G&l semi hollow asat pup project

[Mahojp]

I've got an American g&l asat semi hollow with a pair of useful p90 style pups in, but I'm looking for a change. Since I can't afford to fork out a load of cash on a 335 or 339 I wondered if I could get somewhere near by installing a pair of humbuckers into the asat for more of a vintage blues/ jazz edge to the tone rather than the p90 that are great but "chunky"?

Is there anything I need to consider tonally when looking for replacements in a semi?

Thanks in advance for your comments and advice.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: G&l semi hollow asat pup project

Welcome to the forum.

How are the G&L MFD single coils mounted on your guitar? Through a plastic pickguard or directly into the wood? The guitar may not have suitable routs to accept regular humbuckers.

In purely sonic terms, you may be able to alter the tonality of the stock pickups, either by adding a passive filter network in the guitar circuitry or by using an EQ pedal between the guitar and your amplifier.

Er, what amplifier do you normally use?

 

[Mahojp]

Re: G&l semi hollow asat pup project

Thanks for the welcome.

They're mounted via a pick guard. Early research has led me to ask the question about routing to a local tech, and he can take of that if required.
I'll be keeping the originals as you never know when a switch back would be useful.

I'm playing through a boogie f-50

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: G&l semi hollow asat pup project

Here is the nearest schematic diagram that I could obtain from the support section of the G&L website. http://www.guitarsbyleo.com/GALLERY2/main.php?g2_itemId=340

Notice that the volume control is an audio taper 250kOhm pot. It might be worth trying a 500k pot and/or a treble bypass network across terminals 1 and 2 of the volume control.

For my own tastes, with Telecaster-ish guitars, I tend to run my valve amplifier on its high gain overdrive channel then roll the volume control back - even when I want a clean sound.

 

[ledzef]

Re: G&l semi hollow asat pup project

If your looking for advice on which hum's for a semi go for Seth's. They usually sound great.

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: G&l semi hollow asat pup project

If your looking for advice on which hum's for a semi go for Seth's. They usually sound great.

Re-read the first sentence of the first post.

I've got an American g&l asat semi hollow with a pair of useful p90 style pups in, but I'm looking for a change.

 

[Mahojp]

Re: G&l semi hollow asat pup project

Thanks all. Im taking the asat to a local tech along with another for a set up on Friday so I'll get an idea of what extra might be required. Hopefully then I'll have a better idea as to what funds I'll likely have left for new pups.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: G&l semi hollow asat pup project

The good news is you have plenty of choices for pickups that will give you the vintage/jazz/blues thing. You just need to choose your flavour from them.
The other good news is that all the vintage output pups from duncan are going to sound good, but if it was my axe...i'd probably go for a pair of pearly gates for a few reasons.
1. The neck pickup sounds gorgeous in any axe but in a tele it is sublime.
2. The bridge is the paf style humbucker that gives the most "twang" so you can still do the "tele thing" but with extra muscle.
3. They are alnico 2 pickups so they have a softer feel and forgiving treble response which is nice for the longer scale fender style axes.
However...everything else people will recommend will also sound great too if it is in the vintage paf style of thing.

Just a couple things to be aware of:
1. Whatever pickups you order...make sure they are the short legged variety. It is more common than the long legged "period correct" ones but just make sure cos you don't have a deep bodied gibson to put them in.
2. Swap all the electronics out too. Your axe probably has 250k pots in there due to the single coil pickups. Paf humbuckers sound best with 500k pots to retain treble.
3. Because G&L's have a slightly unusual shape, you will need to factor in the cost of a custom ASAT with humbuckers style pickguard too.

Hope this is useful!

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: G&l semi hollow asat pup project

Do these look like humbuckers?

They look like P90s, but aren't P90s, and have their own dimensions. Mini humbuckers and P90s won't fit without modifications. If you want to swap pickups, your best bet is to send those pickups that came with the guitar, and send them to the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop and describe exactly what you want out of them. Would probably cost ~$80 per pickup.

 

[Mahojp]

Re: G&l semi hollow asat pup project

So I took it to a tech today who whipped off the pick guard to reveal more glorious 'burst finish, and not some gappy routing. It also looked amazing without the stock parchment guard. We talked through some options and prices. To retain the finish and keep costs down for now I'm going for some switching changes just to take the edge off the trebly shimmer, and a new clear pick guard.

Many thanks again for all your comments and advice. My wife has just booked valuations for the house for a move so bigger changes and the 335 really are some way off!

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: G&l semi hollow asat pup project

This is good. I was thinking it would be a shame to modify an asat special too far.

What's your amp? That will be the biggest factor in terms of tone modification.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: G&l semi hollow asat pup project

I've never tried it with the MFDs in an ASAT but I have found that with my Comanche's Z-Coils and S-500 MFDs, a SLIGHT cut in the 2K band of a graphic EQ takes out the edge that some people hear with these pickups, giving them a sense of having more "air" and a more vintage-like tone.

If you are using a tube amp, you should try experimenting with different 12AX7s in the V1 socket. The wide range and high output of the MFD pickups will mercilessly expose any weaknesses in V1. A different brand of tube may produce a more favorable response.

Leo Fender's MFD pickups can present some challenges, but I love their tone, responsiveness and power.

Bill

 

[Mahojp]

Re: G&l semi hollow asat pup project



So its back!... with some switching trickery and a funky clear pick guard to show off the finish underneath the old cream guard. there's a 4 way selector in th place of the traditional 3 way and a push pull on the tone pot which switches the phases of the 2 pups in positions 2 and 4. Based on the amount of work and expense I'm delighted with the result.

Thanks again all for your advice.

 

[Mahojp]

Re: G&l semi hollow asat pup project

oh and if anyone's wondering, this is the link for more info on the mod in question: http://www.jacksinstrumentservices.com/six-tone-telecaster-control-plate.html

 

[blueman335]

Re: G&l semi hollow asat pup project

There's a much cheaper way to change P-90's EQ's: swapping magnets. I've done that to most of my P-90's. I mix and match different alnicos to dial in the tones I want. Replacement mags are several dollars each, and you can take them out and put the originals back in if you want. P-90's each have two magnets in them, laying side-by-side, repelling. Only takes a few minutes to change them. I'd certainly try this before dumping a lot of money into new PU's (which may or may not be what you want), and would never consider getting the Custom Shop involved in this project.

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: G&l semi hollow asat pup project

How hard is it to read the most basic details of a thread before responding?

There's a much cheaper way to change P-90's EQ's: swapping magnets. I've done that to most of my P-90's. I mix and match different alnicos to dial in the tones I want.
Replacement mags are several dollars each, and you can take them out and put the originals back in if you want. P-90's each have two magnets in them, laying side-by-side, repelling. Only takes a few minutes to change them. I'd certainly try this before dumping a lot of money into new PU's (which may or may not be what you want), and would never consider getting the Custom Shop involved in this project.

It's been said *three* times in this thread; these are G&L MFD pickups. Not humbuckers. Not Fender single coils. Not P90s.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: G&l semi hollow asat pup project

Magnet swaps cannot be done on MFDs.

Bill

 

[blueman335]

Re: G&l semi hollow asat pup project

Magnet swaps cannot be done on MFDs.

I've never seen one of those PU's, the first post said 'P-90 style.'

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: G&l semi hollow asat pup project

This is a common misconception with the large MFD pickups on the ASAT Special. But they are most assuredly NOT a P-90, in either construction or tone. They use a ceramic magnet, epoxied to the base. They are typically ballsy and powerful, with a wide-ranging frequency response, yet the resistance figure is surprisingly low. And like I said earlier, they can cause some problems in amps with certain tubes due to that hot top-end.

They ain't P-90s, and they ain't yer daddy's alnico slug poles either. Leave it to Leo Fender to come up with another great, unique design. Personally, I'd buy another guitar before I'd yank those pickups.

Take care.

Bill