When I started playing way back in the mid-60s, this 60 cycle hum business wasn't ever talked about as it was typical of most guitars and basses. No one other than those with an electronics background would even know the 'proper' name/source and even for those of us who did, it was a big nothing for all intents and purposes.

As my peers and I progressed over the years, the vast majority of us ultimately gravitated towards Fenders and Gibsons as our #1 brands of choice. Between these two, we then wound up settling into one 'camp' or the other. Here too, the single coil hum was never really recognized. Rather, it was simply a given that most Gibsons didn't hum and most Fenders did. Either way, this too was irrelevant.

Three points here:

1. It is a blessing to my ilk that 60 cycle hum doesn't bother us one way or the other as a lot of tonality gets squelched when a humbucker (HB) replace a single coil (SC).

2. It is a shame that pickup manufacturers have hammered away at the general guitar playing populace over the years that 60 cycle hum is evil and must be eradicated by tossing your SCs and purchasing their stacked HBs with now, a predetermined sound. Compound this with all the chains of foot pedals (preamps) we older folk never had and now, all younger players are very sensitive to this 60 cycle hum as all these preamps do is just ramp it up exponentially.

3. I've said this before: Once the rest of the band joins in, 60 cycle hum is never heard.

Anyone have any other thoughts on the subject?

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You dig?

Good topic Martian!

It doesn't really bother me unless while recording.

This does reminds me of a studio session in the 70's and the engineers really were top shelf guys, but neither could figure a way to get rid of the hum from my (then) '73 Strat and original Deluxe Reverb until one of them had me face and play at an angle from my amp. This reduced it enough to bury it during mixing, but I always remember that one session.

With better cables available these days, better shielding options, gates and other processing units, it seems that 'they' are still trying to get rid of that 60 cycle hum.

And yes, I agree and I'm well aware of keeping my volume pot down until the rest of the band kicks in.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

You pretty guys pretty much summed it up for me. My philosophy is to let those single coils sing. Let 'em breath. My amp is pretty quiet in this regard. I believe the amps have something to do with this hum as well.

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-Kirk

GUITARS
'12 Sonoran Acoustic - black (dated 10/31/12)
'13 Standard Strat
AMP
Vox ac4c1-bl
PEDALS
Compressor
Big Muff
Vox Stomplab 1G
Carbon Copy Delay

Never notice it, ever.

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I use a real lot of gain and have a body that can cause humbuckers to hum (no joke).

I like shielding and I like stacked buckers. One day they may even get em right.

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No no and no

Martian (and other geezers like us) are less prone to hating the hum because we grew up on it but the other side of the coin is that we also didn't have that much of it either compared to what players are dealing with today. The more processing of the signal the more hum you get. Back in the day we plugged a guitar into an amp and cranked all the knobs up to 10 and that was our sound. These days people are wimps who don't want to lose their hearing but they still want that cranked tube amp sound without all the decibels of actually cranking a tube amp. On top of that there are all these people trying to sort out a brand new sound for themselves that's never been done before so they can have their own "signature sound" and the stomp box people LOVE these guys because average people are using WAY more processing than ever before. Pedals and processors are selling by the billions. Hum is at an all time high. The pioneers like Jimi used maybe 1 or 2 things at a time on some songs but it was mostly the sound of a cranked amp and great hands. We had less hum overall and what we had was easier to control.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

Im a relative newbie here but like to pretend I have the appreciation you guys do. I have CS 69 in my strat and I get a good amount of hum... I think it kinda cool actually. If I can't be vintage might as well sound vintage, eh?

I have a Les Paul Standard but it doesnt have nearly as much attitude as my strat.

I wish I had something more productive to say.

I do not mind the hum with single coils. I still have a total of 5 on my 2 guitars. I only replaced the single coil on my HWY 1 to a bucker for a fatter tone, not to get rid of a hum.

RK

im not so sure that the hum wasnt there.....more like it was something that was heard all the time so not noticed.

I started playing semi-pro (most every weekend) in the mid 70s, I had a Strat, old fender bassmen 50 watt head (not sure what year), Marshall half bottom, cry baby , and wish i could remember the name of the power booster (about half the size of a pack of cigs. gold in color,male jack at one end you pluged into the guitar,female on the other end, gain knob in the middle of the face) if anyone knows the name please let me know it. anyhow i remeber turning the valume down between songs, but never the hum I seem to hear now days.....i record alot on the PC and thats when the hum sets in....after putting 2-3 guitar tracks on it adds up.....So i bought me a Digitech RP 500 (thinking the USB line in would cut alot of it out) it did but not all.

Anyhow the reason for the long post is the hum has always been there (playing live) just not as noticed because everyone had it.

Yeah in '65, I can't think of that topic ever coming up for discussion. Guess we were so happy to have guitars, amps, and a band to notice something so mundane. But last spring, I built a Weber reverb unit for my old amps and just obsessed over the grounding scenario. Man, how time can change our perception of what sounds good enough for us! I sure wouldn't give up my Lindy Fralins, unless I upgrade to other single coils. There's no gettin' around that tone, even if I have to change my angle to the amp! ART

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None of Us are free, if One of Us is chained !

Just a quickie to put in my two cents. I've been playing since the early 70's. As to the two camps back in the day, I fell into the Gibson catagory. They were fatter soundinging, the way I liked it. Not because they didn't hum. That just didn't seem important. Since then I've changed over to Fender. Hum and all. Back in 99 I bought a new MIA Strat Delux with the Vintage Noiselees p/ups in it. I bought it for the neck. I love the way it fits my hand. But I never liked the tone as much as my other Strats. My favorite being a 72. I bought a MIA Tele Std. later and absolutly love the tone. Hum and all. Recently I deceided to refit and rewire my Strat. I've settled on CS69's with a master no load vol pot and and a blender pot on the neck. Hopefully I'll get the Strat tone I've been wanting and the great neck too. All at the same time! Wish me luck.

I dont think anyone here is really concerned about the hum. If it was that big of an issue to a player, he/she probably wouldnt buy a guitar with single coil pickups.

I hate it and am not going to go with the flow. I think sooner or later with all the technology we have the perfect single coil will be made that has no hum. As most know I have a lot of guitars that use noisless pups and I do really like them and think there great but they are still not perfect like a true single coil.

I also love the sound of a thick and creamy humbucker but it is limited with what you can do with it IMHO outside that one great sound when put up next to a single coil. A single coil allows you to dress up your tone like a painter with a palette of colors and that is why it is my pup of choice but I hate 60 cycle hum and cannot understand anyone who could say they dont wish it was not there. Just keeping it real.

Martian as we all know borders on being a genius with electronics and pups so what he says I believe. Besides the fact he must know 10 ways of killing the hum outside of the conventional ones that we dont. So I cannot knock heads with him in this department as I usually printout his great lessons and secrets in this department.lol

Martian I never really see you knock noiseless pups and believe you even have used them but what is your take on the direction they are at now with the three types they have and where do you think there heading.

F 60 Hz hum and the horse it rode in on. I won't even own a guitar that has plain ol' single coils unless I never, ever, ever plan to use distortion with it which is highly unlikely.

I think that the new push into noiseless pickups is a good thing. We all like vintage correct gear, but we all like new inventions/developments too. Ok the range of noiseless pickups isnt too brilliant at the moment. Though I do find scn's good enough for my requirments I can see why some people dont like them. I really do think their a step in the right direction. If Seymour Duncan or whoever started selling true singlecoils that were completely noisefree and sounded great, they'd sell like pick axes in a goldmine. Whilst they aren't completely there yet its another step to that destination.

Personaly I think of all the noiseless manufacturers that Lace hit on something with their designs. They seem to offer the best balance of low noise and good sound to my ears.

On a side note my baja tele has a broadcaster regular singlecoil, that buzzes like a wasps nest as soon as i get near the thing. The neck pickup a twisted tele seems to be as noiseless as anything whilst keeping a really clear traditional singlecoil sound. It too features a 3rd wire like the lace and scn pickups. Is there some kind of buckery going on or is the lipstick cover cancelling alot of the hum?

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No no and no