I have a current issue(2009 MIA strat (standard) with noiseless p/ups fitted (they are white with "noiseless "script written at the bottom edge)and was wondering- are all noiseless the same? It also has tuners has GOTO with all the hardware in a graphite finish-whatever that means.

Hi,

There are two variations of the noiseless pickup; Vintage and Hot.

The vintage type are supposed to sound as close as possible to the classic Strat tone and the Hot (designed for Jeff Beck) are a hotter type with a more powerful sound.

Russ

Additionally, the Vintage have Alnico magnets and the Hot have Ceramic ones and more windings of their coils.

The SCNs use a different type of base materiel in their Ceramic and the windings are less than the Hot. So in a way, you could say the SCNs are a combination of the two although structurally, they are a bit different.

_________________
You dig?

So' do I have to take them out to find out what sort they are-I can only guess since I have never had a Fender before- my other is a LP standard , which obviously sounds completely different

I would have to say yes as nothing on the covers would indicate which ones they are and you have nothing to compare them to.

And just to address the other bit of the OP:


Hi Francispj: Gotoh (Hosco) are one of the major makers of guitar hardware. They make a lot of stuff that is used by other companies: sometimes parts carry their brand name, sometimes they don't.

Here they are:

http://www.hosco.co.jp/HOSCO_ENGLISH/Pa ... h2008.html

And in the confusing world of manufacturing, here's the parent company:

http://www.hosco.net/

Cheers - C

He indicated that the covers say "Noiseless" which indicates Fender noiseless pups. I have a set of the Vintage noiseless units. They have an aged white cover with "Noiseless" in gold script on the cover with beveled, staggered magnets. I think the hot units say "Hot Noiseless" on the cover, tho I'm not sure. Anybody??
They are nice pups, with a true strat tone, without the 60 cycle hum.

No, they simply say Noiseless in gold script on aged white covers, identical to the Vintage.

I don't think there is any visual way to tell without removing the pick guard unfortunately!

Russ

While this probably isn't what you are looking for, my advice would be that if you like the way the pickups sound, don't sweat what style of noiseless they are...chances are you're probably not going to find out for sure. You said that the guitar is "a current issue(2009 MIA strat (standard)" and according to the specs here on Fender.com, the pickups that come in the American Stardards are "3 American Strat® Single-Coil Pickups". To me this would seem to indicate that your instrument has either had the pickups replaced or that it's not a "Standard" (although it could be a "Deluxe" or something). Regardless, unless you know -exactly- what to look for, it's rather hard to tell one pickup from another....vn, hot vn or otherwise.

My advice is simply this; if you like the way this guitar sounds (and one would image you probably do since you bought the guitar in the first place), then just enjoy it for what it is. If you don't care for the sound however, start shopping for different pickups

Again, probably not what you were looking for but good luck either way.

Jim