Tribute Bluesboy MFD Pickup Issues

Aloha everyone!
New here to the forum and I don't want to start out as a whiner, but I did find this forum as I'm looking for help with a crazy squealing bridge pickup, the likes of which I've never had to deal with before.

I've read and tried the advice about the rubber tubing to replace the springs and loose base plates, etc. Now I'm at the point of wanting to replace the bridge pick up to something more standard. I've also read all the posts on here that I can find about that. I appreciate knowing now about the "ground plane" mod that needs to be made, but here's my problem: almost all the posts I can find are dealing with replacing the neck pickup on the Tribute Bluesboy, which requires you to modify the bridge MFD. But I can't find any help about swapping out the bridge pu. I tried a Vzn Zant Blues T last night, and came up with similar results as in the posts: out of phase in the middle position, or silent when the wires are reversed.

My question is, do I need to pull the Gagon neck humbucker and do a mod on that, or is there another way to deal with this? I can solder and do small stuff when the instructions are clear, but I'm definitely not an electronics wiz!

Mahalo in advance for any advice you can give me! Jon

Aloha everyone!
New here to the forum and I don't want to start out as a whiner, but I did find this forum as I'm looking for help with a crazy squealing bridge pickup, the likes of which I've never had to deal with before.

I've read and tried the advice about the rubber tubing to replace the springs and loose base plates, etc. Now I'm at the point of wanting to replace the bridge pick up to something more standard. I've also read all the posts on here that I can find about that. I appreciate knowing now about the "ground plane" mod that needs to be made, but here's my problem: almost all the posts I can find are dealing with replacing the neck pickup on the Tribute Bluesboy, which requires you to modify the bridge MFD. But I can't find any help about swapping out the bridge pu. I tried a Vzn Zant Blues T last night, and came up with similar results as in the posts: out of phase in the middle position, or silent when the wires are reversed.

My question is, do I need to pull the Gagon neck humbucker and do a mod on that, or is there another way to deal with this? I can solder and do small stuff when the instructions are clear, but I'm definitely not an electronics wiz!

Mahalo in advance for any advice you can give me! Jon

I'm not sure whether the Tribute ASAT Classic Bluesboy bridge MFD pickup requires the ground plate change with the
neck G&L humbucker pickup. I suggest you remove the bridge and look at the ground connection of the pickup to see which wire it is
connected to.

Here's what it looks like on the US ASAT Classic Bluesboy: (reference: Gallery Album: ASAT Classic Bluesboy Picture Diagrams)

If the ground is connected to the yellow lead, then it does have the same pickup as the US model. If not, then it is the stock AC bridge pickup.

Regarding the squealing bridge pickup: did you try re-wax potting it? (you did not specially mention that you did).

Hope this helps.

If you like the tone of the MFD pickup, I would suggest taking it to a luthier that knows how to pot a pickup and have it re-potted. That will stop the squealing. Several pickup makers offer this service, like Duncan.

It's a common problem with the ASAT Classic bridge pickups. Mine squealed like a pig, until a local guy re-potted it for me. The cost was reasonable, much cheaper than a pickup. It's a great pickup when it works right.

If your guitar is under warranty, I would be pursuing a claim.

All the best,

Bill

I just got confirmation from the factory that both the US and Tribute ASAT Classic Bluesboy models use the same modified bridge pickup.

Hope this helps.

Mahalo! Thank you so much Craig and Bill for your research and advice! It was indeed very helpful!

Aloha!
Jon