Hum with G&L ASAT Special

Technical Talk and Tips
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maconvert
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Mar 07, 2015 12:24 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC

Hum with G&L ASAT Special

Post by maconvert »

Hello,

I have an annoying hum that seems to only go away when the pickup selector switch is in the centre position. If the switch is in the top or bottom position it hums like crazy. Maybe I'm losing it, but I don't recall noticing that before, so it seems like a new thing.

Anyway, if someone could help me with this, that would be great. BTW, if someone from G&L is reading this, my serial number is "CLF 063797".

Thanks.

Corey
Cheers!

Mac
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yowhatsshakin
Posts: 3340
Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2010 8:00 am
Location: Seattle

Re: Hum with G&L ASAT Special

Post by yowhatsshakin »

Mac,

That is not a new thing in that these (single-coil) MFD pups are only hum canceling in the center position. Since they are single-coil, they are sensitive to all the usual RF interference ranging from 120Hz hum from power lines to dimmers frequently used in the winter time for intimate lighting to the cell phone in your pocket (no, really). As an experiment, you could move your rig to a different location in your home and see if the problem persists.

Hope this helps,

- Jos
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Miles Smiles
Posts: 610
Joined: Fri Mar 05, 2010 2:02 am
Location: Europe/Austria

Re: Hum with G&L ASAT Special

Post by Miles Smiles »

yowhatsshakin wrote:As an experiment, you could move your rig to a different location in your home and see if the problem persists.
And if it persists, the problem could be the amp. ;)

I would move around in the room and where the hum gets louder you'r closer to the source.

At the moment I'm using a rehersal room which has some problems, but mostly at hi gain. The best guitar to use there is the Comanche, that Z-Coils are better than any Humbucker. Followed by F-100 and Les Paul. ASAT or Legacy is not usable there, but just fine anywhere else. ;)
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john o
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Location: Delaware

Re: Hum with G&L ASAT Special

Post by john o »

i played in a bar with significant Hi-Z interference, had my sg classic (p90's) - totally unusable, and my legacy - was ok in selector positions 2 and 4!
john o
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SouthPaw
Posts: 38
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2015 12:59 am

Re: Hum with G&L ASAT Special

Post by SouthPaw »

Just a thought and don't want to send you on a wild chase but... Yours is not the black crinkle bridge hardware by any chance is it? Just asking as I recall having a grounding related issue a while back, seems that what had happened is that the ground wire which sits under the bridge (sandwiched between body and bridge) had basically lost good contact with the bridge, (perhaps due to natural shrinking of the body wood (is is a mid 90's model - so not young) or what I also read at the time was that the black crinkle coating is not the greatest conductor.. So I scraped a little of it away and repositioned the wire so it was not sitting in quite the same groove as before and making better contact to the bridge... Seemed to clear up the extra noise for me and now just the regular single coil hum. Good luck anyway I hope you figure it out. Those ASAT special pickups are something special for sure