Replacing Pickups

[anonymous_vkfan]

Would anyone have any advice on upgrading a guitar's pickups? I purchased a fat strat four or five years ago. I like the sound, but unfortunately I get a lot of background noise when recording. I've read that upgrading to better pickups can help eliminate some of that background noise/hiss/fuzz.

Just curious to know if anyone has had luck with particular brands and/or what's the best value for the money. Just for reference, a standard fat strat has two single coil pickups and one humbucker pickup (bridge).

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[cere8]

Which pickups are you using? Either of the two single coils by themselves are going to sound loud. If they are noise cancelling when you put it in the position to use both at the same time it will be quieter although still not perfect. The humbucker itself should be the quietest as it cancels the noise within itself. What kind of pickup is it? Nicer pickups will generally be quieter since they are potted better. Also if it hisses/buzzes/fuzzes more when you move the guitar and it faces different things then you could also shield the inside of the guitar. http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/index.php?s=
If you search around here you will find more information then you know what to do with. The starting point is what kind of pickups do you have and are you talking about the single coils or humbucker or all?

 

[ermghoti]

Well, any of the Fenders come with at least usable pickups, so unless you just want to whip the pickguard off, and melt all the solder blobs to make sure you don't have a cold joint, a pickup swap is not going to reduce background noise much, if at all.

Sheilding can help, and make sure you have decent cables. My apartment is simply littered with EM interference, so my guitars are noisy as hell, and I have trouble even getting a cell phone signal. Nothing i can do, but move.

 

[anonymous_vkfan]

Thanks for the quick responses.

I have all the standard hardware. I consulted the manual for pickup info but was unable to find any. All I know is it has two standard strat single coil pickups and one standard humbucker pickup.

I don't know how difficult it is to install new pickups. I've seen single pickups advertised, so I guess I assumed it wouldn't be difficult. I'm in my computer all the time, so I wouldn't consider myself ignorant with circuits and wires and such. Have either of you actually replaced a pickup before? Is it as simple as I'm making it out to be?

I read in a couple of different places that upgrading the pickups can help to reduce noise. Right now, I resort to recording in Goldwave so I can use its noise reduction function. Then I save the file and import it into a multitrack sequencer. It would be much more convenient if I could just record in the sequencer program from the beginning and not have to worry about noise reduction.

 

[Anfontan]

If you are too close to the computer monitor, a strat will pick up lots of outside interference, I know from personal experience. I have to give it a bit of distance and watch my position in regards to the PC monitor.
I have replaced pickups several times in some of my guitars, if its a standard change its usually no problem. I have done some modifications that took a little time to work out, mainly due to switches that were different from stock style connections. Most stock Fender pickups should do a good job though, try backing off from monitor and see if it helps.

 

[ermghoti]

The monitor warning is excellent.

If you replace the pickups with the same kind (singles for singles, etc) the swap couldn't be easier. If you are putting in something a little different, yo will need to take a look at some instructions, but nothing to worry about. You already know how to solder?

The problem is, a pickup swap will help, if you have noise from sucky pickups. If you have a USA Fender, you have good pickups. If it's a lower model, you have OK pickups. I hold little hope that you are going to get much noise reduction, unless you replace the singles with humbuckers of some sort. Try sheilding first, and make sure everything is grounded.

 

[travelin travis]

As mentioned, steer clear of a CRT monitor. Even turning your guitar at different angles to the monitor can help. Better yet, turn off the monitor. I shielded my strat copy and star grounded everything but it did'nt help a bit.

The hum and buzz could be a ground loop too. If you're recording direct, a good direct box could be what you need.

 

[anonymous_vkfan]

Thanks for all the responses. I do have a CRT monitor close by, but it's turned off. I have an LCD as the primary one. Moving away from the monitor and PC helps a little bit, but not completely.

Let's steer this in another direction. When I'm not using software based effects on the guitar recorded cleanly, I'm recording using a Korg ToneWorks effects processor that I purchased years ago. Seems like background noise is amplified when using any effects processor (software or hardware). Personally, I think it's easier to have a piece of hardware to plug the guitar into. You don't have to bog down the CPU by applying effects to entire track.

Does anyone use a guitar effects processor that is great at reducing background noise and that they would recommend?

Again, thanks for all the help thus far.

 

[Fade]

I just swapped a Duncan humbucker into my strat and it is awesome. I would high recommend it, but I wanted to change my tone.