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Post subject: Humming sound Squier Affinity SSS Strat
Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2018 12:29 am
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Hi all,
I am new to this forum and new to playing guitar. My first post here is a question. I hope someone knows about this problem.
I am a 52 yo guy from the Netherlands (So forgive me the English language mistakes i will obviously make).

I have bought an Affinity Strat (SSS) a couple of weeks ago and i am trying to learn how to play the guitar. I have been experimenting with things as tremolo springs, pickup heights, thicker strings and such to learn to know about the guitar.

One thing that is very annoying is the humming sound it gives me. I know some humming is normal on single coil guitars but it appears on all pickup settings, so not just the single pickup settings but also on position 2 and 4. It stops 100% when i turn my guitar horizontal, and it gets louder when i turn the guitar around. I also stops when i touch the bridge or strings, or even the metal part of the jack plug that is in the amp's input, so it appears to be a grounding issue. When i turn te volume knob way up to 10, it hums a little less, but it hums louder when i turn the volume down to 5 or so.

I checked the grounding on the tremolo bridge, and that looks fine. The wire is firmly soldered to the bridge. I have tried two different Fender branded cables (fairly new: one is four weeks old and one is two weeks old) to attach it to my Mustang amp. Even on the cleanest amp settings (no gain) the humming sound exists.

Does anyone know what the problem can be? Thanks in advance

Cheers,
Ed

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Post subject: Re: Humming sound Squier Affinity SSS Strat
Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 11:15 pm
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Computer or fluorescent lights in the room?

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Post subject: Re: Humming sound Squier Affinity SSS Strat
Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 11:37 pm
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No, i practice in the attic, at the top floor of my house. The only thing there is a dimmer, but when i walk around or hold the guitar near the dimmer, no difference is hearable.
Of course the first thing i did was eliminating interfering objects, but there are none.

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Post subject: Re: Humming sound Squier Affinity SSS Strat
Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2018 2:07 pm
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Since it changes with the orientation of the body, it is definitely some kind of external interference.
The body should be lined with a conductive paint, and it should be grounded to the feed, but a lot of people still go a step further and use copper tape to line the body cavities.
Yes, single-coil pickups are noisy even under the best conditions, but even humbucker-equipped guitars will produce an audible hum when you are not touching the strings or hardware.

Hard to say if your situation is "normal" or not, but I was surprised at how loud my Texas Specials are (after 30+ years without owning a true single coil guitar).
The Affinity series may not have the RWRP center pickup that allows for the noise canceling effect in the #2 and #4 switch positions.

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Post subject: Re: Humming sound Squier Affinity SSS Strat
Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2018 11:53 pm
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Thanks for you replies guys, i guess i have to dig more into it to find out what causes it. A little hum is normal i understand, but my noise is quite loud. I will try to find someone with an other amp, maybe the problem lies there...

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Post subject: Re: Humming sound Squier Affinity SSS Strat
Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 12:09 am
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Humming issues can be mysterious, so bear with me sorta jumping in all directions here... :wink:

The Affinity has three similar pickups, so it's a non-RWRP system; that's why the noise stays on positions 2&4. On the other hand, a basic Affie is IMHO&E(xperience) no noisier than any Squiers; the grounding and the pickguard's foil sheet are sufficient.
The 'less noise on 10 than 5' is a question of signal/noise ratio.

There's nothing in your descriptions which would make me suspect there's something wrong with the guitar's grounding. All you're saying points to 'normal behaviour when there's outside interferences'.

And one thing: the amp can be a part of the problem; people-wiser-than-me on the amp section remind that the Mustang firmware should be up to date (as the first check point).

The basic: you are plugging the amp in a grounded mains outlet, right?

My #1 suspect is still the dimmer, they're notorious for hum sources - have you tried playing in the dark?
But (especially if it's a wooden and/or older house), interferences can travel long ways from room to room, and the source can be anything from electric heating to fans (ceiling/computer) to refrigerators to iPhones...

You can try all available shielding options, but I don't think the guitar will be summer night silent if the source of the hum is not found.
My easy, quick and relatively cheap solution would be a noise gate pedal.


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Post subject: Re: Humming sound Squier Affinity SSS Strat
Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 2:07 am
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"There's nothing in your descriptions which would make me suspect there's something wrong with the guitar's grounding"
When i touch the metal of the tremolo arm, or bridge the humming stops.


The dimmer isn't working at the moments i play, because i practice at daylight.

I didn't know about the non-RWRP system. They don't tell you that when you buy a guitar as a newbie...

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Post subject: Re: Humming sound Squier Affinity SSS Strat
Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 7:24 am
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zoomdog wrote:
"There's nothing in your descriptions which would make me suspect there's something wrong with the guitar's grounding"
When i touch the metal of the tremolo arm, or bridge the humming stops.


That's normal. That's the reason for the ground/earth wire that's attached to the trem spring claw/anchor. When you touch any of the grounded metal parts, your body gets connected to ground and your body becomes part of the noise suppression system.

Grounded strings are somewhat dangerous. When you're touching the strings you're at risk of getting shocked if any part of your body touches something that's miswired. Shocks from your lips touching a microphone while you're playing, or from touching another player, are still somewhat common. (Used to be very common back in the '50s and '60s with 2-prong plugs and ground switches.) They wouldn't run the risk of grounding the strings if it wasn't such an essential part of reducing hum and buzz.

Even well-shielded guitars with humbuckers get quieter when you touch the grounded metal parts.
---------------------
When you're touching the strings, is the noise level acceptable/tolerable?


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Post subject: Re: Humming sound Squier Affinity SSS Strat
Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 10:35 am
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Thanks for your answers. I understand the grounding issue, but when i touch the metal parts for 'extra ground' the humming stops 100% immediately in all pickup switch settings. No humming when i hold the bridge, arm or even the jack plug at the amp side...

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Post subject: Re: Humming sound Squier Affinity SSS Strat
Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 11:42 am
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zoomdog wrote:
Thanks for your answers. I understand the grounding issue, but when i touch the metal parts for 'extra ground' the humming stops 100% immediately in all pickup switch settings. No humming when i hold the bridge, arm or even the jack plug at the amp side...

Completely normal.
Increase the gain on the amp and the hum will return even when you are holding the strings.
It's something we have all dealt with, any why musicians who generally play very high-gain music often use humbuckers.
Options for a Strat are "Noiseless" from Fender, or stacked and parallel humbuckers from Duncan or DiMarzio... the problem is, a set of 3 quality pickups costs more than a Bullet or Affinity.

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Post subject: Re: Humming sound Squier Affinity SSS Strat
Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 11:46 pm
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Thanks for that, but i don't want to play high gain. I want to play clean, and even in the most clean settings om my amp, the hum is still very loud... It should also not be that a stock guitar isn't playable...

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Post subject: Re: Humming sound Squier Affinity SSS Strat
Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 11:56 pm
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Like confirmed above, the 'hum stops when touching metal' is normal. I've known guys attaching a piece of wire from the guitar to their body to stop the hum, but that's not a very practical solution... :lol:

About Fender "not telling about non-RWRP", don't be offended by that - the now-precious pre-CBS Fenders were all non-RWRP so that's not a defect in a guitar in any way. If anything, it's single coil nature.

On the 'unplayable'; I respectfully disagree. No hum when touching metal, etc. And anyways, all surroundings do not cause more-than-tolerable humming - your house and your gear just don't match for some reason.

Anyways, your options are to a) tolerate the hum; b) learn to keep one hand on the guitars metals all the time; c) keep searching for the cause {that could be the whole electric system of the house...} ; d) shield the guitar completely, possibly with a star ground rewire; e) upgrade the pickups & electronics to something noiseless; or f) get a noise gate pedal.
Guess my vote. :wink:


Last edited by jmattis on Mon Jul 16, 2018 1:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Humming sound Squier Affinity SSS Strat
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2018 12:07 am
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Research on the internet learned that som hum is normal, and would be acceptable (for me too), but i think the loudness of my hum is not the normal 'Strat-hum'. So maybe i will take it back to the shop where i bought it (although i don't like to go there anymore because the service of that shop is awful) and have them take a look at it. I really think there is something wrong with my setup...

But thanks anyway for all your answers guys! I would play a song for you to say thanks, but you'll have to wait a year i guess :lol: :lol:

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Post subject: Re: Humming sound Squier Affinity SSS Strat
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2018 2:23 am
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I'd say it's no use going back to a shop you have bad experiences from - that often leads just to more heartache, and you will never be satisfied anyways. Maybe just test the guitar & amp in a friend's house to see if the excess hum follows the gear.

One way might be to take the guitar to a good pro for a complete setup and check. If there is something actually wrong, that would be taken care of, and otherwise you'd get the confirmation it's OK, and the guitar would be at its peak as far as sound and playability are concerned.
That would set you back some 80-100 $€£, and I know investing that in a 200 $€£ guitar seems a lot. But cheap guitars benefit most from a good setup, and in general there's nothing wrong with Affinities.


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Post subject: Re: Humming sound Squier Affinity SSS Strat
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2018 2:49 am
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I'll consider that option ;-)

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