major HUM problem

[bobt]

No OK strats are not major quite, But i just pluged in the G&L S-500 i just got....it hums like crazy...I can even stand outside the room the amp is in and it still hums. None of the other guitars do this. I "assume" there is a grounding problem someware. Any possiable problem spots or i'm just shooting in the dark here to find a bad sodder joint, or loose connection of somekind.

[yowhatsshakin]

Hi Bob,

More than likely this is a grounding problem. To solve it, check the following: Turn your S-500 around and remove the cover of the spring cavity. What you should see is a black wire coming out of the body of the guitar that is soldered to the so-called 'spring' claw. This wire is a ground wire but frequently the wire comes loose due to all the whammy bar action. If that wire is indeed loose, you'll have to solder it back in place. If the wire is still connected to the claw, you'll have to check whether the jack and your cable actually make proper contact and/or whether the ground wire is loose on that end. Remove your jack plate from the pick guard and check whether the wire is connected to the ground lug of your output jack. If so, plug in your cable (with the jack plate still disconnected) and see whether the ground of the jack is touching the upper part of the input jack (the part above the black separator). If not, take out you cable, gently bend the clip inward, and check again.

Hope this helps,

- Jos

[bobt]

To be honest..my keyboard player wants me to put in the Gilmore EMG set up.
we Play Floyd stuff, so will that setup work, as it's built for a Fender. As long as the screwholes line up....that could be useful.

To be honest even with the major HUM...the sounds out of the G&L are NOT Floyd stuff.

[Craig]

To be honest..my keyboard player wants me to put in the Gilmore EMG set up.
we Play Floyd stuff, so will that setup work, as it's built for a Fender. As long as the screwholes line up....that could be useful.

To be honest even with the major HUM...the sounds out of the G&L are NOT Floyd stuff.

A Fender pickguard will not fit on a G&L, you will need to load the EMG set into an S-500 pickguard.
Check with G&L's pickguard supplier.

You might check out this post for help in dialing in your S-500: Comanches For Dummies Redux by BoogieBill.

Hope this helps.

[bobt]

OK i've done some tests. I've checked the ground wire from the trem to the output jack, i have continuity. Which should mean the ground is intact. Now all my guitars "hum" to a certain point...but this is far too much. If you take your hand off the guitar..the hum is HUGH. If you put the pup selector in position 5(bridge only) it's loud, if you put in position 4 (bridge and middle pup) it's less.
So if i'm in position 2 or 4 (2 pups combined, the hum is less) any 1 pup selected the hum is louder.

If i stand in 1 position, don't move an inch, with the pup selector in position 4, it's passable. But that really makes the guitar unusable.

Problem is, i'm not sure what i'm looking for now since the ground "seems" to be intact.

I'm playing this thru a Carvin X100B 100watt tube amp and 1/2 stack. On the distortion channel with the volume up. None of my other guitars react like this, but they are Humbuckers or EMG's.

Any idea's as the guitar is unusable as it is now.

[Craig]

OK i've done some tests. I've checked the ground wire from the trem to the output jack, i have continuity. Which should mean the ground is intact. Now all my guitars "hum" to a certain point...but this is far too much. If you take your hand off the guitar..the hum is HUGH. If you put the pup selector in position 5(bridge only) it's loud, if you put in position 4 (bridge and middle pup) it's less.
So if i'm in position 2 or 4 (2 pups combined, the hum is less) any 1 pup selected the hum is louder.

If i stand in 1 position, don't move an inch, with the pup selector in position 4, it's passable. But that really makes the guitar unusable.

Problem is, i'm not sure what i'm looking for now since the ground "seems" to be intact.

I'm playing this thru a Carvin X100B 100watt tube amp and 1/2 stack. On the distortion channel with the volume up. None of my other guitars react like this, but they are Humbuckers or EMG's.

Any idea's as the guitar is unusable as it is now.

Sounds like you will need to look under the hood. Here's a Picture Diagram of the S-500 (located in the Gallery, in the Instrument Manuals and Wiring Schematics Album):



Hope this helps.

[bobt]

Thanks...a pic is always the best way to go..just so i know where things are "supposed" to be..LOL

[bobt]

I just went down and tried the Clean channel....as i suppected...it works perfectly..cranked the volume way up..sounds fine. The guitar is not broke..it's just a strat.

No strat i ever had works well on a high watt tube amp distortion channel..unless you pot the pups and sheild the whole guitar cavity. Just dose not happen.

[Ken Baker]

I come at this from the bass side, but there's a little something I learned years ago with MFD pickups.... Turn it down. Running the instrument's volume control dimed makes for a certain amount of noise, especially in single coil mode. An S-500 with its MFD pickups is not a Strat,

Ken...

[bassman]

I agree with Ken.
Try using the guitar with the volume at 8 and the bass and treble controls set at 5.
MFD pickups are much hotter than the pus in a Strat. You have to run the guitar differently to get the most out of it but when you find the right settingt, the S500 is a very powerful guitar.

Have fun with it.