60 Cycle Hum - Teles - Princeton Reverb

[Will13]

Hey Guys, quick little update. So if some of you had read my initial post, I had mentioned that I hadn't yet, but was going to string up my strat and see if that hummed too. So, I just did that a little ago, and there is humming, but only on pickup positions 1,3,5. Not on 2 or 4, those are very quiet. This is leading me to believe that the amp is fine, also I have no ground loop, and it's really just the pickups in my Teles and strat. Here's a picture of my strat opened up from a couple weeks ago:

Is the black paint inside the cavaties shielding paint? (I'm a newb to this stuff) also the pickups in my guitar are:

• Seymour Duncan: APS-1N Alnico Pro2 staggered (neck)
• APS-1RWRP Alnico Pro2 staggered (middle) APS-1B Alnico Pro2 staggered (bridge)

I believe these are not noise cancelling pickups since it doesn't mention it, and I get the buzz on positions 1,3,5.

By the way, this strat is the Lite Ash Strat Special Edition, MIK that had a short run around 2004-2006.


PS - I ordered an EHX Hum Debugger, should arrive by tomorrow night, I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.

-Will

 

[tonyboy]

I have a him debugger. Works fine for me. I bought it specifically for clubs with really bad 60 cycle him. It does the job.

 

[JD0x0]

Your guitar isn't shielded I'd gather that's what the noise is coming from. I've NEVER had an issue with significant hum on a clean amp with single coils, but all my guitars are heavily and properly shielded. The only time I notice noise is when using single coils into a very high gain pedal or compressor, or if I'm pointing the pickups directly at a large EMF source like a Laptop screen, within close proximity.

 

[LKB3rd]

Some locations are noisy, and it sounds like your house is one of them. I have a noisy house too and I finally just installed a set of Seymour Duncan Vintage Stacks in a Tele.

 

[tonyboy]

I have a him debugger. Works fine for me. I bought it specifically for clubs with really bad 60 cycle him. It does the job.

 

[BlueCajun]

My PRRI does the same thing depending on which outlet I use in the house. One in particular drove me crazy until I figured out the outlet was on the same breaker as my ceiling fan.

And to all those who recommended the Hum Debugger, thank you! I'm going to check one out as well.

 

[TVCaster]

Have added this to couple of Strats, one an old MIM, dead quiet, even with the Mexican pick ups.

http://www.guitarfetish.com/Aluminum-Strat-Pickguard-Shield-Universal-Screw-Holes_p_90.html

 

[Chicago Matt]

I'm a fan of the black shielding paint if your single coil guitar is not shielded. It helps a lot in many environments and is cheap. Its easier than HVAC or copper tape for the cavities. Paint all the cavities and then attach a wire from the back of a volume pot to the painted cavity. It also helps to additionally tape the bottom of the pickguard with HVAC tape.

 

[Will13]

Have added this to couple of Strats, one an old MIM, dead quiet, even with the Mexican pick ups.

http://www.guitarfetish.com/Aluminum-Strat-Pickguard-Shield-Universal-Screw-Holes_p_90.html

Good Price for this. My problem is more on my two teles. I don't see any of these in tele style on their website. Do you know anywhere I could find something like this for around the same price for telecasters?

 

[jimash]

I was having a hum issue.
I found I was under powering a pedal, or over stressing a power supply and fixing that seemed to clean it up.
we'll see.

 

[JD0x0]

For $9 you get a can of conductive paint, and paint your cavity. That stew mac Shield leaves a HUGE area of your control cavity open. It is more for eliminating pick guard static, IMO.

http://www.guitarfetish.com/Aluminum-Strat-Pickguard-Shield-Universal-Screw-Holes_p_90.html

You need more complete shielding to be effective, IMO. That shield would be good for capping off a shielded cavity.

 

[jimash]

For $9 you get a can of conductive paint, and paint your cavity.

That sounds mildly insulting.

 

[Will13]

Another update: I received the EHX Hum Debugger today. Tested it out for a little on the telecasters. It seems to do a pretty good job, and I don't notice it coloring the tone. My only qualm, is that when up close to amp 4ft or closer, there is no hum, but if I stand like 6feet or farther away, I can hear a little "gargle" type noise from my amp. Not as loud as the hum from guitars when the Hum debugger is off, but strange, and definitely a different sound than 60 cycle hum. Anyone know what this is? Or experienced this with a humdebugger?

 

[Chris63]

Positions 2 and 4 on your Strat are out of phase and will not generate 60 hertz noise. It's not your amp or your Telecaster. Single coils pick up 60 hertz noise. Get rid of the noise or filter it out before it hits your amp.

 

[Mistercharlie]

Resurrecting this thread, but I’m in the middle of dealing with hum after a pickup swap. But I’m not here for help! I have a tip:

Try unplugging your amp and flipping the plug 180° before plugging it back in. It won’t help with guitar hum, but if it’s the amp it can help with mains noise. Both my Princeton and Champ buzz terribly if glee in the wrong way. Now I even have a tab of colored tape on their plugs so I know which way is which.

This won’t work in the U.K. obviously, but it works great in Europe.