G&L guitar question

[pierce]

ok, probably wrong forum (if not wrong website altogether).

my guitarist bought a G&L tribute asat special. i think he likes the guitar, except that it doesnt give him distortion like he is used to from his ric. ie, he thinks it is too clean sounding.

he is very basic, and just likes to plug his guitar into his tube amp, and go. my question: should he get a different g&l (like an invader xl, or legacy hb), change out one of the pickups for something more to his liking, or just get a different guitar. also, he is not big on effects units.

i am posting this here, because i cant even imagine the typically responses i would get in a guitar forum...and i know their are guitarist on this board as well.

[quickervicar]

Are the pickups set at the factory-specified height? This can have a huge impact on the output of the coils.

Has he tried adjusting the Gain setting on his amp? I've heard rumors that this can make the input signal louder.

[Nedmundo]

The ASAT Special has high output MFD single coils, so I'm surprised he isn't getting the distortion he wants, despite the inherent clarity of single coils. I would think those would be among the best single coils for that purpose. Unfortunately, if he doesn't dig the tone, the best bet might be a new guitar. Those MFD pickups aren't a standard size, so regular Tele replacement pickups might not fit, or at least they'll look awkward. If a Seymour Duncan Tele Hot Rails would fit at the bridge, I'd give that a try. Those sound great with heavy distortion, and have some Tele twang. Seems like he'd probably prefer humbuckers generally, and a Legacy HB would be great. I have a double humbucker Strat with Seymour Duncan pickups, which is similar, and it's an amazing all-around rock/blues axe.

[quickervicar]

Two solutions to boost his signal:

-Rio Grande offers replacement pickups for the ASATs (and I love their other pickups)

-have him try a ZVEX S.H.O. to boost the signal