Noisy Single Coils?

[jackal]

I have to wonder if noisy single coils are a problem only with tube amps? I have gigged with various brands of pickups, all single coils, with a variety of SS amps, (Fenders, Quilters, and Evans) in some venues with ancient wiring, (from the 20s in one case) bad lighting, etc. and I've never experienced problems with noise. Or is it the fact that I play clean with no distortion? The only noise problem I've had was with a couple of pedals that didn't play well together with a one-spot. Switching to a power-all solved that one. Or have I just been fortunate?

 

[telepraise]

It's innate with single coils. That's why humbuckers were invented. I shielded the cavities on my two main players which helped a lot.

A Katana that hung out at my house for a while was the noisiest amp I've encountered. Never did figure out how to make it sound decent. In contrast, My Princeton Reverb Reissue is whisper quiet at idle unless there's rheostats on the lights. Tubes have several disadvantages, you just have to weigh whether the tone is worth it (it is for me).

 

[PhredE]

It's innate with single coils. That's why humbuckers were invented. I shielded the cavities on my two main players which helped a lot.

+1

 

[JL_LI]

Like @telepraise said, 60 cycle hum in innate in single coil pickups unless they're combined with one that is RWRP. I play clean with low gain and replaced pickups with noiseless stacked single coils in two guitars because the hum drove me bonkers. That said, I have a CS '69 Stratocaster from which I barely hear hum using the same setup. I attribute the difference to a number of things in combination. CS '69 pickups are low wind pickups. The middle is not RWRP to the bridge and neck so the difference must be the wind. The CS pickups are scatter wound. I don't know if that makes a difference but maybe it does. The CS guitar seems to be well shielded. One more thing that most of us don't think about is the cable. I use Mogami gold. The cable is exceptionally well shielded against RF. I also have a PRS cable that does well blocking RF. There are losses and gains using stacked single coil pickups. I have N4 in my Telecaster and Ultimate Noiseless in a Strat. The CS'69 pickups in my Strat twang, even the middle pickup. The noiseless pickups sound great and the bridge pickups twang, but the sound is different. It's more chime with a harmonic richness than twang. I love my Telecaster and both of my Strats but none of them sound alike. They complement each other nicely. I can't talk about tubes verses SS, but both of my amps are tube amps. Amps amplify the signal sent to them so if there's RF or 60 cycle hum, any amp will make it audible.

 

[mkdaws32]

Nope - I have tube amps but for a few reasons use mostly solid state equipment - the noise is the same with my single coils with both tubes and solid state. Maybe you find the issue worse with your tube amp because of a noise issue caused by the amp itself? A good shielding job on the guitar and a noise gate make all my single coil guitars feel dead quiet.

Oh - I see you play mostly clean - yeah - any noise issue is much more apparent with higher gain playing.

 

[brookdalebill]

I cannot tolerate single coil hum.
I only own one guitar with single coil pickups, my gold top with Duncan Alnico IV Staples.
I don’t/won’t gig with it, though it is hum-cancelling in the middlE position.
I notice single coil hum regardless of amp type.
I only own and use Roland COSM modeling amps.
There are many ways to circumvent the hum.
I like Kinmans best for noiseless single coil type pickups.

 

[Timbresmith1]

More gain= higher noise floor. If you only play clean, you aren’t boosting the underlying noise to the same degree.

 

[swervinbob]

In my “home studio” room it depends on what I’m plugged into. If it doesn’t have an IEC cord, singles are really noisy. I’ve been playing my P90 Les Paul Tribute Special into my Strymon Iridium the past couple of days and it gets really noisy. When I had a HX Stomp single coils were noisy. Through a Kemper or an full size Helix there’s some hum, but not as annoying. Real amps are the same. Just some hum, but not near as noisy as something with only a two prong cord. All of this is grounding issues with the house, but I don’t plan on staying here much longer.

 

[Mr_Martin]

If it doesn't hum it's not a single coil