Noiseless strat pickups

faizal_rocks

faizal_rocks

New member
Hi all, was wondering what hum-free Strat pickups are u all using..my Tesla VR1 pickups sound great clean and distorted but generate a lot of hum in which I couldn't tolerate when in medium gain mode.

Was considering the Fender vintage noiseless, hot noiseless and GFS Neovins...

I'd like to get a traditional Strat sound and at the same time have some (not too much!) power and oomph at the neck and bridge positions..for playing blues/rock ala SRV, Hendrix, Clapton, Blackmore etc

Any models to recommend? Thanks and hope to see replies ;)
 
faizal_rocks said:
I'd like to get a traditional Strat sound and at the same time have some (not too much!) power and oomph at the neck and bridge positions..for playing blues/rock ala SRV, Hendrix, Clapton, Blackmore etc
Click to expand...

that is exactly what i'm looking for, except the not too much part ahhaa. but i've not noticed many noiseless single coils out there. i'm not looking hard enough definitely..

i'll watch this thread!
 
Aren't the teslas wired to reduce hum? Anyway Dimarzios are noiseless, and i think the Suhr ones are too. Not sure though, i'm interested in this but haven't really done my research. =/
 
futures said:
Aren't the teslas wired to reduce hum? Anyway Dimarzios are noiseless, and i think the Suhr ones are too. Not sure though, i'm interested in this but haven't really done my research. =/
Click to expand...

The teslas hardly have any hum when in clean modes...only when in 1st,3rd and 5th positions, they have a lot of hum when in medium gain mode..anyway, I'm looking to try noise free pickups or rather stack humbuckers after using regular Strat pickups for a long time..the last time I had one was a Lace Sensor Gold set and that really worked well but looking to try something different this time around :)
 
faizal_rocks said:
Hi all, was wondering what hum-free Strat pickups are u all using..my Tesla VR1 pickups sound great clean and distorted but generate a lot of hum in which I couldn't tolerate when in medium gain mode.

Was considering the Fender vintage noiseless, hot noiseless and GFS Neovins...

I'd like to get a traditional Strat sound and at the same time have some (not too much!) power and oomph at the neck and bridge positions..for playing blues/rock ala SRV, Hendrix, Clapton, Blackmore etc

Any models to recommend? Thanks and hope to see replies ;)
Click to expand...


Hi there, bro faizal_rock...

Just fyi...If you're interested in fender hot noiseless pups....I do have a set of SSS which comes with a box and diagram manual too..Let me know if you're interested yah...Or you might want to buzz me first @96369908. Cheers.;)
 
bro Faizal,

IMO thebest I have used is the Fender hot noiseless ... only thing is that noiseless pup covers sizes are one of a kind and the hot noiseless covers REALLY one of a kind i aged white .. they do sell the normal noisless pip covers but only for vintage noiseless only ... in white or black ...

I also like the vintage noiseless but the hot noisless has more fatness to it - like a set of texas special but super quiet even in high gain mode ... great for live as well as recording .....

guitarparts resource has them as well as the covers ...

I mite be ordering a set soon
 
I've installed and used Bill Lawrence L200s, Dimarzio Area 58s and Area 61s, Dimarzio Air Norton S, Fast Track 1 and the Chopper.

Is there anything from these you'd like to know more about?

Personally, I'd recommend the Areas for really traditional sounds minus hum.
 
Hey bro, why not try Holy Grails by Lace? haha, you mentioned something different from the Gold Lace Sensors. It has higher outputs and is pure noiseless. I have those on my strat.
 
Junior_ said:
Hey bro, why not try Holy Grails by Lace? haha, you mentioned something different from the Gold Lace Sensors. It has higher outputs and is pure noiseless. I have those on my strat.
Click to expand...

Yep the holy grails have claimed to be noiseless. High outputs too. According to what i hear it retains the vintage vibe regardless. Gonna install them soon :) Have a set lyin at home.
 
So far when it comes to noiseless SCs dimarzio really takes the cake. I've tried so many noiseless alternatives like the duncan classic stacks which i found rather dark and middy - a bit too fat sounding for a single coil, the fender hot noiseless and vintage noiseless (sorry but fender did not get the feel right, the highs seemed to be missing and dulled, plus output was lacking big time they sounded so tame compared to my texas specials!) and most of them lack the bite and breakup you get when you dig in with traditional single coils - which i enjoy. Too much lows and mids and not enough highs for most of them....not single-coilish enough in feel and tone, but not enough output so it aint in humbucker territory either.

I guess for most it would be an excellent middle ground for those who want something inbetween HB and SC territory. Not for me though cos I wanted something single coilish without the hum but retaining the single coil feel and tone.

Until I got a dimarzio virtual vintage solo and an area 67. I was like wow! the feel, the bite and breakup is there. Sounded like what i wanted in a single coil except without the hum. Totally exceeded my expectations. I was expecting to be disappointed but the dimarzios really blew me away. Nice and balanced sounding, has a nice bright tone with no robbing of highs and very quack-happy especially in the 2 and 4 positions. All without hum and noise.
 
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Hey all, thanks for ur inputs, really appreciate them. Now its up to me to decide which model is the best for my Strat :)

Thanks again!
 
Noiseless Single Coils... I used to get laughed at sometime back when I asked and talked about these on a Fender forum with a lot of very experienced players. They didn't laugh because they shunned noiseless pups. They laughed for a very different reason.

I now finally understood why. I now know there's no such thing as a noiseless single coil.

A single coil by it's very definition posseses only one coil. Any noise cancelling comes usually from the use of a dummy coil, or an active 2nd coil. Whether the pole pieces go thru the entire pickup, or is only contained at the upper coil, has 1 or 2 shielding plates or whatever, it's still 2 coils you're working with, which is basically a stacked humbucker.

Lace Sensors are a very different design blueprint altogether and posesses no individual pole pieces, so are actually not considered in essence a traditional single coil, but that's an entirely different design altogether. But it does the job.

So please don't ask for a noiseless single coil, because there's no such thing. What you want is a humcancelling single coil sized strat pickup.

So for humcancelling or noiseless single coil sized pickups, I've tried them quite a bit. I've owned every set Kinman makes. I've tried many DiMarzios, and even Fender Noiseless pups. The only sets I've stuck to at this point are the DiMarzio cruisers. Only because they are able to exhibit both a single coil tone and a humbucker depending on how you tweak it.

The Fender noiseless sets are very nice, but I find them one trick ponys. If you're looking for a single coil tone without the hum, and nothing else, then this is your best bet. My choice would be the Vintage Noiseless.

The Fender SCNs are not nice to my ears.

SDuncans somehow don't shine as well as the Fenders.

Kinmans? very expensive, but very good. My fav would be the Hank Marvin sets.

Sky pickups are nice, but very bright.

DiMarzio 67s are also nice, so are the HS2 and HS3, and the YJM.

But here's a warning. If you're a meticulous single coil player, and play thru a Fender amp, and your positions 2 and 4 are so important, then forget noiseless. Some how the noiseless pups don't ring as well as they should, when you compare a real single coil side by side.

Yes, even the DiMarzios.

But there's hope. Apparently, the BEST single coil tone from a noiseless setup as oted by Danny Gatton and Bonnie Riatt, comes from Joe Barden... Not cheap though.
 
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isit? the fender noiseless pups suck leh IMHO....i get to play them everyday so i should know.

Somehow they dont ring out or "quack" as well as the dimarzios....

but of course, real single coils still possess some mojo that humbuckers dont have.... but for me....the hum and extraneous noise is not worth it. Imagine playing a gig and the lights....line noise and all causing your single coils to hum like there's no tomorrow even when you pause inbetween short breaks....not very pleasant.
 
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