Vintage V59 Icon vs G&L ASAT Classic?

So in budget Tele land I was about to drop  230 quid or so on a V59, quite a few good deals to be had on these at the mo. Not crazy about the relic (nothing against relics, just that its not very good on this..)  but keen on the 10" radius fretboard, no sticky goo on the neck, decent Wilkinson PUs and hardware.  Then this pops up not too far away:
https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/g-l-asat-classic/1490292024

Looks very nice, Andertons is doing them for 350 quid new so same ball park as the Vintage.  Thoughts?

I owned the Bluesboy semi-hollow version. Build quality was exceptional and the current Andertons price is a bargain. Out of the many guitars that I bought in the past 12 months it was definitely one of the best. Sad to see it go but there were others I just had to try.

Much as I like the Vintage brand guitars, I'd say if you wanted a tele type guitar, you would be getting a better deal & a better Fender pedigree with the G&L.
Enjoy whatever you decide on :+1: 

No brainer grab the ASAT , better build better experience and won’t lose its value, in fact probably nicked .

The one consistent downside to G&L Tribute Series instruments is their excessive weight. Being a fussy basket, I would be inclined to upgrade the pots, switch and jack at the earliest opportunity.

I know it is very shallow of me but I couldn't buy a G&L because of the headstock, it's horrific in the the eye of this beholder!

I've had two of those Indonesian made G&Ls - a Strat and a Tele, both with maple fretboards. The one thing that put me off playing both is the very sharp fretboard edges that were / are very uncormfortable.  I replaced the neck on the Tele and have it to a friend.  I still have the "Strat" but I don't play it these days because of the discomfort of the fretboard edges.  One of these days I will try to round the edges over a bit.  It's a pity, because they were / are otherwise pretty well made guitars.  If I had to choose I would buy a Vintage brand, but not the poorly relic'd model, simply because I don't like relic guitars.

BillDL said:

I've had two of those Indonesian made G&Ls - a Strat and a Tele, both with maple fretboards. The one thing that put me off playing both is the very sharp fretboard edges that were / are very uncormfortable.  I replaced the neck on the Tele and have it to a friend.  I still have the "Strat" but I don't play it these days because of the discomfort of the fretboard edges.  One of these days I will try to round the edges over a bit.  It's a pity, because they were / are otherwise pretty well made guitars.  If I had to choose I would buy a Vintage brand, but not the poorly relic'd model, simply because I don't like relic guitars.

Ok thanks all for the input, that's helpful.

 I really dislike sharp fretboard edges and I note the G&L nut is 41.5 mm vs a nicer (for me) 43mm on the Vantage.  Vintage do a non relic series,  'reissued' (as opposed to icons) and the V75  is tempting...

Go for an old G&L Tribute - Only Fret King Green Labels (and up) can match them, never mind Vintage.

The new G&L stuff isn't as good.

Funkfingers said:

The one consistent downside to G&L Tribute Series instruments is their excessive weight. Being a fussy basket, I would be inclined to upgrade the pots, switch and jack at the earliest opportunity.

Does that have a significant effect on the weight?

No. It just makes the guitar more reliable to use.

JonnyBgoode said:

BillDL said:

I've had two of those Indonesian made G&Ls - a Strat and a Tele, both with maple fretboards. The one thing that put me off playing both is the very sharp fretboard edges that were / are very uncormfortable.  I replaced the neck on the Tele and have it to a friend.  I still have the "Strat" but I don't play it these days because of the discomfort of the fretboard edges.  One of these days I will try to round the edges over a bit.  It's a pity, because they were / are otherwise pretty well made guitars.  If I had to choose I would buy a Vintage brand, but not the poorly relic'd model, simply because I don't like relic guitars.

Ok thanks all for the input, that's helpful.

 I really dislike sharp fretboard edges and I note the G&L nut is 41.5 mm vs a nicer (for me) 43mm on the Vantage.  Vintage do a non relic series,  'reissued' (as opposed to icons) and the V75  is tempting...

You can tame sharp fret ends with a metal spoon handle easily .Just run it up and down  the sides of the fret board at an angle as many times as you want   against the fret ends making a satifying  clacking noise  and gradually it just takes the sharpness off with out any risk of damage .Its not the total solution but does work in its own special way .i wonder if there is a name for the process....linishing ....?

Depending on the type of lacquer on a guitar with a maple fretboard, linishing can crack the lacqer and cause it to start chipping.  There was a Strat being sold on here about 6 or 7 months ago that the seller had buggered up by doing just this.  On hard laquered necks it's usually best to first feather the lacquer on and a tiny bit down from the sharp edge with fine sandpaper before pressing in the wood with a rounded tool.  Rounding over a sharp-edged lacquered fretboard is usually going to leave some exposed wood that will get dirtier than the other lacquered parts more readily.

I’ve got two vintage 59 icons in vintage sunburst . I really like them 
  One is in open G one standard