That's it. Ripping out all my single coils

[swarfrat]

I've always been a fan of SC's, just not the noise. I don't have a lot use use for humbuckers unless they're distorted. Ran sound today, and both guitars the electric guitar player used were SC's. I'm now on a mission, and not even the fabled P-90 is safe.

Its not just 60 and 120 hz. I had to crank the noise gate way past what I was comfortable with, and even then I still ended up having to ride the faders depending on the amount of energy coming from the rest of the band, when they got quiet I had to bury the eg or it was distracting. He was a great player, but it turned EG from just another instrument on stage to the problem child that required more than his share of mental focus. Missed a few cues on more important mic channels because I was trying to keep a lid on that danged raspy buzz.

If I keep the 12 string, I might throw some Neovins in or just keep my EMG's. My mean 90's have a hum cancel project whenever I get back to that guitar. My main strat  has a single GFS Memphis on the bridge, not sure what pairs well with it but I think I just ruled out ever buying anything that buzzes again.

 

[swarfrat]

Just call me Narcan

 

[Strat Avenger]

Just put a set of Dimarzio "Injector"s in it and you'll have great S/C sound without the noise.

I didn't care for the bridge model though. I'd use the neck model at the neck and bridge, with a Area 67 in the middle.

 

[stratamania]

Yes, plenty of noiseless options out there. Areas, SD Noiseless, EMG, Kinman, Lace, Fender SCNs etc.

Even with Single coils there are things like backplate systems.

 

[Jumble Jumble]

You're throwing out all your single coils because someone else's are bad?

 

[stubhead]

I am dead-certain that the "love" professed for single-coils is only among either people who don't play for money, or play for so much money they can have the isolation circuits. Jeff Beck, Brad Paisley, Oz Noy don't buzz, but their whole rigs are built around the fact they're the star. You can build out the ground loops and mismatched impedence and all that in that context, but I can't. For me, it's just unprofessional to show up without means to buck hums and I don't even know anybody who argues that nonsense. The dual blade ceramic-magnet pickups can be set bright enough to shatter teeth, and once builders figured out the stack coils  - 65-70% or so off the top coil, just enough off the hidden one to snuff the hum, like, what the... :icon_scratch: every couple of years I guess I'm surprised to hear there is still a "debate" of sorts. And a couple MORE newer ideas too! Sometimes Occam's damn razor just whispers that people just WANT to remain really, really stupid forever - they've got so-oo good at it.... :icon_thumright:

 

[Cederick]

I would prefer EMG single coils for my SSS guitar whenever I decide to get/build one 

 

[line6man]

As far as single coil philosophies go, I'm a bit of a hypocrite. In this day and age, I don't believe that anyone should have any trouble finding a humcanceling pickup that sounds good, but at the same time, I tend to stick with single coils because I like the way they sound, and can't be bothered to find authentic sounding humcanceling counterparts. To me, hum is just a fact of life, when you deal with single coils, so I don't mind it that much. Sticking to Stubhead's theory, however, I don't play for money, and I can fine tune my rig to stay reasonably quiet, so I'm not a typical player, by any means.

Overall, I don't think that single coils need to exist any longer, but like everything else that Leo Fender used, they are here to stay. No matter how good you can get a humbucker to sound, there will always be a market for single coils.

 

[swarfrat]

You're throwing out all your single coils because someone else's are bad?

Nope, because they're ALL bad. I just failed to appreciate it fully until recently.

see this  --->

it's just unprofessional to show up without means to buck hums

They were vintage. Were they my guitars, I would have had a hard time doing anything about it myself..... until yesterday. It's just that the nifty coolness of special guitars is largely of interest solely to the player, but broken designs can be appreciated by anyone.

 

[mayfly]

I can't live without single coils.  I just deal with the noise (which is not really that bad for me anyway).

 

[TroubledTreble]

It's pretty easy to fix the issue. You may not remove 100% of the noise but if you shield the coil it helps tremendously.

To do it all you need is some copper foil tape and paper tape. Tape the coil with the paper tape first. Then surround the coil with the copper tape. Where the two ends of the copper tape meet either cut it slightly short so the ends don't touch or put a piece of paper tape over then starting end then slightly over lap with the finishing end. The point is that it should be an open loop, NOT a closed loop. Then solder a tiny piece of wire to the foil and ground the other end. Done.

You can keep your singles and still be very quiet by doing this. Just try it with one set and see if you like the outcome. You can even foil tape the inside of pickup covers sometimes.

-Ken

 

[mayfly]

Hmmm - interesting.....

 

[line6man]

It's pretty easy to fix the issue. You may not remove 100% of the noise but if you shield the coil it helps tremendously.

To do it all you need is some copper foil tape and paper tape. Tape the coil with the paper tape first. Then surround the coil with the copper tape. Where the two ends of the copper tape meet either cut it slightly short so the ends don't touch or put a piece of paper tape over then starting end then slightly over lap with the finishing end. The point is that it should be an open loop, NOT a closed loop. Then solder a tiny piece of wire to the foil and ground the other end. Done.

You can keep your singles and still be very quiet by doing this. Just try it with one set and see if you like the outcome. You can even foil tape the inside of pickup covers sometimes.

-Ken

I'm assuming that the open loop is to prevent the usual eddy currents that suck tone, when you shield a pickup?

 

[Prometheus]

I've never previously heard of the approach of an "open loop" pickup-wrap shielding. As far as I understand such things, there won't be a difference in eddy currents whether the foil loop is closed or open, because the copper is still in the same place within the pickups' magnetic fields. In other words, it'll still have the same "interference" with the magnetic fields of the pickups.

Now, there's a name for an open conductor - it's called "an antenna". That antenna will sense differently if it has a loop on it versus if it's a single un-looped length. But it's still an antenna. Your pickup is an antenna too - that's where the problem with the hum comes in. But I can't see how adding a new antenna connected to ground will "quieten" the pickups.

Anybody?

The standard approach to shielding is to make a conductive enclosure, a completely closed "bubble" or "box", which is grounded. The whole thing is an antenna, so any noise impinging upon it goes to ground and never gets inside. An everything inside lives happily ever after. This approach is well known for eliminating outside interference, but it requires some pretty tight construction tolerances. It has to be pretty much equivalent to waterproof - holes are bad. Of course, the usual problem in a guitar's shielding is that there's a couple of glaring holes in that enclosure, which negates pretty much all of its benefits. And to make matters worse, inside each hole is a honkin' antenna (a pickup). Making matters worse.

If there's a way that a wrap of grounded copper foil around a pickup can reduce interference, and at the same time avoid eddy current degradation, I'd honestly love to hear how it works. Because if you can convince me, then I'll give it a spin.

 

[Cagey]

You've pretty much nailed it.

If such a thing could possibly work, everybody and their brother would be doing it. It would be a cheap/easy fix to an age-old problem. As things are, nobody's doing it, for the reasons you've mentioned.

 

[swarfrat]

Shielding can indeed help, but only for electrostatic hum (which is what I was facing for the most part). Shielding can't do a thing for electromagnetic hum.

 

[Cagey]

By definition, a "static" charge does not move, so electrostatic charges do not cause hum. You need a current flow to generate a field that the pickups can sense. That said, you can have electrostatic interference, but it only happens when the electrostatic charge stops being static and the charge moves (discharges). Pickguards sometimes cause it, because of the material they're made of. It manifests itself as a crackling noise, not hum, usually when you're touching the 'guard and moving your finger(s) around. You simultaneously create and ground out static charges, and the pickups will sense that. A bit of grounded foil on the back on the 'guard will usually prevent that phenomena.

 

[Jumble Jumble]

Stacked single coils really are all you need to solve this problem. It's been solved a while, just doesn't agree with vintageheads.

 

[swarfrat]

Yup, i just realized that being  a vintage head myelf was an absurdly indefensible position

 

[Cagey]

It happens to us all, eventually, and for really good reasons.

THESE TUNERS DON"T TUNE!

THIS BRIDGE DOESN'T RETURN TO NEUTRAL!

THESE PICKUPS ARE NOISY AS HELL!

THIS NUT IS SATAN'S REVENGE!

THIS TRUSS ROD IS USELESS!

THESE POTS ARE TOO SMALL!

On, and on, and on...

Unless you're a museum curator, vintage sucks.