Single Coil Hum

[Neal]

I have an American Strat. There is a natural hum to it, but that is the Strat. I have a JVM, and the hum that you with the strat through it is Brutal. I really like the strat tone.
Is there a set of pickups that can replace these, that would do away with the num, and not dampen the tone too much?

[msteeln]

Instead of changing PUs, opt for the pricey Suhr SSC (silent single coil) system. www.suhrguitars.com

[hubberjub***]

You can try shielding the guitar. If you do a search you'll find several threads on this forum. While that won't get rid of the noise completely it can help a lot.

[FrankenFretter***]

If the middle p/u is reverse wound, and I'm sure it is, the #2 and #4 position on your selector switch will eliminate most of the hum. Also, consider the Neovin line from GFS.

[MAXIFUNK]

Fender has several good noiseless pick ups.

[birv2]

I haven't really liked the tone of any of the noiseless pickups I've tried. So I do the old-fashioned "turn down the volume knob in between songs" thing. While the band's playing, you can't hear the hum.

If I could find noiseless pickups with good tone, I'd be tempted to use them, though.

[vroomery]

I have fender's samarium cobalt noiseless pickups in my tele and i love them.

[sumitomo]

I hear the new sanitarum titanium's are going to have a crazy new sound. Sumi

[Commodore 64***]

I would love to know if the Neovins are as good as the GFS says they are.

[guitartango]

You could try Shedpickups in the UK www.shedpickups.com

[Blaze]

Kinman AVn series


http://www.kinman.com/Shop/sounds_tmp.htm

[marnold***]

I really liked the Dimarzio Area 61s I had. They had more heft to them than is typical for a vintage Strat pup. The Area 58s or 67s would probably be closer in that regard. I absolutely hate single coil hum. That's compounded by the fact that I've got a CRT and a fluorescent light in my office where my guitar stuff is. I don't think the fridge and freezer in the next room helps either.

I would definitely try shielding it first, especially if you like the pups you have.

[Duff]

I am not an expert on vintage tone but can say that the Seymour Duncan hot rail neck, 'lil 59 middle, and JB Jr bridge that I put in one of my strats along with a complete electronic upgrade, sound incredible. I mean really incredible. Close to three hundred dollars worth of pickups alone.

These SD single coil sized noiseless pups do not sound like their full sized brothers, they sound way more straty. That JB Jr is really sweet and hot and the hot rail in the neck is super great. The 59 is wide open with the bridge tone mod having been done but sounds great.

Seymour Duncans are great if you like that tone in your strat.

[Neal]

Thanks for all of the responses. I'm exploring everything here, and will let you know what I lock in on

[ZMAN]

I don't know what people are talking about, when they don't like the tone of a noiseless pickup. The Fender vintage noiseless are extremely nice pickups.
There is no noise and you get only the classic tones. Another pickup that I think is grossly overlooked is the SCN Summarium Cobalt Noiseless from Fender. They only came on the high end guitars so maybe that is why. They are amazing. I have a set on my MIA 50th Anni Deluxe. You get all the classic tones of a Strat on steroids and no hum. After you play a noiseless pickup the rest sound like a 20 dollar Stereo.

[Duff]

I too am highly impressed with the Samarium Cobalt Fender pickups. I have played them and think they are really great and I like them better than the Fender vintage noisless.

The Seymour Duncans are also really great noisless strat pickups, in my opinion.

[Robert****]

The Suhr SSC is the best way to go, if you want to use true single coil pickups.

If you don't want to spend the bucks needed for that, I would suggest the DiMarzio Area pickups, Kinman or the Fender SCN pickups. Fender Vintage Noiseless are so-so in my opinion. Personally, I would get the Area 61s from DiMarzio - not so expensive and they sound great.

Others to look at would be Seymour Duncan and Bill Lawrence, but I am sure there are more good noiseless pups out there that I don't know about.

[rjohnj]

Before replacing your pickups I'd definitely shield the cavity and back of the the pickguard - some adhesive copper tape is a cheap fix if it helps.
I'm not sure of the severity of the problem but it is possible you might have some noise from a bad earth/ground too so whilst you're doing the shielding I'd also be checking my wiring to make sure everything is grounded properly. It will ensure you don't get electricuted too!
And if you want awesome pickups at a great price (and custom wound if you want)then go here: http://www.chevalierpickups.com/

[Neal]

The Suhr SSC is the best way to go, if you want to use true single coil pickups.

If you don't want to spend the bucks needed for that, I would suggest the DiMarzio Area pickups, Kinman or the Fender SCN pickups. Fender Vintage Noiseless are so-so in my opinion. Personally, I would get the Area 61s from DiMarzio - not so expensive and they sound great.

Others to look at would be Seymour Duncan and Bill Lawrence, but I am sure there are more good noiseless pups out there that I don't know about.

I went with the SNCs abd they sound great.