Noiseless pickups vs. Regular

I have a dilemma:
There are two teles I am looking at getting.
Same wood, similar price, made in the same place...
Tele A is better looking,
Tele B isn't as good looking and a little more expensive, but it has Fender Vintage Noiseless pickups.
What should I do?

Is there really that big of a difference between noiseless and regular pickups? I would like to know

Hi TG 365
can't waith to ear from the pro's on this one,and maybe help me out on some choice I would like to buy
Dan

I'm no pro but I know what I like. I prefer standard single coils to noiseless in almost every case. I prefer vintage sounding, underwound pickups that have a character all their own. Noiseless pickups sound very antiseptic/sterile and seem to lack character to my ears. With some distortion the noiseless really sound modern and smooth...too smooth for my tastes. You really will need to play both as there are going to be other differences you may notice (neck shape, resonance) and ultimately one will just feel like "the one".

...but if you're asking me, I'd buy the non-noiseless.

>I have a dilemma<

I don't see that way of thinking...............buy them both !



The vintage noiselss pups sound nice but I would buy the better looking, cheaper of that two.

Chances are, if you don't like the pickups it has you can always change them out.

Keystone pickups are REMARKABLY quiet, VERY affordable and sound terrific !!!

If you look at what you would have to pay for a different pickup set ( if you don't get the real high $$ ones) then deduct what you get for selling the old set, you would only be out of pocket about $30-50.

Not too shabby.

OK, thanks.
So does anyone think that noiseless pickups are better?

Have you tried playing them? :D Noiseless pickups can sound amazing. It's all about knowing how to design them and the application you use them in. There are plenty of bad single coil designs as well! One thing to consider - these guitars are different instruments, regardless of what materials they use. No way of knowing how things go unless you try them. I would personally end up putting Keystones (low noise singles) in either regardless of what came stock.

OK, thanks.
So does anyone think that noiseless pickups are better?

Depends on the design! Bill Lawrence makes amazing ones.

OK, thanks.
So does anyone think that noiseless pickups are better?

It would help to know what kind of music you play and what your typical amp and pedal set up is.

If you don't like hum, go with the noiseless one.

I have noiseless pups in my Tele, just not Fenders. Not quite the bite of OVs, but I like 'em just fine. And I like the lack of noise as well.

If you don't like hum, go with the noiseless one.

I'd wager no one "likes" hum. If folks did, amps would come with a "hum" knob. I don't mind or notice a little hum or accept it because it comes with SC goodness.

I play Classic Rock, country and some blues. I like a sound with power behind it.

You'll be happier with the one that looks better to you, then possibly changing the pickups if the hum is too much.

If you buy the one with noiseless, you might decide you don't like those pickups either. But if you don't like the body... oh well.

I've always preferred the sound of SC pickups, but when I've had EMG setups they delivered a perverse satisfaction. No noise, total consistency, high fidelity. Whatever they lacked in personality was balanced out by the "bulletproof" way they work, especially with a chain of effects.

I was thinking of dropping my old EMG-T set back in my main Tele just to have at least ONE guitar that didn't buzz like a maniac at my favorite local bar!

The noiseless Pickups ain't bad IMHO. I had vintage noiseless in my ESP. That said now I have two teles equiped with OV PUs and nocasters, both real single coils.
I compared my AV (OV pickups) with an american deluxe ash (similar woods but scn-pus) over a DRRI for an hour or so - clean. While the scn sounded real good IMHO in terms of dynamic and sensitivity (obeying to your personal touch) the real single coil for me has advantages.
If you play with a dirty sound the noiseless my suit you better, though.

I think the most important part of this question though is, "which will make you happier?" If you play both and absolutely love the sound of the "not as nice looking" one with noiseless pickups, then that may totally make you fall in love with it. Same thing the other way around. However, if you play them and can't decide---or if you must buy without playing---then buy the one that looks nicer. It is easier to change the pickups than change the body!

But is there a noticable difference between the regular and noiseless?

There are 2 main debates that will live forever on guitar forums---
(1) Stock single coils vs. noiseless stacks
(2) Point-to-point amps vs. PCB :lol:

I have 2 sets of Fender Vintage Noiseless strat pups-----and a DiMarzio Virtual Vintage tele bridge model. They work very well.
Not my favorites,but certainly not lifeless and sterile.

I have an old set of BL 220s (1979 I believe) on a Strat I built and Keystones on a Tele I also built.
I thought the old Lawrence pickups were amazing until I put the Keystones in the Tele.

From what I have here, I'd say it's a small trade off:

no hum and good tone vs crisp with bite and some hum

Sometimes I think too much emphasis is placed on pickups. I'd rather have decent pickups and a great amp than the other way around.

I have a set of fender SCN in an alder body with grease bucket tone and played through a blues Jr. and everything sounds real good to me

I love the Vintage noisless pups..great 60s sounding pups. If you want a little more response and quack to them, just replace your 250K pots for 500k..more snap for sure with those pots in any Tele.

Also, are the pups in the other Tele ceramic pups?? The Fender Noiseless pups feature AlNiCo magnets..so they really do chime and ring with that Signature Tele sound. :wink:

There are 2 main debates that will live forever on guitar forums---
(1) Stock single coils vs. noiseless stacks
(2) Point-to-point amps vs. PCB

you forgot:
(3) Rosewood vs. Maple fretboards.

So are the fender noiseless p/ups simply humbuckers that are stacked on top of, rather than next to each other?

(4) 9 or 10 gauge
(5) Fat or slim necks
(6) DRRI or TRRI

I have a set of SCNs in an Am Deluxe Ash and a vintage noiseless in the bridge of a California Series fat tele. I also have a full set of vintage noiseless in a Nashville Tele.

I really like the vintage noiseless pup in the fat tele. It is bright and twangy without being brittle or piercing. The SCNs on the Deluxe Ash are real nice, but I am still going to swap them out for nocasters (eventually, once I get around to it). The Nashville is currently up for sale, and while those vintage noiseless pups are OK, something about them in that particular guitar just doesnt do it for me. As with most things, the answer is "it depends".

If you can play them, then go play them an decide for yourself. If you think they're both great, then get the one that looks better.

If you can't play them before purchasing, then get the one that looks better. If you don't like the pickups after playing it for a while, then you can change them.

I have Dimarzio Virtual Vintage bridge pickups (the original low output model, now replaced by the AreaT) and Fender Vintage Noiseless neck pickups in both my teles. I like them.

In fact, I've tried at least a dozen different types of 'normal' tele pickups over the past 10 years and I like these the best.

I have GFS Neovin "Hard Vintage" noiseless and I like them a lot. The only noise I get is from the TS pedal on the highest settings, nothing from the guitar at all. I've seen varied reviews of the Neovin but I fall on the positive side. You could use 1meg pots and some real twang. I did like the tone of the stock pups just a little better, but they definitely had the hum that I needed to be rid of. The Neovins did the job for me.

Is there a difference between noiseless and regular? Yes. Is it worth it to you? That's up to you. I went noiseless on all my guitars, and I will never go back. I NEED noiseless for my professional situations. I use Wilde L280's and L290's in my Teles and my Strat. But that's just ME. Not everyone needs that. If a little noise doesn't bother you, by all means go with traditional single-coils. There are SO many great choices out there, you could spend the rest of your life and your inheritance exploring them all.

However, when considering which guitar to buy, always go with the one that feels and sounds the best unplugged, and has no deal-breaker faults (warped neck, damaged frets, etc.). At that point, looks DO matter. You can always change pickups, provided the basic chassis is worth the time and expense.

But is there a noticable difference between the regular and noiseless?
what are the "regular" PUs?
The main difference is that the noiseless don't catch up 6o cycle hum.
the sound is up to personal taste.

I have the Fender noisless in one of my Strats and I think the stock MIM pups sounded better,more vintage tone..

I have a set of Dimarzio Area Ts in my Tele and it has all of the great qualities I love about Tele pickups - a nice, warm neck pickup and a twangy grinding bridge. All with no hum.

The Fender Vintage Noiseless pickups sound good from what I've heard - but with my experience the Dimarzios take the cake as far as being the best noiseless singlecoil. Haven't tried Kinmans yet - I've heard mixed reviews. Bardens are okay too.

It's a tradeoff. No noiseless pickup sounds EXACTLY like a single-coil, but nor do they hum. While I DO love the response and feel of SC pickups, I HATE hum, enough to make the compromise of sound and feel, so I stick to noiseless pickups, and there are plenty that sound and feel anywhere from good to excellent.

If you are playing clean and at low volume in a relative EMI-free environment constantly, then SC will be perfect for you. But if you are dead-set on using SC pickups with medium-to-high gain for rock, blues or whatever, you will have to ignore the hum, use a noise eliminator pedal (which ALSO changes the sound, regardless of advertising hyperbole), or face whichever way you have to to find the hum "null", which is almost always OPPOSITE of the way you WANT to face! :mrgreen:

It's a tradeoff. No noiseless pickup sounds EXACTLY like a single-coil...

I used to say that too...until I played the Dimarzio 'Area' range of noiseless tele and strat pickups.

the boy has a bullet(strat) and i think the neck pup in this thing is awesome(what do i know)but it does have the hum. i run scns and these things twang, they take pedals well, but to say they're 100% noiseless wouldn't be accurate. now, the other weekend went and seen a tele player. talked to him and he was running a frahlin bridge pup in an esquire. all the snap and twang a guy could want---and dead quiet. go figure.

I used an Area T bridge pickup for 3 gigs. No one was impressed (band mates, ME and the club soundman), when compared to the standard Fender pickup it replaced. We listened to gig recordings of both pickups. The differences were stark. The Fender pickup was well worth the noise.
Used it with my Fender Deluxe Reverb and my Mesa Lonestar Classic.

In my opinion, it was twangy, but weak and sterile sounding, but it was quiet!

To each his own, I am playing country and blues music without much gain.
Only a Zendrive and amplifier for gain.

My two cents.

If you can play both guitars, buy the one that sounds better to you, regardless of the type of pups it has. If it turns out to be the "noisy" guitar, there are many low- or no-noise pups you can drop in it. If it sounds better with stock pups, the guitar is more likely to sound better with any type of pups; a lot of the sound of a guitar comes from the woods, the bridge, etc. Buy the better sounding instrument!