noiseless pickups or true single-coils with good noise gate?

[cooler23]

Hi. I would like to ask you one question. Noiseless pups are great. But many people say that these pups suffer little bit in tone. Now today's noisegates are really good or exceptionaly good (iSP Decimator - by the way check it out on the youtube). So would you prefer true single-coils with some very good noise gate pedal or would you rather go for the noiseless pups? Thanks

 

[GoDrex]

I have Fender Hot Noiseless in my strat. I like them, and see no need to change them. They sound good enough for my tin ears. :laughing7:

 

[NeilStryker]

check out the Dimarzio Area 58's and Area 61's.  Both don't have the hum and they sound amazing.    There is a video test on youtube somewhere too. 

 

[hannaugh]

Check out the Lace Music Products website and read about their pups.  Then watch the demo youtube vids. 

 

[NeilStryker]

Check out the Lace Music Products website and read about their pups.  Then watch the demo youtube vids. 

Hey Hannaugh, you getting kickbacks from Lace or what??  haha.. just kidding welcome to the board,  glad you ordered your guit. 

 

[blue313]

I recently pulled my Fender vintage noiseless pickups for a set of Fralin vintage hots.  I did take the opportunity to shield my Strat, but they're just as quiet.

 

[Alfang]

Those Fender Noiseless singles are really humbuckers, not that thats a bad thing.  Davey Knowels of "Back Door Slam" uses those and hes awesome    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnZkh7b1UsE

Check this kid out , he's amazing live    one more link      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoUDjFMgUKM

Hey TroubledTreble will vouch for this band

 

[TroubledTreble]

Hey TroubledTreble will vouch for this band

+10!

Funny I was reading this thread thinking about the show that I caught him at. No shortage of tone there. OMFG!
Of course I think the original source of good tone is ones self.

Davey Knowles is a very nice person to boot!

 

[hannaugh]

Yeah, I'm biased because I know the Laces.  But I do think the pickups are cool because they are so noise-free. 

 

[exalted]

Yeah, I'm biased because I know the Laces.  But I do think the pickups are cool because they are so noise-free. 

I haven't read anything good about their P-90's, unfortunately. Which is a shame, because they look effing awesome.

 

[Unwound G]

Noiseless pickups are now getting better in capturing the nuances of single coil tones of varying vintages.  Ofcourse some are better than others in capturing that transparent, round and sparkling voice but then again some are not meant to be for the simple reason of making a hot, fat and loud pickup to retrofit into single coil sized routs and pickguards.

The models mentioned above all have their own characteristics of single coil sounding pickups but without the 60-cycles hum.  Let me add Kinman to the list but here we are talking about big bucks.  The debate is really how truely vintage we want the pickups to sound but without the hum and how much we are willing to fork out.

Another way to go is to hide a dummy coil inside the guitar or use something like John Suhr's Backplate Silent Single Coil (BPSSC) System to eliminate some of that annoying hum.  This may be the cheaper alternative and still retain your original pickups that you are so comfortable with.

I have both noiseless pickups and John Suhr's BPSSC in different guitars.  I am happy with all of them for single coil tones and hum-cancelling.  All I have to do is to spend a little bit more time in tweaking my amp's tone controls to find the right voice I need.

 

[Superlizard]

"Noiseless" to me = turn Strat 'til the hum stops.  :toothy12: