problem noise with brand new asat classic.

Hi everyone. I have just bought a new USA made Asat Classic after being really impressed with the Tribute model I have had for the last couple of years.

I have straight away noticed that there is an annoying buzzy crackling sound if you take your hand of the strings and turn the volume knob. It only happens if you are not touching any of the metal parts of the guitar except the volume knob. It's not just normal single coil hum but more of a crackling noise and bad enough to be a real nuisance.
I would say it sounds like a scratchy pot but louder.

I had the guitar shipped over to the UK from the US so I am unsure what the G&L Warranty situation is in these circumstances. Does anyone know?

It's a fantastic guitar so it is a bit disappointing to find this problem.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Hi everyone. I have just bought a new USA made Asat Classic after being really impressed with the Tribute model I have had for the last couple of years.

I have straight away noticed that there is an annoying buzzy crackling sound if you take your hand of the strings and turn the volume knob. It only happens if you are not touching any of the metal parts of the guitar except the volume knob. It's not just normal single coil hum but more of a crackling noise and bad enough to be a real nuisance.
I would say it sounds like a scratchy pot but louder.

I had the guitar shipped over to the UK from the US so I am unsure what the G&L Warranty situation is in these circumstances. Does anyone know?

It's a fantastic guitar so it is a bit disappointing to find this problem.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

It sounds like the bridge ground wire is not making contact to the bridge.
See this post and in particular, read Ken Baker's reply and tutoriel he links to: ASAT grounding question.

For G&L Warranty information, see the Support page on the main G&L website,

Hope this helps.

I would check Craigs suggestion first but I suspect that you may be hearing static electricity discharging through the pickguard. When you are turning you knob, I suspect you may have your hand or fingers resting on the pickguard. If this is the case, I would remove the pickguard and put foil HVAC tape on the backside. Some will tell you it has to be grounded but I found that it doesn't. It doesn't hurt but just putting the tape on the back of the pickguards. A dryer fabric softner sheet rubbed on the pickguard will temporarily cure it. Your body is not grounded when you are not touching the strings and in a dry environment you are a large capacitor for static electricity and it is discharging in the pickguard. Just a thought. -- Darwin

Thanks Graig i will investigate the bridge earth wire.

Can anyone tell me the best way to remove the bridge to minimise the messing up of the action and intonation.
Looking at my asst classic it looks like you have to move the saddles to get to some of the screws. The last time I did one I measured the distance to the end of the saddles from the back of the bridge and tried to put them back the same.

Is there a better way of doing it .

I would not remove the bridge but rather use an Ohmmeter to measure for 0 resistance or I would use a jumper wire with clips on the end and jumper the bridge to something else like the output jack sleeve or ground to the control plate screw and see if the noise changes.-- Darwin

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

i have tried connecting a wire from the bridge to one of the screws on the control plate and that did not cure the problem.
Also it is not anything to do with static and the pickguard because even with the guitar on a stand without touching anything but the volume knob the noise is still there.

I have also looked at the G&L info on their Warranty and it just says for overseas customers you need to contact your national distributor but that doesn't help me because I purchased the guitar from the US. From previous experience I am sure that the UK distributor will say they only fix guitars under warranty that were bought through them.

Any more suggestion would be very gratefully received as i am stuck with a brand new guitar with a fault and apparently no way to get it fixed under warranty.

Just take it to a guitar tech in your area. He can sus it out quickly, and it'll probably be cheap.

Will

WR has the best solution but I want to make one more suggestion. As I interpret your post this ONLY happens when you touch the volume control. If true, that is a clue. If your volume pot is grounded correctly and you still get noise when touching it, If you have just walked across a carpet your may be storing static electricity in your body. What happens if you touch the bridge first and the the volume pot. WR's suggestion is the best one but if you are not close to a tech, I still think that you can do more on isolating the problem.-- Darwin

WR has the best solution but I want to make one more suggestion. As I interpret your post this ONLY happens when you touch the volume control. If true, that is a clue. If your volume pot is grounded correctly and you still get noise when touching it, If you have just walked across a carpet your may be storing static electricity in your body. What happens if you touch the bridge first and the the volume pot. WR's suggestion is the best one but if you are not close to a tech, I still think that you can do more on isolating the problem.-- Darwin

I also agree with Will and Darwin.

If you want to go the Warranty route, you need to contact the selling dealer first and if that does not work for you, then contact G&L Service.

Best of luck to you.

Hi thanks.
My problem is that there isn't any good guitar techs near me that I trust to do a decent job.
Unfortunately I have found from previous experience that if you want a guitar job done properly in my area it's better to do it yourself if you can.
The techs round here either don't do what they say they have done or they fix one thing and break another.

To recap the noise only happens when you turn the volume knob and only when not touching the strings,bridge,control plate or tuners. It is a crackling noise like a scratchy pot but a bit louder it also does it a bit on the tone knob but quieter.
It doesn't seem to matter what i have been doing previously either sitting or walking around it always does it.

Hi thanks.
My problem is that there isn't any good guitar techs near me that I trust to do a decent job.
Unfortunately I have found from previous experience that if you want a guitar job done properly in my area it's better to do it yourself if you can.
The techs round here either don't do what they say they have done or they fix one thing and break another.

To recap the noise only happens when you turn the volume knob and only when not touching the strings,bridge,control plate or tuners. It is a crackling noise like a scratchy pot but a bit louder it also does it a bit on the tone knob but quieter.
It doesn't seem to matter what i have been doing previously either sitting or walking around it always does it.

It sounds like volume pot is part of the issue. You might try a cleaner & lubricant made for pots, and if that does not resolve it, then replace the pot.
It still sounds like you also have a ground issue. Perhaps a cold solder joint or loose connection.

Unclefreaky, doing it a bit in the tone knob is another clue. I can only suggest what I think and if were in your position I would put aluminum HVAC sticky tape on back of the pickguard and loosen the pot screws and make sure the pot washers are making good contact with the foil you are installing short of taking it to a good tech. I would also make sure the pot covers are grounded well to the ground circuit. Unfortunate you are having problems and hope that this helps. -- Darwin

Hi guys and thanks again.

I have just tried turning the volume knob wearing a thick rubber glove and the noise was gone. Does that imply that it is static as suggested.

Hi guys and thanks again.

I have just tried turning the volume knob wearing a thick rubber glove and the noise was gone. Does that imply that it is static as suggested.

brilliant experiment
Sounds like you've found the problem.

My point exactly. You are a big capacitor this time of the year. I encourage you follow my previous suggestion and hopefully the problem will be solved.--Darwin

Hi everyone. I have just bought a new USA made Asat Classic after being really impressed with the Tribute model I have had for the last couple of years.

I have straight away noticed that there is an annoying buzzy crackling sound if you take your hand of the strings and turn the volume knob. It only happens if you are not touching any of the metal parts of the guitar except the volume knob. It's not just normal single coil hum but more of a crackling noise and bad enough to be a real nuisance.
I would say it sounds like a scratchy pot but louder.

I had the guitar shipped over to the UK from the US so I am unsure what the G&L Warranty situation is in these circumstances. Does anyone know?

It's a fantastic guitar so it is a bit disappointing to find this problem.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

It sounds like the bridge ground wire is not making contact to the bridge.
See this post and in particular, read Ken Baker's reply and tutoriel he links to: ASAT grounding question.

For G&L Warranty information, see the Support page on the main G&L website,

Hope this helps.

Hi Graig I still haven't been able to get to the bottom of this problem yet.
I have been looking at the wiring diagrams for the Asat Classic on the G&L website and they show three wires going to the bridge, two to the pickup and one black one for the bridge ground connection.
My guitar with the noisy static on the volume knob only has 2 wires leaving the control cavity and going through the body to the bridge one yellow and one red but no black.
My Tribute Asat has three including one black which I assume is the ground to the bridge.
Is it possible that the bridge ground is not there at all.

Many Thanks.
David.

Hi everyone. I have just bought a new USA made Asat Classic after being really impressed with the Tribute model I have had for the last couple of years.

I have straight away noticed that there is an annoying buzzy crackling sound if you take your hand of the strings and turn the volume knob. It only happens if you are not touching any of the metal parts of the guitar except the volume knob. It's not just normal single coil hum but more of a crackling noise and bad enough to be a real nuisance.
I would say it sounds like a scratchy pot but louder.

I had the guitar shipped over to the UK from the US so I am unsure what the G&L Warranty situation is in these circumstances. Does anyone know?

It's a fantastic guitar so it is a bit disappointing to find this problem.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

It sounds like the bridge ground wire is not making contact to the bridge.
See this post and in particular, read Ken Baker's reply and tutoriel he links to: ASAT grounding question.

For G&L Warranty information, see the Support page on the main G&L website,

Hope this helps.

Hi Graig I still haven't been able to get to the bottom of this problem yet.
I have been looking at the wiring diagrams for the Asat Classic on the G&L website and they show three wires going to the bridge, two to the pickup and one black one for the bridge ground connection.
My guitar with the noisy static on the volume knob only has 2 wires leaving the control cavity and going through the body to the bridge one yellow and one red but no black.
My Tribute Asat has three including one black which I assume is the ground to the bridge.
Is it possible that the bridge ground is not there at all.

Many Thanks.
David.

It sure sounds like a ground wire is missing. I recommend contacting the selling dealer and let them know what you have found. I also suggest taking photos showing
this and send them to the dealer. Perhaps you could also post those photos here, too. If you want to fix it yourself, use your Tribute as your guide.

Best of luck.

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Hi and thanks.

I have uploaded some links to the photos I have taken. The last one clearly shows the yellow and red wires that are the only ones that go to the bridge.
The red and yellow wires on the left go to the bridge and the white and black on the right go to the neck pickup.

There is no hole drilled in the body with a black wire going to the bridge plate which is what I have on my Tribute model.

I am considering doing it myself but there is no hole drilled for the ground wire from the control cavity to the bridge so could it go through the same hole as the two wires that go to the pickup. Also can it be soldered anywhere on the back of the volume pot.