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Post subject: Re: Annoying hiss from pickupsin position 1,3 and 5.
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 10:37 am
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Again this could be normal just due to the fact that you are using passive single coils in a guitar that has standard shielding which is generally not sufficient in "high noise" areas and only the solutions I previously listed will help.

The "fields" which are producing this noise could be coming from power lines outside as well as stray fields in the house. If that is the case a power conditioner won't help. The fact that you notice moving around changes the hum and causes increases and decreases pretty much confirms those single coils are acting like a noise antenna so to speak, which is why noiseless pickups and humbuckers were invented in the first place. However some purists can live with it to get the specific bell tones that really only a passive single coil can do aka a pure strat sound so unless you live with it or change the pickups (or move lol), I think doing a proper shielding of the cavity and electronics is the way to go. It is not expensive at all but as stated is time consuming and you need a degree of skill with soldering.

I think judging from your description it is not a defect or bad ground etc otherwise the problem should persist regardless of where you stand, which pup positions you use, and where the tone is set. You have the classic symptoms of single "coilitus" in a "noisy" area which only proper shielding or pup replacement can remedy. Granted I have played in some older clubs that had horrible ancient rigged wiring and even the most expensive humbucker equipped guitars I had could not get rid of it..just had to play louder and remember to turn down the volume between songs lol (or use a noise gate which I am not a big fan of but they can help and are a must in the studio.)

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Post subject: Re: Annoying hiss from pickupsin position 1,3 and 5.
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 10:50 am
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ebaysux wrote:
Again this could be normal just due to the fact that you are using passive single coils in a guitar that has standard shielding which is generally not sufficient in "high noise" areas and only the solutions I previously listed will help.

The "fields" which are producing this noise could be coming from power lines outside as well as stray fields in the house. The fact that you notice moving around changes the hum and causes increases and decreases pretty much confirms those single coils are acting like a noise antenna so to speak, which is why noiseless pickups and humbuckers were invented in the first place. However some purists can live with it to get the specific bell tones that really only a passive single coil can do aka a pure strat sound so unless you live with it or change the pickups (or move lol), I think doing a proper shielding of the cavity and electronics is the way to go. It is not expensive at all but as stated is time consuming and you need a degree of skill with soldering.

I think judging from your description it is not a defect or bad ground etc otherwise the problem should persist regardless of where you stand, which pup positions you use, and where the tone is set. You have the classic symptoms of single "coilitus" in a "noisy" area which only proper shielding or pup replacement can remedy. Granted I have played in some older clubs that had horrible ancient rigged wiring and even the most expensive humbucker equipped guitars I had could not get rid of it..just had to play louder and remember to turn down the volume between songs lol (or use a noise gate which I am not a big fan of but they can help and are a must in the studio.)


Thanks for all the info. Im not ready to dive into doing the shielding myself just yet but I will take it into the dealer today and see what they say about it. Maybe they can do the shielding for me at a nominal fee or I may just live with only using the switch in position 2 and 4 for now.


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Post subject: Re: Annoying hiss from pickupsin position 1,3 and 5.
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 10:53 am
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Post subject: Re: Annoying hiss from pickupsin position 1,3 and 5.
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 11:04 am
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Fralin makes some awesome pickups but he only knows the pentatonic scale it seems :)

I notice he mentions some kind of noise reduction system in the vid so I googled it and found this.. http://www.fralinpickups.com/bpncs.asp

Might be something for the OP to look into. The guitars in the vid were great sounding "strats" but some of that has to do with that killer amp.

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Post subject: Re: Annoying hiss from pickupsin position 1,3 and 5.
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 11:08 am
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Mowgli77 wrote:

Thanks for all the info. Im not ready to dive into doing the shielding myself just yet but I will take it into the dealer today and see what they say about it. Maybe they can do the shielding for me at a nominal fee or I may just live with only using the switch in position 2 and 4 for now.



Well often at times all us single coil strat players have to resort to using position 2 and 4 for that reason in certain live or recording situations but I could never give up position 5 (neck position, some call that one) at any cost. I am not sure what the dealer would charge to shield your guitar but it is a good idea to have them test your guitar out just to eliminate for certain it is not a defect. I know to do a proper shielding with materials included (I would use copper) charging my customers around 100-150 bucks would seem fair for a solid professional job.

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Post subject: Re: Annoying hiss from pickupsin position 1,3 and 5.
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 2:41 pm
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I need all five switch positions to effectively cover all of my desired sonic bases. And there are many older venues (built around 1910) where I play and their power distribution systems are original to the structure. Those two reasons were my primary motivation for installing DiMarzio Virtual Vintage noiseless pickups in three of my Strats. Thus, I have tasty-and-traditional Strat tones at my beck and call, with hum-free performance.

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Post subject: Re: Annoying hiss from pickupsin position 1,3 and 5.
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 3:01 pm
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Yep I would agree if it not a grounding issue and you find it annoying replace the pickups with stacked humbuckers.
Dimarzio are a great brand IMHO.
The cavity of modern USA strats is generally painted with shielding paint and the pickguard has a metal foil, it is not perfect, but putting time and money into new shielding for a slight improvement would be better spent getting new pus installed. :D
As already suggested eliminate any fault on the strat first though by comparing it to others.


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Post subject: Re: Annoying hiss from pickupsin position 1,3 and 5.
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 3:23 pm
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jimmy_james wrote:
As already suggested eliminate any fault on the strat first though by comparing it to others.


+1

A new set of pickups is a pricey proposition -- be certain that your current pickups are the cause, or that there's nothing else amiss with your amp, your wall voltage, your cables, your stompboxes......anything and everything.

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Post subject: Re: Annoying hiss from pickupsin position 1,3 and 5.
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 3:38 pm
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Thanks to everyone here for letting me use your experience. Just left the store and as most of you guessed there is nothing wrong with the guitar. Just the nature of the beast!


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Post subject: Re: Annoying hiss from pickupsin position 1,3 and 5.
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 6:30 pm
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That's why we're here, sir.

Glad to hear that nothing's wrong with your guitar.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Annoying hiss from pickupsin position 1,3 and 5.
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 7:09 pm
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jimmy_james wrote:
Yep I would agree if it not a grounding issue and you find it annoying replace the pickups with stacked humbuckers.
Dimarzio are a great brand IMHO.
The cavity of modern USA strats is generally painted with shielding paint and the pickguard has a metal foil, it is not perfect, but putting time and money into new shielding for a slight improvement would be better spent getting new pus installed. :D
As already suggested eliminate any fault on the strat first though by comparing it to others.


Have you ever actually tried doing a proper shielding? That shielding paint Fender uses and the foil on the pickguard are barely one step above useless. Now not to say I am against a pup swap per say but if the only complaint is the hum a good shielding job is day and night compared to what the factory considers "shielding". The only downside is that some claim it cuts a bit of highs out (I can not confirm if this is true or if so even noticeable) but IMO the stock strat pups are too bright anyhow.

Granted he seems to not want to do this himself so there might be a cost concern to shield a guitar yourself is maybe 30 bucks in material at most (if using thicker copper and not foil) and worth the time. Now on the other hand it will still be way more expensive to purchase new pups and pay to have them installed. Not trying to argue but just looking at what might be best for this poster based on my personal experience and factoring in cost.

The Dimarzios are $75-$100 a piece then factor in installation which it seems this poster would require. I would think even if he had to pay someone to do the shielding it would be more economical and should greatly decrease the induced noise assuming the person doing the job knows how to actually do it right...it is more then just shoving foil in the cavity.

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Post subject: Re: Annoying hiss from pickupsin position 1,3 and 5.
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 11:16 pm
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Yes I can confirm I have tried proper shielding.
I am not running it down or your suggestion but bang for buck i would go for a stacked humbucker
A lot of people go to the trouble of covering the wooden cavity with copper and grounding it and if it works for you great.
The pickups however are still covered in plastic.
They also poke above the pickguard. Not many people bother to shield the pickup cover yet this is the primary point where RF interference has the most effect. :D


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Post subject: Re: Annoying hiss from pickupsin position 1,3 and 5.
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 12:22 am
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If your house is 75 years old it's not unlikely there could be some grounding problems, or possible shielding issues with the wiring at certain parts of the house. It could be that the noise cancelling attributes of positions 2 and 4 are helping cancel out the noise. It may be worth going to your local music store and picking up a HumX ground conditioner and see if that helps.

Here's some more info on the Humx

http://www.ebtechaudio.com/humxdes.html

I use these religiously on all our band equipment as there is no telling what kind of grounding issues you may have at different venues where we might play.c

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Post subject: Re: Annoying hiss from pickupsin position 1,3 and 5.
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 1:42 am
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Mowgli77 wrote:
Thanks to everyone here for letting me use your experience. Just left the store and as most of you guessed there is nothing wrong with the guitar. Just the nature of the beast!



Yes .


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Post subject: Re: Annoying hiss from pickupsin position 1,3 and 5.
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 6:03 am
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My conclusion is that I have the Strat 60Hz Hum. I asked the guitar tech if I should consider doing additional shielding and he said my $@! is already well shielded out of the factory and he doubts if additional shielding may help much.

So I've concluded that I have the following options:

1: Just live with it.
2: Forget what my tech guy said and get it shielded anyway.
3: Get new pickups.

I'm a novice and while I don't mind putting more money into this guitar changing the pups after I just got it seems foolish at this point. I will look more into shielding but my inclination for now is to just live with it.

Im able to dramatically reduce it by cranking the volume to the max on my amp and using the volume dial on my guitar dialed in real low to start. This works well but since I'm a novice player I cannot identify if I am loosing tone or not/

By the way my guitar tech also suggested I consider a noise reduction pedal but again I may just learn to live with it.


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