If guitars came properly shielded and wired so they didn't hum like bastards straight out of the box. It would be nice if my $1000+ guaranteed I wouldn't have to waste hours working on my new guitar to reduce hum.

Humbuckers are an option...

Welcome.

Contrary to popular belief, the nature of single coil pickup equipped guitars is that they continue to exhibit hum regardless of any practical level of shielding. As one can't change the laws of physics or expect their instrument to be an exception to the rule (regardless of price paid), this fact should have been considered before the purchase. YMMV.

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You dig?

what he said^^ ^

+2

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Ummm, I agree too ^^^^. I play a lot of customized Strat Plus guitars equipped with Lace Sensors. No hum... and great vintage Strat tones.

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

I know all of this, it's just a shame that something hasn't been invented or stock pickups improved in such a way to deal with this problem. I have Seymour Duncan Classic Stack Plus pickups, it's just a bit annoying that I should have to shell out another $300 bucks for single-coil sized humbuckers to get rid of the hum. I almost bought Lace Sensors.

So I guess if you know all this, you are just venting then? (A guy needs to do that some times!) Your guitar never came with the new Fender noiseless pickups???

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

Honestly, if Gibson still had their made-to-order custom shop and it was not ridiculously overpriced, I would get one. But it would have to have a neck volute. The way they build their necks is an atrocity.

Yeah, mostly just venting. I spent hours rewiring and shielding, as did my friend, to eliminate as much noise as possible in my guitar using some diagram on guitarnuts.com. Something wasn't grounded which was a pain, and I was expecting much better results. The confusing, inconsistent wording and weird instructions did not help either.

And of course, my 1987x reissue is noisier than a bird bath orgy if I am plugged into the high treble channel. That is in desperate need of a vintage tone mod. The bright cap value is way too high and causes the amp to distort at 1. Crazy.

I bought my USA strat in '05, so no noiseless pickups. Kinda wish I had waited a few years. The funny thing is my Mexican strat had way better harmonics... and I like Epiphones better than Gibsons. Probably because what they call "cream" binding is actually pink, and the price they charge is ludicrous. It may not look as nice, but even with upgraded hardware and way better pickups and electronics, it is still cheaper than a Gibson. Some of the Vintage Reissue stuff or NOS looks like complete $@!, and does not play or sound like a $3500-$5000 instrument. It's a damn shame that would anyone would ever buy one or they would try to sell it. The one I played at Guitar Center had a cracked pickup mounting ring and some horrible fret work.

So yeah, just displeased with the way businesses in America are run. There's too little pride, and too much greed and importance placed on reducing costs to maximize profits.

Xhefri, The flame on that baby w/ the black pickguard is Gorgeous!

Nice, and very quiet looking strats.

SOLID!

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They are quietly laying in bed...........like good guitars should!

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com