Comanche Woes

Hi all,

I'm new here and I was hoping you guys could help me out with some issues I am having with my Comanche. Its my first (and only) G&L and and it seems like there are multiple issues with it. I was hoping someone here could help me out point me in the right direction.

With that said:

1. My pickup selector makes noise when i switch between pickups, it comes though the amp. I am guessing the selector is bad.
2. Any noise bumping or tapping the pick guard is picked up by the pick ups. This happens regardless of what pickup is selected.
3. The bridge* pickup is INCREDIBLY bright. I know they have some top end sizzle, but it actually hurts my ears. I have tried taming it with eq, but even with the treble and presence set to 9:00 on my amp (Bogner Shiva) its still bright AF.
4. The guitar can't handle gain. If I plug this guitar into my rig and use some dirt pedals the guitar just starts squealing. All my other guitars can handle the same setup just fine. I would say anything more than AC/DC rhythm levels of gain are a no-go with this guitar. This is the one that really bothers me... I am a huge fan of the band Umphrey's McGee and one of the guitarists in the band has a Comanche and hes able to get some stellar lead tones out of the guitar and I cant even get my gain anywhere near those levels without squealing.

Any thoughts? With all the <censored word> that is going on with it I don't know if it is one issue, multiple issues, and what is normal and what is not anymore lol. Any help or insight is appreciated!

Thanks!

* - updated the noted pickup from neck to bridge.

Last edited by StonedOcean on Sun Jan 05, 2020 10:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

Hi, and welcome.

We do have one tradition here: pix or it does not exist.

Did you buy it new or used? It sounds like you might have a pup with potting issues. Another issue might be a setup issue, with the pup being too close to the strings.

The pups in the Comanche are MFDs. They are a bit different from what you are accustomed to. Amp settings need to be changed, string heights are different.

Take care,

edg

Hi all,

I'm new here and I was hoping you guys could help me out with some issues I am having with my Comanche. Its my first (and only) G&L and and it seems like there are multiple issues with it. I was hoping someone here could help me out point me in the right direction.

With that said:

1. My pickup selector makes noise when i switch between pickups, it comes though the amp. I am guessing the selector is bad.
2. Any noise bumping or tapping the pick guard is picked up by the pick ups. This happens regardless of what pickup is selected.
3. The neck pickup is INCREDIBLY bright. I know they have some top end sizzle, but it actually hurts my ears. I have tried taming it with eq, but even with the treble and presence set to 9:00 on my amp (Bogner Shiva) its still bright AF.
4. The guitar can't handle gain. If I plug this guitar into my rig and use some dirt pedals the guitar just starts squealing. All my other guitars can handle the same setup just fine. I would say anything more than AC/DC rhythm levels of gain are a no-go with this guitar. This is the one that really bothers me... I am a huge fan of the band Umphrey's McGee and one of the guitarists in the band has a Comanche and hes able to get some stellar lead tones out of the guitar and I cant even get my gain anywhere near those levels without squealing.

Any thoughts? With all the <censored word> that is going on with it I don't know if it is one issue, multiple issues, and what is normal and what is not anymore lol. Any help or insight is appreciated!

Thanks!

Check out this post as it has helped other members before: Comanches For Dummies Redux by BoogieBill.

Please post photos, see:Welcome! Read This First and look for the link to the Tutorial on posting photos.
Also, please add your guitar to our G&L Registry, too.

My first thought is a microphonic pickup,
but if it happens in all positions (with the expander switch OFF) something
else like a weak ground or cold solder joint could play havoc when boosted.

Do you have a Mulitimeter?
(also a fan of close-up pics )

...and Welcome,
Elwood

Welcome!
That does sound like a bad p’up.
+1 to Elwood's thoughts as well.
?under warranty? t/c Replace neck p’up at dealer.
No warranty? t/c Replace neck pup.
Comanche should sound great through most amps, especially a gainy one.
I am a disciple of Jake C as well.

I wonder if the neck pickup is wired out of phase or in parallel with itself? I’d also bet on grounding problems. Sounds like it may he even been messed with all around.

Hey Stone, saw in you introduction that you've had this guitar for a few years. Is that correct? So this is something that just started happening and you've made no modifications?

Thanks for the replys! Ill try to answer each best I can. Also I meant to say Bridge pickup has the issues, not that it really matters. Total brain fart there.

Hi, and welcome.

We do have one tradition here: pix or it does not exist.

Did you buy it new or used? It sounds like you might have a pup with potting issues. Another issue might be a setup issue, with the pup being too close to the strings.

The pups in the Comanche are MFDs. They are a bit different from what you are accustomed to. Amp settings need to be changed, string heights are different.

Take care,

edg

Yep, I knew what I was getting into with the MFD pickups. I did a TON of research on it before I pulled the trigger. I thought it was potting too but now I am no so sure. Here's some pics. Click'em to link to full size if you want.





Guitar was built in 2015, and I bought it right around then from a dealer. No modifications. Never opened up the guts or messed with it (before yesterday, more on that in a few) other than the first time I got it and was removing the plastic from the pick guard and some of it was stuck under the screws.

Hi all,

I'm new here and I was hoping you guys could help me out with some issues I am having with my Comanche. Its my first (and only) G&L and and it seems like there are multiple issues with it. I was hoping someone here could help me out point me in the right direction.

With that said:

1. My pickup selector makes noise when i switch between pickups, it comes though the amp. I am guessing the selector is bad.
2. Any noise bumping or tapping the pick guard is picked up by the pick ups. This happens regardless of what pickup is selected.
3. The neck pickup is INCREDIBLY bright. I know they have some top end sizzle, but it actually hurts my ears. I have tried taming it with eq, but even with the treble and presence set to 9:00 on my amp (Bogner Shiva) its still bright AF.
4. The guitar can't handle gain. If I plug this guitar into my rig and use some dirt pedals the guitar just starts squealing. All my other guitars can handle the same setup just fine. I would say anything more than AC/DC rhythm levels of gain are a no-go with this guitar. This is the one that really bothers me... I am a huge fan of the band Umphrey's McGee and one of the guitarists in the band has a Comanche and hes able to get some stellar lead tones out of the guitar and I cant even get my gain anywhere near those levels without squealing.

Any thoughts? With all the <censored word> that is going on with it I don't know if it is one issue, multiple issues, and what is normal and what is not anymore lol. Any help or insight is appreciated!

Thanks!

Check out this post as it has helped other members before: Comanches For Dummies Redux by BoogieBill.

Please post photos, see:Welcome! Read This First and look for the link to the Tutorial on posting photos.
Also, please add your guitar to our G&L Registry, too.

Thanks for the links I have read the comanche one before hoping that would help me out but alas, nothing seemed to work.

My first thought is a microphonic pickup,
but if it happens in all positions (with the expander switch OFF) something
else like a weak ground or cold solder joint could play havoc when boosted.

Do you have a Mulitimeter?
(also a fan of close-up pics )

...and Welcome,
Elwood

Thanks. I'm like 99% sure I still have my multimeter. What should I measure to investigate further?

at does sound like a bad p’up.
+1 to Elwood's thoughts as well.
?under warranty? t/c Replace neck p’up at dealer.
No warranty? t/c Replace neck pup.
Comanche should sound great through most amps, especially a gainy one.
I am a disciple of Jake C as well.

Yeah that's what I was thinking at first too but now I don't know any more since it seems to happen in all pickup configurations. Also- always happy to meet another UM fan!

I wonder if the neck pickup is wired out of phase or in parallel with itself? I’d also bet on grounding problems. Sounds like it may he even been messed with all around.

Yeah I am thinking it might be a bad ground as well. I don't think the guitar has been messed with as I bought it from a dealer and I am its only owner afaik. No idea on the pickup wiring. I tend not to mess with that stuff much anymore.

Hey Stone, saw in you introduction that you've had this guitar for a few years. Is that correct? So this is something that just started happening and you've made no modifications?

Yep, that is correct. Only opened the guts once when I was removing the plastic from the pick guard. It been happening for awhile now, I don't remember exactly when it started. I didnt really notice it because for awhile I wasn't in a band and I was using amplitube/headphones for practice in my apartment and with that configuration, there are no issues because the guitar cant feedback.

Like many of you guys said, it sounds like I have a micrphonic pickup. So yesterday after posting, I was like screw it I'll just pot it and see if it fixes anything. I've potted pickups before, so I know what I am doing there. I tried to do it with as little resoldering as possible cuz I hate rewiring guitars lol. So all I did was remove the leads from the output and the ground and then re soldered them once I was done. No improvement and I am getting the same issues. I also readjusted the pickup height to 1/16" for the 1st string and 3/32" for the 6th as I saw mentioned somewhere around here. Also tried lowering the pole pieces on the high E a bit and raising the rest to balance it out but regardless of what I did, I'm still right where I started.

I bought a new Comanche Studio VI in 2007.

In my cover band then, the guitar/bridge pickup squealed something fierce when I took my occasional solo, using the higher gain channel of my Mesa V-Twin pedal (12AX7 tubes). I took Boogie Bill's advice in Comanche for Dummies and changed out the 12AX7s for a better grade, and that problem went away. Consider changing your amp's V1 tube.

Six years later, when I bought a great Electroplex amp (Bassman/JTM type), the Comanche's bridge pup would cause a "pop" in the speakers on the low E string. I just had to lower the pickup slightly and that went away.

In my opinion, you already lowered the pickups enough to take care of the issue, if that were the cause.

I also had some trouble with cold solder joints on mine (lots of soldering with all those switches on the VI!!), but they caused a different symptom than you are having. But worth checking nonetheless. They eventually got fixed, under warranty at the dealer.

As far as the treble and your amp settings: More recently, I've had a Matchless Chieftain amp to play around with. I finally stopped using my eyes to dial it and used my ears. With G&Ls, I turned the treble below noon and the presence nearly all the way off (about 8 o'clock). Sounds great, and lost that sizzling sound. Every amp's tone circuit is different, and in my experience with half a dozen amps, they respond to G&Ls differently than to Gibson P-90s and Ibanez humbuckers that I have. There's not a "wrong" amp setting if the guitar sounds good.

I hear you about UM and Jake Cinninger! I always dug it that he used G&Ls. When he finally made the switch to the Comanche, I was thrilled. In an online store appearance/interview, I asked him "What took you so long?"

Good luck!

If it’s new I’d take it right back to the dealer/invoke the warranty.

Have you tried it in a different location? I have an old Fender amp that I couldn't use with any of my single coil guitars in my house due to horrible noise. Same amp and guitars in a studio were noise free. Over a year later I changed all the CFL recessed light bulbs and dimmers in the house for LED and different dimmers. A while later I decided to try the amp again. No noise anymore.