Quote Originally Posted by ThatCluelessGerman View Post
I think these are Gretsch Broad'tron's. They came off a Streamliner if I remember correctly. I ebay'd them for 20 bucks or so. Full humbucker size, yes. The Broad'tron's got much flack in various reviews, but I like them. They don't sound great with much distortion, but imho, they are made to sound great clean or with medium gain. I think they sound good on my 15w tube amp but I need to "explore" the sound a bit more to find the sweet spot for me and the guitar. We're currently just getting to know each other :-)


However, on a side note, I noticed a very faint hum when plugged in that goes away when I touch anything on the guitar. My logical thinking is immediately screaming "grounding issue!", but I'm pretty sure all the ground cables are properly soldered and installed. I also didn't forget to ground the bridge :-)
Is there any way to find out WHERE the grounding issue comes from (if it is even one!) without pulling out all the electronics again?
It's also very faint, I had a ripped ground cable once in another guitar and it was VERY loud.
Also, it goes away if I touch ANYTHING metal on the guitar, like the shaft top of a pot or even the pickguard (brass). So I'm not sure if this is maybe normal for a hollow body?
It's by no means loud enough to bother me, but I really want to know if it's something I need to fix or not.
First off, great build. Definitely should be in GOTM! The personal touches are top class - well done!

You're right, BroadTrons have poor reviews. But that's primarily from people with lots of experience with Gretsch Prolines with high spec FilterTrons, who expect a BroadTron to sound like a FilterTron. Which is unrealistic. They're a totally different construction (they're a traditional PAF construction, whereas FilterTrons have smaller coils and bigger magnets), and whilst they're tuned in the same general direction, they're just not the same. And, honestly, I'm not sure that Gretsch (and particularly their partner Fender MIC) aren't trying to steal a few Epiphone buyers who aren't after that Gretsch sound.

I have a friend with a Streamliner with BroadTrons. He installed (on his tone pot) a bass roll off. He feels they get 'muddy' without rolling off some of the bass.

Meanwhile, there's also a lot of people who've removed half the screws from the pickups (usually half from each coil, and often replacing them with black plastic screws for aesthetic purposes). They find that also takes away some of the muddiness.







Your hum, the grounding issue? That's the system working perfectly. The human body is a big RF Antenna, and so that gets picked up by the guitar. When we touch the strings (or some other metal grounded part of the guitar), we ground ourselves, and that removes the hum. Exactly as you've described.

Options for living with that (natural) hum are:
- Keep hands on the strings
- Use the master volume pot when not playing
- Use a volume pedal when not playing

It's worth noting that Tim Pierce uses a volume pedal to mute between phrases in a solo. That's pretty intensive use of a volume pedal! From a guy who only uses absolutely top end gear.