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Post subject: Having problems with my new strat
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 6:29 am
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Hello everyone, I need some advice.
I recently bought a brand new Highway 1 Strat. I love it. But I am having a problem.
Up till yesterday i was only playing at low levels in my basement, but i was hearing a hum when the pick up selector was in 1 3 or 5 position. 2 and 4 where fine. Didnt think much about it as it wasn`t too bad.
Last night however i was jamming in my buddies garage through a brand new fender hotrod 212 and the hum was unbarable. Like really bad in 1 3 and 5, but 2 and 4 where fine. Clean channel isn`t too bad but dirty channel...ouch...my poor ears.
So i try out a few other axes in the amp (mim strats, epi lp, squire strat) all sounded fine so it is my guitar.
My question is ....what gives...my most expensive guitar is basically unplayable unless clean low volumes. This can`t be normal? Right?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Chris


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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 6:37 am
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hi. you might have a guitar tech check and adjust pickup height. that helped with my mim strat.
good luck and good playin!!


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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 6:57 am
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Location: Peckham: where the snow leopards roam
Classic case of the vulnerability of single-coil pickups to electrical interference. You have discovered why positions two and four are known as "hum cancelling".

Caused by a strong electrical source nearby getting picked up as hum by your guitar.

Solutions. See if there is an obvious source of interference nearby. Could be many things, but televisions, computers, florescent lighting, electrical transformers and such are strong candidates. Can you move or switch off that source?

Sounds like your guitar has poor or non-existent shielding. At least the underneath of the pickguard and ideally the inside of the pickup cavities should have a thin metal foil coating them which is connected to the circuit to protect the pickups from interference. For even more protection the wiring of the guitar can be changed for shielded wire. If you are unsure of this stuff then it is a job for your local guitar tech.

In extreme cases you may need some new pickups designed to resist interference. For example, EMGs. Again, consult a tech if you are in doubts about how to go about that job.

Cheers


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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 7:12 am
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What i do to fix this problem is shielding! (like Ceri suggested)
I usually suggest this shielding kit when someone asks how to do it:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics ... g_Kit.html

For 15$ it's an easy fix that will really reduce noise/hum. What's great are the instructions that come with it. You can also just buy rolls of copper foil and everything individually but this is a cheap alternative and you'll learn how to do it well.

EDIT: here's a good link: http://www.stewmac.com/tradesecrets/pro ... _shielding

p!


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 7:21 am
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Location: souderton pa.
Ceri wrote:
Classic case of the vulnerability of single-coil pickups to electrical interference. You have discovered why positions two and four are known as "hum cancelling".

Caused by a strong electrical source nearby getting picked up as hum by your guitar.

Solutions. See if there is an obvious source of interference nearby. Could be many things, but televisions, computers, florescent lighting, electrical transformers and such are strong candidates. Can you move or switch off that source?

Sounds like your guitar has poor or non-existent shielding. At least the underneath of the pickguard and ideally the inside of the pickup cavities should have a thin metal foil coating them which is connected to the circuit to protect the pickups from interference. For even more protection the wiring of the guitar can be changed for shielded wire. If you are unsure of this stuff then it is a job for your local guitar tech.

In extreme cases you may need some new pickups designed to resist interference. For example, EMGs. Again, consult a tech if you are in doubts about how to go about that job.

Cheers


i have 3 upgrade 06 and 07s all 3 with
the stock alnico 3's and have no problems
with any type of hum. theres no reason to change
pick ups. everybody rushes to change the pick ups.
it doesnt matter what strat they have the need to change
the pick ups HORSE $@!&!. personaly the alnico 3's in the
highway one strat are alot better than a lot of the custom shop
pick ups. i know they handle distortion a lot better and thats only
for starts.


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 7:56 am
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I sort of agree with HWY1 player about the pickups. I actually had aftermarket SD's in a HWY 1. I ended up putting the stock pups back in.

But...single coils hum. Fact 'o life.

I'm going to do some shielding of the cables. You can also shield the underbelly of the strat...but it's all a question of time and money, right?

Truth be told....yeah, you're going to get some hum off of those pickups.

:wink:


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 8:30 am
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Location: Peckham: where the snow leopards roam
highwayoneplayer wrote:
i have 3 upgrade 06 and 07s all 3 with
the stock alnico 3's and have no problems
with any type of hum. theres no reason to change
pick ups. everybody rushes to change the pick ups.
it doesnt matter what strat they have the need to change
the pick ups HORSE $@!&!. personaly the alnico 3's in the
highway one strat are alot better than a lot of the custom shop
pick ups. i know they handle distortion a lot better and thats only
for starts.


Easy, tiger. 95 percent of the time I’d agree with you. But in this case, no-one’s suggesting “rushing” to a pickup change so’s the gentleman can magically transform into Dave Gilmour.

By the sound of it, he has a major difficulty, an instrument that is virtually unplayable. EMGs were originally invented to deal with an electronic problem, the very one this guy has. He definitely needs to try the other fixes first. Only then, as I said, if the case is extreme, specialist pickups may have to be his solution.

A little hum we have to live with, if we like single coils. “Unbearable” hum – then we have to do something about it.

Cheers


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 9:02 am
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2007 1:07 pm
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Environment plays a big role in this problem. People who say "I have single coils anad it's not a problem" don't play in the same place so they may not know how bad it can be. For me, my house was the only problem (which is a major problem). I shielded the crap out of my strat and it only made a slight difference (if at all).
In the end, the solution was to get Dimarzio Area 58 pickups. This completely solved the problem and they sound great (great single coil sound).
It's a last resort, and an added expense, but a good option in some cases.

-Eddie


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Post subject: Re: Having problems with my new strat
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 10:01 am
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Location: Los Angeles, CA
chrissmithto wrote:
Hello everyone, I need some advice.
I recently bought a brand new Highway 1 Strat. I love it. But I am having a problem.
Up till yesterday i was only playing at low levels in my basement, but i was hearing a hum when the pick up selector was in 1 3 or 5 position. 2 and 4 where fine. Didnt think much about it as it wasn`t too bad.
Last night however i was jamming in my buddies garage through a brand new fender hotrod 212 and the hum was unbarable. Like really bad in 1 3 and 5, but 2 and 4 where fine. Clean channel isn`t too bad but dirty channel...ouch...my poor ears.
So i try out a few other axes in the amp (mim strats, epi lp, squire strat) all sounded fine so it is my guitar.
My question is ....what gives...my most expensive guitar is basically unplayable unless clean low volumes. This can`t be normal? Right?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Chris


Hi chrissmithto,

First of all there is nothing wrong with your guitar. The hum in the 1, 3 and 5 positions are because each of those positions corresponds to the single neck, middle and bridge pickup modes respectively. The 2 and 4 positions engages the neck/middle and middle/bridge combinations where the middle pickup is setup in reverse polarity to either the neck and bridge pickups. Because of this 2 and 4 positions are hum cancelling modes.

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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 11:42 am
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One other simple thing to do when playing with single coils and using more gain and volume - turn (rotate) yourself in relation to your amp (direction you are facing) until the hum quiets down. A 90 degree change in direction usually helps a lot.

I know this isn't always feasible, but you can usually arrange your amp and playing position to minimize the dreaded hum.

The other suggestions on environment are very good.

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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 4:44 pm
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Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:33 am
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What I'm going to say here has all been said earlier.

Your guitar is most likely functioning as designed.

Apparently, due to your volume and/or effects pedals and/or the household wiring and/or your jacks (and on and on) which you may be working with, you are magnifying a major drawback of single coil pickups.

If you are saying that the noise is truly intolerable, based on the reality of your playing circumstances, I doubt very strongly if all the shielding in the world is going to solve or even minimize your problem to any satisfactory or even usable degree.

The bottom line: You are certainly a candidate for humbucking pickups and I wholeheartedly agree with eddie_bowers about exploring the DiMarzio Area pickups. Not only will your tone improve by leaps and bounds but they are probably the quietest Strat stacked humbuckers one can buy. I also think their prices are very fair too, especially when considering what you get in return.

As always, this is merely my opinion and YMMV.

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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 5:52 pm
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http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/shielding/shield3.php

I thought this was rather interesting. May have to do it myself...


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 5:58 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Wed May 21, 2008 10:33 am
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Location: souderton pa.
Ceri wrote:
highwayoneplayer wrote:
i have 3 upgrade 06 and 07s all 3 with
the stock alnico 3's and have no problems
with any type of hum. theres no reason to change
pick ups. everybody rushes to change the pick ups.
it doesnt matter what strat they have the need to change
the pick ups HORSE $@!&!. personaly the alnico 3's in the
highway one strat are alot better than a lot of the custom shop
pick ups. i know they handle distortion a lot better and thats only
for starts.


Easy, tiger. 95 percent of the time I’d agree with you. But in this case, no-one’s suggesting “rushing” to a pickup change so’s the gentleman can magically transform into Dave Gilmour.

By the sound of it, he has a major difficulty, an instrument that is virtually unplayable. EMGs were originally invented to deal with an electronic problem, the very one this guy has. He definitely needs to try the other fixes first. Only then, as I said, if the case is extreme, specialist pickups may have to be his solution.

A little hum we have to live with, if we like single coils. “Unbearable” hum – then we have to do something about it.

Cheers


hey ceri its good. i just get a little
excited when someone wants to change
the p/us in a strat you know as well as i
do that at least 75% of the time you dont
need to and on some guitars it lowers the
value. take care.


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 6:06 pm
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Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2007 3:47 pm
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Location: Somewhere near Seattle
highwayoneplayer wrote:
Ceri wrote:
highwayoneplayer wrote:
i have 3 upgrade 06 and 07s all 3 with
the stock alnico 3's and have no problems
with any type of hum. theres no reason to change
pick ups. everybody rushes to change the pick ups.
it doesnt matter what strat they have the need to change
the pick ups HORSE $@!&!. personaly the alnico 3's in the
highway one strat are alot better than a lot of the custom shop
pick ups. i know they handle distortion a lot better and thats only
for starts.


Easy, tiger. 95 percent of the time I’d agree with you. But in this case, no-one’s suggesting “rushing” to a pickup change so’s the gentleman can magically transform into Dave Gilmour.

By the sound of it, he has a major difficulty, an instrument that is virtually unplayable. EMGs were originally invented to deal with an electronic problem, the very one this guy has. He definitely needs to try the other fixes first. Only then, as I said, if the case is extreme, specialist pickups may have to be his solution.

A little hum we have to live with, if we like single coils. “Unbearable” hum – then we have to do something about it.

Cheers


hey ceri its good. i just get a little
excited when someone wants to change
the p/us in a strat you know as well as i
do that at least 75% of the time you dont
need to and on some guitars it lowers the
value. take care.


I have a hard time sometimes holding my tongue when people want to change out pups. Usually because a friend told them "such and such is so much better" or "so and so uses these and you'll sound like him if you do to". Drives me crazy. Adding Gilmours EMG's to your strat won't make you sound like Gilmour. It'll make you sound like you playing EMG's. Wanna sound like Gilmour...play like Gilmour. I've heard people sound a lot like Gilmour on a varity of strats and pups. It's technique people. Not gear. Wanna sound like SRV? All you need is an old Super Reverb cranked wide open, a decent strat and the right technique. Texas specials won't get ya there. Vintage noiseless won't get ya there. Believe me, those guys would sound like themselves on your gear and you'd sound like you on theirs.

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Is that a mexican poncho
Or is that a sears poncho?
Hmmm...no foolin ...." FZ


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 6:18 pm
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Joined: Thu Jun 12, 2008 6:17 am
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Thanks for all the advice everyone.
I do have to say though, for those who say this problem is normal and my guitar is functioning properly, Holy Crap did I ever waste a load of money. I might as well throw this thing of beauty in the garbage because I sure as heck can`t play it the way it is. Also a few people mentioned and I have also heard other people talking about changing stock pups when they buy a new strat. Well I`ll tell you, when I spend 800 bucks on a new axe I sure as hell don`t think I should have to spend another couple hundred on upgrades to be able to plug it in and jam.
I couldn`t be more disapointed with this product, and if this is "normal"
I can`t believe anyone would waste thier hard earned money on such a piece of junk. My 500 epi lp standard sounds 1000% better all stock.
Anyways...sorry about the rant...just kinda peeved. Thanks to all and good luck.
Chris


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