New ASAT Special - possible short??

[davecan]

Yesterday I received my brand new special order ASAT Special semi-hollow.
The body/neck are perfect (I'll post pics tonight), but I believe that there is a short in the electronics.

I own a Legacy and have had several other single coil guitars, so I am familiar with the hum that they produce, but the new guitar produces an exceptionally loud hum. The hum is almost as loud as the sound of the strings. If I touch the metal plate where the controls are located the hum goes down to what I would call a reasonable or normal single coil hum.

Does this seem like a wiring problem???

I have just emailed the dealer to see what they want me to do - I'm on the other side of the country and I don't really want to ship it back if it's a quick solder fix.

What do you guys think???

[sirmyghin]

Sounds like a ground wire let go, can happen in shipping. Probably a very quick fix.

[davecan]

I took the plate off and all wires appear to be connected. I don't want to do too much - this is a brand new guitar. I see that some people seem to be very bothered by the hum of Specials, while others hardly notice it....could it really be this loud normally? I tried it on my home amp this afternoon (Music Man) and it was a little quieter, but still not great. I have 48 hours to return it - am seriously considering doing it...

[sirmyghin]

I took the plate off and all wires appear to be connected. I don't want to do too much - this is a brand new guitar. I see that some people seem to be very bothered by the hum of Specials, while others hardly notice it....could it really be this loud normally? I tried it on my home amp this afternoon (Music Man) and it was a little quieter, but still not great. I have 48 hours to return it - am seriously considering doing it...

Could be a bad joint too. Have you tried in a different room of your house, that could also be a factor.

[davecan]

I've tried it in two different buildings - home and studio. It is incredibly noisy in the studio. At home it is bad, but a little less so.

Right now I'm totally bummed - store just told me that special orders are not returnable. I feel totally ripped off at the moment.

[sirmyghin]

I am going to assume you don't live anywhere near Hamilton, Ontario? If you do however I would be happy to look at it for you.

[davecan]

I am going to assume you don't live anywhere near Hamilton, Ontario? If you do however I would be happy to look at it for you.

Thanks for the offer, but no, I'm in NJ.

What do you make of the hum getting significantly lower when I touch the metal plate???

Some more things I've observed... the loud hum doesn't change when I touch strings or take my hands off strings and middle position does not really effect it (but if I'm touching the metal plate then middle position does seem to reduce the remaining "normal" hum)....

[Philby]

It sounds to me like 1 of 3 things.

1) a problem with the ground on the input jack.
2) a problem with the grounding wire that attaches to the bridge (poor contact).
3) a dodgy cable that is not providing proper ground.

The fact that you can reduce the hum by touching the metal plate seems to confirm the grounding theory as you are becoming the path to ground when you touch the plate.

It is probably something very simple, but I understand your frustration with a new instrument.

A good guitar tech could probably fix it for $20.

FWIW my Special exhibits 'normal' single coil hum. No better and no worse than other guitars I have. The middle hum cancelling position is near silent though while the neck pickup has the loudest hum.

[davecan]

It sounds to me like 1 of 3 things.

1) a problem with the ground on the input jack.
2) a problem with the grounding wire that attaches to the bridge (poor contact).
3) a dodgy cable that is not providing proper ground.

The fact that you can reduce the hum by touching the metal plate seems to confirm the grounding theory as you are becoming the path to ground when you touch the plate.

It is probably something very simple, but I understand your frustration with a new instrument.

A good guitar tech could probably fix it for $20.

FWIW my Special exhibits 'normal' single coil hum. No better and no worse than other guitars I have. The middle hum cancelling position is near silent though while the neck pickup has the loudest hum.

Thanks for the info. I think it must be #1 or #2 as I've tried several cables (and the same cables with my Legacy, which is relatively quiet).

Yeah, I'm frustrated... I should be singing and dancing with my new axe, not stressing out about a probable bad connection. Good to hear that your Special has only "normal" hum. I expected that and was not concerned - I'll always trade a little hum for better overall tone (IMHO).

[yowhatsshakin]

Hi Dave,

Bummer! But remember that you have a 10 year warranty. So use it if needed! And don't be afraid to wiggle the wires to check whether you have a cold solder. If the solder is robust it will be able to handle it. If not, the wire will come loose and you will have located the problem. Hope it can be solved easily, either by you or by your dealer.

- Jos

[Craig]

It sounds to me like 1 of 3 things.

1) a problem with the ground on the input jack.
2) a problem with the grounding wire that attaches to the bridge (poor contact).
3) a dodgy cable that is not providing proper ground.

The fact that you can reduce the hum by touching the metal plate seems to confirm the grounding theory as you are becoming the path to ground when you touch the plate.

It is probably something very simple, but I understand your frustration with a new instrument.

A good guitar tech could probably fix it for $20.

FWIW my Special exhibits 'normal' single coil hum. No better and no worse than other guitars I have. The middle hum cancelling position is near silent though while the neck pickup has the loudest hum.

Thanks for the info. I think it must be #1 or #2 as I've tried several cables (and the same cables with my Legacy, which is relatively quiet).

Yeah, I'm frustrated... I should be singing and dancing with my new axe, not stressing out about a probable bad connection. Good to hear that your Special has only "normal" hum. I expected that and was not concerned - I'll always trade a little hum for better overall tone (IMHO).

I think #2 is the likely candidate. Check this post: ASAT grounding question.
If you find that it is neither of these or not wanting to lift the bridge, then I suggest returning it to the dealer and ask this dealer to help you with this via G&L's warranty process.
See G&L'sSupport page. If the dealer's tech cannot resolve it, then they will have to return it to the factory, without cost to you.
Unfortunately, you will be without your guitar until it's fixed by G&L's Customer Support, but they will definitely resolve it for you.

Hope this helps.

[davecan]

Ok, I guess it's the ground to the bridge - have not taken the bridge off, but I touched a wire from the control plate to the bridge and the annoying hum is gone. See pictures of my temporary fix... Soon I'll do the real fix or have someone local do it for me, but problem solved for now and my blood pressure is back to normal

Thanks to all for their advice.

[sirmyghin]

Nice fix, but can't help but giggling when I see it. How come I never thought of that before! Good work dude.

[rays58]

Greetings, fellow G&L owners. I have to comment and please don't give up if you have this problem even on a new guitar. I have an 05 ASAT that I purchased brand new and plays exceptionally well and sounded pretty good (better now) and was actually spending more time in the case than in my hands for the past 5 years because it was very annoying to play. It wasn't so much of a hum as it was a static-popping sound whenever I'd strum. I associated the noise with contact with the strings or bridge. I finally decided to investigate and took off the pot plate and noted only two wires coming from the bridge p/u wiring hole and to the pots. Made me wonder... I pulled up G&L wiring schematics and they all showed that ground wire going to the back of the tone pot from the bridge. I took off the bridge thinking someone got fancy. NO GROUNDING WIRE! I bought a spool of #22 wire and ran it from the back of the pickup height adjusting screw so it would be in contact with the bridge and insulated by the rubber bushing and soldered it to the back of the tone pot. Problem solved. I have a VERY LOW single coil hum now and no other hums or pops.
I guess my point is not to give up and even if it is a new guitar, things are still built on a Monday or a Friday and we are all humans. I really like the external trick that the owner did in the previously posted photos as a troubleshooting method.

[NickHorne]

You have a fine guitar there - I hope you put this behind you asap and get the romance back on track!

[Craig]

You have a fine guitar there - I hope you put this behind you asap and get the romance back on track!

You do know you are posting to thread that's over two years old, don't you.

The OP has not been back since then, so we don't know if he figured out how to fix his problem. Perhaps he's still got the wire from
the control plate to the to top of the bridge...