G&L Classic Tribute ASAT - wah use problem

Hi G&L owners,

I have posted a few threads over a couple of years, lamenting I had bought what I thought was an original G&L, a guitar Id never owned before or even seen around much in Australia, but I knew it had a good rap. Anyway, after a year of sourcing original PUs, bridge, and a complete rewire to G&L specs, it is now, of today 'online' as it should have been.

It sounds great, particularly in the middle and neck position on the 3-way. A Tele with attitude !

However, the neck PU will not handle a wah pedal (Morley mini wah/volume) when I push the pedal into treble territory. Wild micro-phonic feedback happens, even if I stand aside from the amp (Mesa Boogie Express 50/5W). I do tend (and prefer) to play with the tone pot on a guitar on full treble on the bridge PU for rock solos, but maybe this PU is just too hot to handle the extra treble boost from the wah. I hope not.

I am using new 250 ohm CTS pots, a .220 cap on the tone pot, and a .002 uf/180K treble bleed resistor on the volume pot. Wired as per G&L 's schematic for an ASAT Classic.

Anyone else experienced this problem with this guitar or wah pedal or both, and found a remedy?

Thanks, Don

Just a wild guess - the pickup is probably microphonic and you're settings on the wah are dialling up a resonance frequency that triggers feedback.

What happens if you plug the wah output into an amp simulator or mixer and monitor through headphones? I'm guessing you won't have the problem as the feedback loop has been removed. If you do still have problems then a microphonic pickup is probably not the problem.

Let us know how you go.

Thanks Philby. I will need to get hold of the gear you mention at rehearsal this week. Tell though...is a microphonic PU terminal? Or fixable? Thanks, Don

I've had a neck MFD pickup on my S-500 go microphonic. There is a school of thought on the internet (and I tend to agree) that MFD's are more prone to going microphonic than other pickup types due to their design. There is the mother of all ceramic magnets at the base of the pickup held in place by wax potting and possibly glue. If the magnet comes loose, and they seem to quite frequently, the first port of call is to re-glue the magnet in place. I did this with mine and it fixed the problem.

If re-gluing doesn't work you could get the pickup re-potted with wax. There's a guy in Adelaide called Mick Brierley who has done this for me at a minimal charge before.

Hope that helps.

Cheers, Phil.

Thanks Philby. Will look at the back of the PU and report back. The PUs did appear near new though, and in handling the bridge PU, I did not detect any looseness. How loose was yours? Regards, Don.

Hi Don,

The base magnet could be easily moved with my fingers. It was really just being held in place by magnetic attraction to the other pickup components. There was no evidence of any glue or wax potting so I still don't know how it was secured at the factory. I used that spongey glue that is used to put attachments on the front of magazines (sorry, can't remember the name of it). It's easy to peel it off and reapply if the problem re-surfaces, but so far it hasn't.

Cheers, Phil.