I recently purchased new an American Standard Stratocaster HSS. It was an earlier year's model so it included the S-1 switching system. It has one Diamondback HB pickup at the bridge and 2 Tex-Mex single coil pickups (not SCN) in the neck and middle positions.
With the S-1 switch, there are 9 different pickup selections.
It is a great guitar!

However I noticed the infamous 60-cycle hum in 3 of the 9 (actually 10) switch settings...
As I expected, the hum is there with the S-1 up and the 5-way in postion 5 (neck) and 3 (middle) where only one single coil is used.
But, the hum is also there with S-1 down and the 5-way in position 2. According to the Fender chart, with this setting, both coils of the bridge HB are active and connected in series, while the middle pickup is also active and connected in parallel. Yet there is no hum from any of the other settings using multiple coils.

Is this normal or a defect? Has anyone experienced this on any standard HSS strats with S-1? Why is there noise only at this setting even though it using multiple (3) sets of coils??

Also, I am using a circa 1981 Fender Deluxe Reverb tube amp.

For now, I do not want to change the pickups.
Does anyone know of any 'box/pedal' I can plug in to eliminate this hum?
Also, can anyone suggest a different amp (any mfg.) I can get that would have noise reduction circuitry?

Thanks!

Hey hssguy, welcome to the forum. Boss makes a pedal, an NS2 (Noise Suppressor) that is supposed to cure the 60 cycle hum. Well, at least suppress it to a more tolerable level. I have not tried one, but have heard good thinds about it. Depending on where you buy it, the price can be $100-110 USD.


Hope this helps.



Jim

I'm not sure about the issue being normal or not. As far as noise gates go, I looked at the NS-2 and the ISP Decimator and went with the Decimator due to the lack of tone coloration and the quick gate (how fast it opens when I start playing).

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2004 American Deluxe V-Neck Strat w/Kinman Blues
2007 American Deluxe Tele w/Kinman Broadcasters
Mesa Boogie Lonestar Classic 2X12
Fender Cyber-Twin SE

I'd check to see if the guitar is properly shielded. My new Standard HSS is quite noisy too. If it isn't, go to Home Depot and get some aluminum tape and cover the cavity with it, make sure you ground it too. You can't solder to aluminum, so attach the wire with another piece of tape. That should quiet it down. I never really had a problem with this until I picked up a Gibson Les Paul BFG and 84 Reissue Flying V, they hummed horribly, even the low end Ibanez I used to play were quiet.

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PRS Custom 24 Vintage Natural 10 Top (57/08s)
Fender American Standard Strat Sienna Sunburst
Ovation Standard Elite 6771LX
Ovation Ultra 1517
Blackheart Handsome Devil Combo (BitMo Mod)
Fender Champion 600 (dBm Audio Mod)

My Strat is a MIM HSS
and i experience no hum at all
i use a fully shield power cord (for pc) to my Marshall VS30R
and my guitar cord is fully shield MIA Fender cord
and a Marshall footswitch
that's all