Pickup Question

[soupbone]

I have a couple of Strat's.One is a custom made strat my friend made for me,and a mexi strat.Both are HSS Pickup Configuration.My custom strat has 2 Seymour stk's.Which sound ok.My favorites are Texas Specials,and Van Zandt's.The problem I've always had with them,is whenever is play heavier rock stuff,it's 60 Cycle Hum City.I want a classic vintage strat single coil tone,but without the hum.Any ideas?

[GibsonGM]

One thing that has helped me is to properly shield the rear of the pickguard, and pickup cavity, with (conductive) foil.  I just use reg. aluminum foil and spray-on contact cement, and the foil must be grounded.  This eliminates the pickup of noise to a great degree.
For me, it cuts down on 80% of the 'buzz'.

But, it's not a cure-all.....typically, I don't stomp an overdrive/dist. pedal until ready to play. 

Other than that, you could buy/build a noise gate, which won't allow any signal thru til you play, and can be set to be totally silent....it's an age-old problem, soup.  Mostly people just live with it and do the above.   
Anyone else?

[italianguy63]

I just built mine.  It is well shielded and has the SSS setup.  It has slight hum on switch setting 1-3-5.  Since PU2 is out of phase to 1 and 3, it is clean in switch setting 2-4.  This is a case of "crackle OK."

Most folks just twist the volume down when not playing.

MC

[karbomusic]

One of my strats is Van Zandt's I've had since 1999. My strats/teles are fully shielded with copper tape but it only made a very small difference because most of the noise I get is electromagnetic and picked up by the pickups themselves which are still exposed. Since I've dealt with it for decades I use the volume knob and play the role of human noise gate. I don't really think about it unless I'm recording, otherwise, I'm used to it and don't worry about it. With passive single coils, depending on the environment, there is some noise that just can't be gotten rid of IMHO.

I've considered a portable Faraday cage.  

[Mark Hammer]

Ever considered a dummy coil?

[soupbone]

Ever considered a dummy coil?

What's a dummy coil Mark?

[soupbone]

I also used copper shielding all in the cavity.It did cut down some of the hum.The Seymour stk's are actually a humbucker in a single coil spacing.I'm just not a big fan.Has anybody tried the Fender Noiseless Hot Single's?

[drolo]

Ever considered a dummy coil?

What's a dummy coil Mark?

Here is a thread I did some time ago, explaining a little dummy coil experiment
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=104834.msg941862#msg941862

Some interesting link there

For me the dummy coil worked like a charm

[GGBB]

There are noiseless pickups that sound like vintage single coils - at least there are claims to that fact.  No personal experience with them, but I've always been interested in Bill Lawrence's Wilde noise free single coil pickups - http://www.wildepickups.com/Wilde_Bill_s_NF_Singles.html.  In part because they are relatively cheap.  If anyone should know vintage tone, it's Bill Lawrence.

[Mark Hammer]

The dummy coil experiment can be useful if you have a set of pickups that you really like the sound of.  And keep in mind that it doesn't have to kill ALL hum (and many humbuckers don't, either).  All it has to do is reduce the hum to an acceptable and nonintrusive level.  That makes it possible for a simple dummy coil to be produced that does not change the inductance of the pickup/s appreciably.  Clearly full hum-rejection is more desirable than partial hum-rejection, but I think we're all familiar with the phrase "Close enough for rock and roll".

[soupbone]

The dummy coil experiment can be useful if you have a set of pickups that you really like the sound of.  And keep in mind that it doesn't have to kill ALL hum (and many humbuckers don't, either).  All it has to do is reduce the hum to an acceptable and nonintrusive level.  That makes it possible for a simple dummy coil to be produced that does not change the inductance of the pickup/s appreciably.  Clearly full hum-rejection is more desirable than partial hum-rejection, but I think we're all familiar with the phrase "Close enough for rock and roll".

Do you have a schematic or layout Mark on how to build one?Thanks!

[soupbone]

Ever considered a dummy coil?

What's a dummy coil Mark?

Here is a thread I did some time ago, explaining a little dummy coil experiment
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=104834.msg941862#msg941862

Some interesting link there

For me the dummy coil worked like a charm

Oops!Sorry I didn't see your post.Thanks for the links!

[soupbone]

There are noiseless pickups that sound like vintage single coils - at least there are claims to that fact.  No personal experience with them, but I've always been interested in Bill Lawrence's Wilde noise free single coil pickups - http://www.wildepickups.com/Wilde_Bill_s_NF_Singles.html.  In part because they are relatively cheap.  If anyone should know vintage tone, it's Bill Lawrence.

I was actually going to get the Danny Gatton B.L. Set for my Tele.I never checked out their Strat Pickups.I'll definitely check out your link.Thanks Gord!

[Mark Hammer]

You can actually get the cheesiest cheap Strat pickup you can find, pull the ceramic magnet/s and the polepieces (assuming yu don't tear the coil in the process) and you have a dummy coil.  I wired one into the control cavity of a buddy's Tele, and it worked like a charm.  Not perfect hum-rejection, but a significant drop.

[Buzz]

I just built mine.  It is well shielded and has the SSS setup.  It has slight hum on switch setting 1-3-5.  Since PU2 is out of phase to 1 and 3, it is clean in switch setting 2-4. 

MC

Yep, I just use switch positions two and four on my sss strat. The reverse wound middle pup does the magic. It's been on my mind for a while now to replace the five way selector with a two way switch. Love the single coil tone, hate the 60 cycle hum, and still get good bridge pup and neck pup tones out of those two positions.