Noisy ASAT Special

Fri Aug 31, 2012 8:27 pm

Recently purchased an early 90's ASAT Special. It's a very noisy / buzzing guitar. When I remove the control panel cover and touch the volume pot or tone pot, the buzz goes a away. I tried shielding the control cavity with aluminum foil tape but that increased the buzz. When the pickup switch is in the middle, the buzz drops significantly. When in the bridge or neck position, the buzzing is very loud.

Is it possible new pots are required? Is it preferable to have the all the cavities and pickguard shielded with copper foil? Are there any good ASAT Special shielding how to postings out there? I check You Tube but could not find any.

Thanks

Re: Noisy ASAT Special

Sat Sep 01, 2012 12:21 am

the noise is from you. you are the antenna. when you touch the back of the pot, you get grounded. you need to ground the bridge so you can be grounded the whole time. you may want to take it to someone, as this is obviously beyond your skill level/understanding.

Re: Noisy ASAT Special

Sat Sep 01, 2012 12:50 am

Louis is right, the bridge has to be grounded, you may compare:
http://www.guitarsbyleo.com/GALLERY2/ma ... itemId=340

So, normally the bridge is grounded, so your ASAT has to be repaired, as we suppose, the buzz doesn't change, if you just touch the strings, instead of the pot.

Next, the main problem isn't you or the ASAT, but you environment. Check out which electrical device, does send that disturbances! If it's in your room or nearby the buzz may change it's volume as you change the distance between you and the source of the buzz.

Re: Noisy ASAT Special

Sat Sep 01, 2012 7:19 am

The guitar buzzes when I'm not holding it. I know how to ground a bridge. Before I headed down the path of multiple avenues and limited time on my hands, thought I'd reach out to this site.

Re: Noisy ASAT Special

Sat Sep 01, 2012 8:46 am

Satchel68 wrote:The guitar buzzes when I'm not holding it. I know how to ground a bridge. Before I headed down the path of multiple avenues and limited time on my hands, thought I'd reach out to this site.

that is you causing the interference. without you getting grounded, you will cause the noise, you need to be grounded. of course other environmental factors play a role, but the guitar is perfectly fine if it is quiet when you are touching the strings.

Re: Noisy ASAT Special

Sun Sep 02, 2012 10:55 pm

Satchel68 wrote:Recently purchased an early 90's ASAT Special. It's a very noisy / buzzing guitar. When I remove the control panel cover and touch the volume pot or tone pot, the buzz goes a away. I tried shielding the control cavity with aluminum foil tape but that increased the buzz. When the pickup switch is in the middle, the buzz drops significantly. When in the bridge or neck position, the buzzing is very loud.

Is it possible new pots are required? Is it preferable to have the all the cavities and pickguard shielded with copper foil? Are there any good ASAT Special shielding how to postings out there? I check You Tube but could not find any.

Thanks


Also, check out the G&L Knowledgebase, G&L Tech Tips sub-forum.

Hope this helps.

:ugeek:

Re: Noisy ASAT Special

Tue Sep 04, 2012 7:38 pm

louis cyfer wrote:
Satchel68 wrote:The guitar buzzes when I'm not holding it. I know how to ground a bridge. Before I headed down the path of multiple avenues and limited time on my hands, thought I'd reach out to this site.

that is you causing the interference. without you getting grounded, you will cause the noise, you need to be grounded. of course other environmental factors play a role, but the guitar is perfectly fine if it is quiet when you are touching the strings.


That did the trick. The orginal ground was faulty. Wired a ground with a heavier gauge. Hum significantly reduced. Thanks for the info.