Hello everyone this is my first post and my knowledge of technical aspects of the guitar are limited so bear with me.

I just bought a American Special HSS Strat about a month ago and everything has great with it until at a rehearsal the other day I had a loud buzz coming from the guitar, I tried several different leads, heads and cabs and all had the same problem especially with increased distortion. The hum would momentarily disappear when playing but not completely and the only pickup position the reduced it was the 2/4 slot.

After the rehearsal I took it to a repair shop and the guy there told me it had to do with the slightly archaic pickup design and would also depend on the combination of the room/gear I was using. He said he could shield the guitar but that wouldn't do much and the best thing to do would be to change the pickups.

If this is the case do you guys have any suggestions?

The current pickups are two Texas Specials in the neck/middle and an Atomic humbucker in the bridge, I aboslutely love the sound of the texas specials and I am not so fussed with the Atomic humbucker. Would like to keep the kinda SRV tone in the neck/middle and something with some power but not too much in the bridge humbucker; I play hard rock mainly so nothing too metal. I had a look at Fender's hot noisless pickups for the neck/middle would those of the trick of removing the hum but keeping that tone?

I would really appericate any advice on the matter, thanks!

Welcome.

And now for the $64K question: Has it continued to buzz like it did at your rehearsal or has it returned to 'normal' since then?

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You dig?

+1 Does it buzz everywhere (home, rehearsal, gigs) you play it?

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Chet Feathers

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

No at home there is only a slight hum, it's nowhere near as loud and noticable as it was in the rehearsal room.

So...it stopped buzzing in positions 2 and 4.....hmmm....
Well......it sounds to me like you've got a common case of 60 cycle hum (google it for a more scientific explanation...).....an eternal problem with the common single coil pickup.
(Regarding the humbucker....did you say that it was buzzing there too? I HATED The Atomic HB.....I thought it was crap!! )
I also own this very same guitar as you. I QUICKLY ditched the stock pickups for that very same reason.....NOISE!!

If you choose to make the investment....there are plenty of really good NOISELESS Strat replacement pups out there.
My personal current favorite(s) is the DiMarzio AREA series....particularly the 58.

Will they sound EXACTLY like a regular Strat single coil........NO.
They are, after all, essentially HUMBUCKERS because of their stacked coil design.
You will be extremely close though...

I have these pickups in most of my guitars and I always get compliments on my tone when playing out......

And isn't THAT the reason for all this trouble.......audience appreciation........

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I refuse to have a battle of the wits with an unarmed man!

At your rehearsal room you have dirty electricity which could be caused by bad grounds, or things like major appliances, and certain types of lighting running on the same circuit breaker.
My personal opinion is to leave the guitar alone and deal with the hum at rehearsal.

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Chet Feathers

Authorized TonePros Dealer
Authorized WD Music Products Dealer
F/A Official Southpaw Compliance Certification Tester http://faamps.com/

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

I wouldn't go changing pickups until you have properly checked out where you are rehearsing. There's definately something where you are rehearsing that's causing it. Is this a properly set up rehearsal room or just a room that you rehearse in? If it's a properly set up rehearsal room this problem shouldn't happen, speak to the owner. If it's the other then go around switching appliances, lights, etc off and see what effect that has. What type of lighting is it, flourescent lighting is one of the biggest causes of noise from a guitar.

Electro Harmonix Hum Debugger Pedal.

Yeh, that'll get rid of the noise but not the source.

...it'll get rid of the noise!