019 1:50 pm

Hi, I’m sure this info is available somewhere. Other than the size, what’s the difference between MFD pups in the ASAT Classic versus the ASAT Special? Thanks very much.

Re: MFD pups

Mon Jun 03, 2019 3:26 pm

MFD pickups are ceramic and overwound. They're really hot. The ASAT classic MFD is going to sound like a "juicy" strat pup. Think kind of a mix between a texas special and a P90.

The ASAT special MFDs are like p90s on crack. They're LOUD. In order to avoid a really gainy, muddy tone, you've got to set the neck pickup really low.

Once you have them tamed and your gain staging right, they're some of the best single coils I've ever heard.

In both cases, you get that juicy ceramic sound. Not as much spank or brittleness as an old alnico tele pickup.

Re: MFD pups

Mon Jun 03, 2019 7:46 pm

Thanks for the reply. So my ASAT Classic sounds like a Strat and my Legacy sounds like a Tele. Sigh.

Re: MFD pups

Mon Jun 03, 2019 8:14 pm

tedkirkendall wrote:Hi, I’m sure this info is available somewhere. Other than the size, what’s the difference between MFD pups in the ASAT Classic versus the ASAT Special? Thanks very much.


See these posts:The G&L Magnetic Field Design pickups and List of pickups used in G&L guitars and http://www.guitarsbyleo.com/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=14233&p=96683&hilit=MFD+classic+vs+jumbo#p96683.

Hope this helps.

Re: MFD pups

Tue Jun 04, 2019 1:02 am

tedkirkendall wrote:Thanks for the reply. So my ASAT Classic sounds like a Strat and my Legacy sounds like a Tele. Sigh.


you can get an ASAT classic alnico if you really want the classic tele tone.

And MFDs don't sound like strat pups. They're really their own beast.

Re: MFD pups

Wed Jun 05, 2019 8:00 am

tedkirkendall wrote:Hi, I’m sure this info is available somewhere. Other than the size, what’s the difference between MFD pups in the ASAT Classic versus the ASAT Special? Thanks very much.


Although both are very similar, the larger MFDs in the Special are a bit darker than the ones in the Classic.
Do you have a dealer anywhere near you that carries both?
When I bought my ASAT Classic I had it narrowed down to the Classic and the Special. Fortunately there was a local dealer that had both and could play them back to back for quite a while before making a decision. You can get much closer to a traditional Tele sound with the Asat Classic. For what it's worth I knew a guy who told me my Classic sounded more like a Tele than his Fender US Telecaster.

This guy does a good job with demos.

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Re: MFD pups

Wed Jun 05, 2019 1:01 pm

I have both.

While they are different, to me the Classic and Special are clearly from the same family. Kind of like comparing Alinco 5 to Alnico 5 with different windings or something. There's a difference, but it's not so totally different the guitars are incomparable. The difference is the Special is more aggressive and amped up about 5 notches. The Classic sounds tamer by comparison, but much more aggressive than a standard Tele. They both drive amps super quick. The ASAT Alnico sounds like a totally different guitar. It nails the classic Tele tone and is noticeably warmer and twangier.