I've been considering picking up a Classic 50's Strat and, in the specs, it looks like the middle pickup is not RW/RP, therefore not hum-cancelling in positions 2 and 4. And, in doing some research on Fender pickup sets, it looks like the Fender-packaged 57/62 pickup sets don't have a RW/RP pickup in the set. So, how important is hum-cancelling? Is it only really important if you're playing at high volume?..

On a scale of 1-10 it's 0. Single coils are the best.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

My custom classic has three same polarity same wind pickups (yes I prefer the sound to the RWRP bridge/mid and neck/mid). I don't even notice the difference between that and my Les Paul when it comes to hum.

When you play you don't hear the hum. You only hear it when you stop playing and listen for it. Studios are very adept at making sure it doesn't get onto recordings. Gigs are just too noisy to hear it.

I also love the sound of SCN stacked humbuckers. Not because of the hum cancelling properties, just because I like the sound.

All in all, singlecoil hum is not important at all round these parts.

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No no and no

Bring on the hum, regardless of the volume!!!

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You dig?

My answer is: not important.

What you could do is shop around and try to find similar pup sets or a single RW/RP middle pup if it bothers you. I have no experience when it comes to noiseless pups. Some say they suck c**k, some say they're great...go figure.

I bought a set of Klein '69s and requested that the middle pup would be RW/RP, since I normally use quite a lot of tube amp overdrive. I'm very happy with the pups, to my ears they sound very similar to Fender's own - but theyre cheaper...and you can have them somewhat customized to your needs.

And yes, while playing you don't notice the slight hum. At least I don't.

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'94/'07 Bastard-o-caster (MIM/Hwy1 hybrid)
'11 Gibson SG Std Ltd
'10 Gibson LP Std Trad Pro
'04 Gibson SG Special w/f with SD Phat Cats
BaCH Telecaster
'97 Marshall JCM900 4500 DR
'64 Selmer Treble n Bass 50 head
Marshall 1960B
Various stompboxes

+1 I've lived with it since the '60s.

It's up to the player, your physical environment and the music. I love single coils but the accompanying hum is not really tolerated in my situations.

It depends on the person. It also depends on how much gain you put into your signal to the amp. My sounds range from pristine clean to all out crunch and everything in between. I do not have a single coil equipped guitar in my collection. Four Fenders and they all have stacked pickups and/or humbuckers.

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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.

Well, if the major concern is how or if RWRP pickups affect tone and, if so, is the effect on tone outweighed by the need to reduce hum. I just checked the specs for the Eric Johnson Strat and it does not use a RWRP pickup in the middle position. If its good enough for Eric Johnson, I'm okay with no RWRP....

I have both and it isnt a big deal.You learn to live with it . If it becomes a problem between songs , I just step on my tuner to silence it, but usually you cant hear it.

I hate single coil hum.

All of my pickups are PAF type humbuckers or stacked 'buckers.

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Bill

It depends on what type of tone you are using.If you use a lot of hard rock distortion then the hum will certainly be an issue and might be intolerable...trying to play Guns N Roses or Van Halen songs with a vintage style Strat would be problematic with all that hum.For me however,my overdrive is light...just the amp cranked up with the tubes breaking up into a natural overdrive.With that amount of overdrive,the hum is not an issue...you can't hear it when playing.If you play with a tone that is more distorted than a Hendrix tone,the hum might be a problem.Hendrix still had a fair amount of distortion at times but the hum is still not audible in his playing.

Nothing sounds quite like a true single coil pup!

They're a pain-in-the-ass at times, like when you're recording, but completely workaround-able.

The 60 cycle hum is part of the Strats charm. Embrace the hum!

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"Life is like eating jalapenos. What you do today may burn your arse tomorrow"

This is one of those loaded questions. Im not reading the responses, but im assuming they're saying something to the affect of "its all whay you perceive as important". If yoiu play with a band, or loud, it may not be an issue. To me; tone and dynamic capability is the most important, followed by noise. I cant stand hum, or fretbuzz, and the like. So i pretty much use stacked humbuckers for singlecoils (for those who dont know the term stacked humbucker; Fender Vintage Noiseless, SCN's, and almost (except LACE) are stacked humbuckers. SO the coil, and the dummy coil are ontop of each other, and they look like a single coil). I lived, recorded, and rehersed in an old Victorian house in the Boston are. It had ANCIENT wiring, so there was terrible 60cycle hum making noiseless a necessity.
BUT, there is some really cool technology out there to make regular single coils have hum cancelling; There are a few companies that do it different ways, I believe Bill Lawrence, Fralin or Lollar, and Duncan. These intale installing a dummy coil, just like youd find in the bottom of the single coil(stacked humbucker), but its mounted in the rear spring cavity. I think its actually part of the cover that goes over the tremolo block and springs.
This will allow you to retain your single coil sound and dynamics, and eliminate hum.

I have to say though. My main workhorse is a Strat i completely build. It has Dimarzio Area 58/58/61 (an other has a Pro '54/area61/heavy blues). I use Fralin Pure PAF's in my PRS Custom 22, Gibson ES-345 (which may be traded for a 355 soon; Bigsby, cool) On an older Epiphone Sheraton II (yes, a Korean made, not american like the really old ones. These are acutally in demand because they were built at the Samick plant, and were made quite well. I laugh though that people are SEEKING out Korean made guitars), anyway on the Sheraton i use Burstbuckers (I still like Fralin PAF's better, and PRS's even better (they actually use the very machine that Gibson used in the late 50's for the original PAF's, and later on teh earlier pickups, that werent PAF's, but they really were. They didnt change them, but by that time, the patent was pending. SO they were PP I guess, as opposed to PAF; patent applied for.

Im rambling; THe Dimarzio Area pickups, and the heavy blues and pro 54, all which are Alnico 2, are quieter than a regular side by side humbucker.
Better to deal iwth noise at the source, then to deal with it at the end of the chain before the amp with a gate or noise supressor. Im proud to say that while i play loud when playing live, I never use a noise gate; just fast feet to kick off any Fuzz or boosts.