ok- i've had my new mim hss strat for 2 months now. i thought i would get used to the pickup hum. it is now getting officially annoying, and i am thinking of changing the neck and mid pickups to noiseless ones.

a few questions:

is this a fairly easy swap? i have good soldering skills if neccesary.

is there any kind i should look at?

is there any kind i should avoid?

Are you sure it's the guitar? I have a mim hss too and it doesn't have any hum issues at all. It could be a bad cable or the location of the amp maybe. I would investigate further before buying new pickups.

Same story here;
i have a two weeks old "new std HSS strat",it doesn't hum......

Agreed.

_________________
-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

Maybe I am missing something, but doesn't the hum come from single coil pickups? Doesn't the HSS still have 2 single coil pickups? Wouldn't the hum still be there where selecting the middle or the neck pickup?

yes- the hum is there in the middle and neck pickup. humbucker is obviously fine. position 2 and 4 are fine, but the single coils do have a loud hum in positions 3 and 5

i am running my strat through a vox ad50vt, using livewire cables. is there a better cable that would help? i paid about 15.00 for the cable. if i went to a higher end cable would that help?

i just don't want to waste money chasing for a solution

thanks for all you help

Nope, I don't think you're missing anything
The OP even states that he just wants to switch out the neck and middle pups.

Hey phreddybee - is this your only guitar with single coils? If not, does the neck and middle pups hum more than your other single coil guitars? Some of us deal with single coil hum simply by just turning down the volume knob between songs, or in your case you could just switch to the bridge humbucker momentarily. The 60 cycle hum shouldn't be noticeable while you are playing.

I think switching to noiseless pups should be a last resort after you've exhausted all other options.

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

When I switch to position 3 or 5 I don't get humm at all. I'm playing through a SCXD or Blues Deville 4x10, usually without pedals, and use Monster cables.
Make sure your amp is away from any fluorescent lighting or other electrical items that could cause interference or try a different power outlet before you buy anything. If you have a couple of cables try switching that out too. Price, high or low, doesn't guarantee quality in a cable. Twist and coil them up enough and sooner or later they will cause problems. It's better to check the easy stuff before you lay out serious cash for pickups any day.