Strat hum

S

Scoot82

New member
Is it normal to have a lot of hum on a std. strat when playing in the neck, middle, and bridge position. The only time I don't get hum are in the neck/middle, and middle/bridge position. Anyone know about this?? thanks
 
The middle pickup in most strats is reverse wound/reverse polarity, so that when you are in one of the in-between positions, the pickup is hum canceling. Hum is quite normal with single coil pickups.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
I think the hum is one of the major reasons that so many of us modify our strats. Once you take off the strings and the pickguard, an entirely new world opens up :-)
 
Scoot82 said:
Is it normal to have a lot of hum on a std. strat when playing in the neck, middle, and bridge position. The only time I don't get hum are in the neck/middle, and middle/bridge position. Anyone know about this?? thanks
Click to expand...

Yes, the hum is quite normal. You can get rid of it if you don't face the amp with the pickups. Turn around slowly and listen for the spot where the hum goes away. It is not just because of the single coil pickups. It is the cheap wiring, cheap caps and generally the way Fender does'nt pay attention to details that create the noise problems.

They should correctly ground/shield their guitars. But, it is cheaper to slap them together as is.

Their slogan should be:
"Fender-50 years of sitting on our asses doing nothing but riding on Leo's success"
 
my question is this..howcome the reverse cycle isn't true about lace sensors? i never really understood what lace sensors were, but when ya have them doubled up, still produces same amount..i'm lookin towards light for this answer? :)
 
ZoSo58LP said:
my question is this..howcome the reverse cycle isn't true about lace sensors? i never really understood what lace sensors were, but when ya have them doubled up, still produces same amount..i'm lookin towards light for this answer? :)
Click to expand...


I haven't actually spent much time with the Lace Sensor pickups, as I don't like the sound of them. My understanding is that the design is quite different from normal pickups, but I don't know enough to coment much more than that. They are supposed to be much quieter than other pickups. I will try to talk to our shop manager on Monday about them, as he likes and uses them.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
I have a Lace in the neck, cheapo MIM stock pup in the middle and a Dano lipstick on the bridge.

When selected individually:

The Lace is super quiet, with a reasonable strat neck pup sound.
The Dano is just a tad noisier, with a slightly non-strat sound (jangly?) that I really like.
The MIM hums like a MF and is probaby the same thing you see in a Lotus strat copy ;-)... or not.

I just got a Duncan Hot Rails to replace the middle pup. It'll be interesting to see what that sounds like....
 
Fusioninspace said:
I have a Lace in the neck, cheapo MIM stock pup in the middle and a Dano lipstick on the bridge.

When selected individually:

The Lace is super quiet, with a reasonable strat neck pup sound.
The Dano is just a tad noisier, with a slightly non-strat sound (jangly?) that I really like.
The MIM hums like a MF and is probaby the same thing you see in a Lotus strat copy ;-)... or not.

I just got a Duncan Hot Rails to replace the middle pup. It'll be interesting to see what that sounds like....
Click to expand...


The Hot Rails will be significantly louder, and will need to be much lower to balance the volumes (that is not a problem, by the way). I am very fond of the Hot Rails pickups, though I (slightly) prefer the Joe Barden pickups, which are the pickups Seymour Duncan was imitating when he designed the Hot Rails. Very cool pickups, both.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Light,

Thanks for the comments on the Hotrails. I feel like I'm hijacking this thread though....

But since I have :p

I noticed the sticker on my hotrails say "bridge", so I'm guessing that these will be even more sensitive (i.e. LOUDER) in the middle spot than one that said "neck". EEEEK, Now I wonder if I need to put in some kind of separate pot to smooth out the volume differential of the middle pot. Look like another knob is in order ;-)

More knobs and switches make your guitar much better. I'm thinking a couple of VU meters routed into the neck would help me play faster as well...

Ok, it's late. I'm tired.
 
I am not at the shop, so I am not sure, but dosen't the bridge Hotrails have stagered coils? I know the Joe Barden is, and if that is the case with the Hotrails, it will not fit in the middle.

You will not need a seperate volume control, you just need to adjust the pickup height so the output of the three pickups match. As I said, it is not a big deal. Just something to be aware of.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
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