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Post subject: Well, I guess I've got hooked! Now what? Help please!
Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 11:57 am
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Hobbyist
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Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2007 2:45 pm
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I bought that 78' strat. Plays decent, but the line noise,,,, that is something I certainly can't deal with. Only in the 2nd position from the top is the guitar fairly quiet from line noise. All other positions,,, well,, I would never attempt to record it,,, if I showed up for practice, let along a show, my band would shoot me.

My favorite amp (for studio work, live & practice is a Marshall DSL401), with my PRS or SZ Ibanez, perfectly silent on any pickup. This strat,,,, it's noiser than my old Kramer Striker, and that axe is the noisest b**ch I've ever owned, until this strat.

Even with all this line noise, after years of playing & recording on a regular basis, this week I get the Fender bug. I now must take the time to learn all I can about Fender Electrics. I plan on adding 2 more strats and one tele to my collection as soon as I figure out exactly what I want.

My questions;

1) Do all Strats hum when playing thru a real tube amp?

2) What exactly causes Strats to hum that loud (like every Strat I've ever played)?

3) Where do I start?

4) I've played countless strats, and the one thing I remember about most, if not all of them is the horrible line hum. Are there any strats out there that dont hum? At what cost? Is that the difference between a $1000 Strat and a $3000 Strat?

Thanks in advance! I now see the attraction to Strats! Now if I can get one that wont hum on it's own, maybe I too will only play strats. But I can't & won't play an axe with line noise of any type (detectable)...
Cany anyone help me?

Mike
StudioMan Productions


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 4:14 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2007 9:47 am
Posts: 490
Location: South Carolina
1. The single coil pickups in a Strat do hum a little usually, but most, if not all, of the hum can be cancelled out by shielding the inside of the guitar with foil or copper sheets.

2. The hum is caused by electromagnetic waves (radio, cell phones, electrical wiring in the walls, on the floor, etc. emit them) that hit the pickups and cause them to hum.

3. You could start by lining the inside of your guitar with foil, and connecting the foil to the ground. This usually gets rid of most hum. Or you could buy some of the Samarium Cobalt noiseless pickups that come in some high end Strats and install them.

4. There are Strats that don't hum, they are the ones that have been properly shielded with foil or other shielding material, or ones that have noiseless pickups. Check ebay for the price of a set of the Samarium Cobalt noiseless pickups, Copper sheets can be bought at hardware stores for really cheap, and foil can be bought just about anywhere. The differences in Strats from 1000-3000 dollars aren't very pronounced. Just subtle things like a contured neck heel. Strats under 1000 dollars are the ones that really tend to have significant differences.


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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 10:48 am
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2007 1:02 pm
Posts: 718
For about $500 you can get a DX Players MIM that's got noiseless pickups and won't hum at all. For the same price on sale you can get a Highway One with hum cancelling in switch notch 2 and 4 due to a reverse polarity middle pickup. The Am DX is a little more than $1000 with no hum.

All of these cost a fraction of a Gibson Les Paul with humbuckers. Or, you can also just get a standard MIM with a humbucker.


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