Cause of Single Coil Hum | Stratocaster Upgrades Appendix
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ย. 2024
- Appendix relating to Stratocaster Upgrades video:
• Stratocaster Upgrades ...
This video focuses on my ideology of guitar modifications and where hum comes from in single coil pickups.
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Appendix relating to Stratocaster Upgrades video:
th-cam.com/video/rbVnhdy4Jfo/w-d-xo.html
This video focuses on my ideology of guitar modifications and where hum comes from in single coil pickups.
More from CSGuitars:
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Even with very little additional video juggling, you made this really enjoyable to follow.
You added some more info about the buzz source, options to get rid off most of it and where those are weak.
And It was all working fine on x1.5 the speed. (that's just one of my watching habits)
Could you make a video where you go step by step through a more complicated active bass guitar circuit like an alembic with or without a dummy coil? I'm not a bass player, but I find those tone forming ideas really interesting and I'm sure that a lot of players can either not use them right or never heard of the possibilities.
Aloha.
CFL (Compact Florescent Lights) as well as standard Florescent Lights, give off a huge amount of buzz when it comes to guitars. I've seen that myself years ago when I switch from Incandescent Bulbs to CFLs. I know that part of it has to do with the actual electronics with the CFLs and FLs. I would be interested in seeing if LEDs have the same issue.
The only reason I shielded my Black Strat tribute was so I could play music to my plants without the grow lights interfering
I didn't expect to see this today hahah
Interesting, do you tune your Black Strat with 432 Hz as base frequenzy, I am really intrigued to know..... for scientific purpose of course.
Do you maintain adequate Total Harmonic Content? I mean in the music of course...……..
420 Hz
That's the best reason to shield a guitar that I've ever heard.
I hope you do a shielding video, because I'm on the same boat as you, I dont want to put noiseless pickups in my strat.
I tried every Noiseless = #NotTheSame - No Way = Never.
@@GCKelloch I've got a set of Wilde 280/290 pups in my hardtail Strat that were wound by Old Bill himself about 20 years ago. They sound plenty Stratty to me and are dead quiet.
Twist the OEM single coil pickups and out put jack wires. Ground the three pots together single wire daisy chain. Shield cavity with aluminum foil tape.
get a coiled cable
ice man, check out the Hum Remover. Even on shielded guitars it reduces hum, to levels comparable to a humbucker th-cam.com/video/ihA20tpBjy0/w-d-xo.html
I've got locking tuners on most of my guitars. Not always because of tuning stability but because it makes changing strings easier.
most everything runs on 50/60hz, and that is why most local electromagnetic noise is also 50/60hz
@@MarcoRaaphorst I was just making a general statement relating to the noise in the video in case someone was wondering why it sounds similar to a bad ground or ground loop etc. Also, where did you see any reference to any filter in my comment?
I keep reading it but I just can't find it. lol
Colin: how to be you? I am ALWAYS, ALWAYS impressed the way you explain things. You always deliver the goods; discussing technical terms in layman's language. You can have a career as a science teacher! Another winner Colin! And you made my day.
THANK YOU. Not for my benefit...but for everyone else who learns from this regarding 60-cycle hum, where it comes from and what you can and can't do about it. I've seen SO many threads on forums and FB where someone says, "Help! I have noise in my rig!!! I had no problems at home but then I set up at this bar and..." and everyone starts recommending all of these gear purchases like power conditioners, better cables, ground loop solutions, etc. etc. that will have absolutely no effect if it's 60-cycle hum. And everyone always recommends all of this stuff before asking a few simple questions like "does the noise change when you rotate side to side? Is it there when you unplug? Is it there when you turn the guitar volume down?" You would do a great service to the community if you could put together a video on various sources of noise (some of which you did here, but to name a few... types of lighting, tvs, bad electrical wiring, neon signs, dimmers, blah blah blah), a simple method for diagnosing and various options for solving and the pros and cons.
Like the thought process and philosophy behind it. "Only change what should be changed“.
it's not the light per se, but the ballasts and power supplies that drive the lights that emit the noise.
I think that's the best paint job I've ever seen
This is awesome. I love the more in detail talks you do. I think after every tutorial you do, if you can, go a little more in depth and explain why you did what you did. Helps everyone learn.
The noise of my single coil pickups in my Squire strat really annoyed me, so I shielded all the cavities with copper foil. The noise, especially hum, was drastically reduced. I am surprised that all guitars with single coil pickups don't come with shielded cavities as standard.
Colin is the genuine high priest of knowledge , people . There is so much useful information on this channel . Always well presented and explained and no bull . Just the facts . My favorite go-to channel . A1+ for CSGuitars !
Thank god this video exists. I just bought a Fender Strat, and I was incredibly concerned about the buzzing noise. I was convinced it was my amp. Thank you SO MUCH for clearing this up!
I have the exact same guitar and it’s quite nice. I build pickups for a living and made a really nice set for mine, I also shielded the coils as well as the pickup cavity. There is a limit to how much noise you can eradicate. I often play below the threshold that noise gates cut off so can’t use one. Some things we just have to live with because nothing else sounds quite as good as a true single coil.
I finally understand "why", the 60/50 cycle, single coil hum. Antennae.
What a great demonstration. The "science" of loud couldn't be more true. Keep them coming! :D
I gained a new appreciation for Stratocaster and Telecaster guitars based on your explanation. I'm more of a Les Paul or SG kinda guy, but a good Fender style guitar has it's uses.
That means i can play metal with a bullet strat
Of course you can.
@@juliansedor7101 you can play metal with a telecaster or a danelectro longhorn xD basically any solid body guitar. hollows don't work with higher gain. that's all.
@@TheWolvesCurse tell that last part to Dave Grohl
@@evenzeroescanbeheroes6875 didn't knew he plays metal.
@@TheWolvesCurse your comment wasn't about metal,it was about playing with higher gain
"Put on locking tuners for more tuning stability!" is one of my guitar playing pet peeves. Locking tuners are mostly a convenience item that makes restringing faster and easier, especially those self-cutting ones. The instances where your tuning stability issues are caused by the tuners are rare. IF they are then those tuners are either very low quality or defective and any tuner of decent quality with no defects should do fine.
The problem is occurring at the windings of the string around the tuner.
When you bend and especially use the trem, those windings alternate between getting tighter and less tight, altering the string tension and messing up the tuning.
Solving this problem is the primary role of the locking tuners.
@@NolanZewariligon sounds plausible, on the surface but isn't. If the windings are the problem then don't you use windings with locking tuners? Because most guitarists I see still use winding - how else could they tune down a step or two? So why would the windings stop being a problem just because the string is clamped down by the locking tuner?
No, the problem is that the strings are thin metal and metal is known to stretch when put under tension. And it never stops stretching. Especially when you're changing tension on the metal, which you do by bending and using the trem. It's one of the reasons why you don't use as many windings as you can fit on the tuning peg: the more metal there is the more metal can stretch. On the other hand if you don't have enough slack that can stretch the string is more prone to snapping - because it can only stretch so far.
Sure, there's movement in the windings as well but that doesn't change because the means of fixating the string changes. From a force point of view the clamp in the locking tuner lies behind the windings. The windings move first and there's next to no force left that does actually reach that point. The force that's pulling on the end of the string is next to non-existent. Also, clamping down on the string by making the first winding above the string is as reliable as locking tuners are. Or making a kink in the string by wrapping it around itself.
The only real advantage is convenience. You don't have to worry about where you make your first winding. You don't have to worry about the string slipping out of the peg when you're doing your first few windings. That is what locking tuners help with, not tuning stability
@@saschaschneider6355 What?
No, you definitely should not have any windings on locking tuners.
That defeats the whole purpose.
People who do so obviously don't know anything about locking tuners.
You just pull the string through the tuner, lock it, cut off the excess string and tune it.
No winding.
@@NolanZewariligon then how do you tune down a step?
@@saschaschneider6355 Normally?
You don't tighten the string to pitch before locking it.
Why would it be a problem to downtune?
I'm completely agree! Sometimes we don't have to spend a lot of money in non functional modifications! Obviously, everything depends of the necessity that each one want to improve or correct!
And I usually shield my guitar with cooper tape to avoid the hum generated for interference that exist in the environment! It is a great solution, more simple that change pickups! The resoults depends of cooper quality and the work that the Luthier or you do!
what is cooper tape?
@@skips1965 it's like the common adhesive tape, but is made with thin copper foil and one side of the tape, have conductive glue.
i really enjoy these appendix videos! i like that you're able to quickly respond to questions and commentary and to expand on topics and tangents from the previous video, and i think they're a nice change of pace in style: a little more informal, a little more conversational
Locking tuners are great not just for tuning stability but also because they don’t require a winder to use, and you also spend a lot less time having to stretch strings after putting on a new set. With that though some people still prefer conventional wrap friction tuners, and if that’s your personal preference, that’s perfectly fine. It’s not mine, but that’s okay 👍
So lesson of the video: play in total darkness
Even then the cosmic microwave background is going to cause you problems.
7 Faraday cages with different cell sizes is good enough.
Solar flares will kill us all
Thx for this overview to the Problem. For your interest - a Dummy Coil can be a additional Way, if the Situation depends on. My kind of Strat-Electrik is, normal 5 Way Switch as yours and if You need, a Dummy-Coil for the Neck or Bridge-Pickup as Push-Pull. So you get 7 Sounds out of a Strat, because you add the 2 Humless and darker Sounds with a flick of a switch. Thomas Blug created this with Andreas Kloppmann for his Guitars. I´m extremly happy with this.
Hahaha, I came up with the same solution, glad to know I did something right. You are one of the only people I trust when it comes to signal problems or solutions, as actually use known science to do things. Thank you.
As an old telephone exchange tech educated for my job about such matters I found the explanations in this post spot on.
As a guitarist who has never modded a guitar, I hope you can do something covering the technicalities of guitar cavity shielding.
I have both a new MIM Tele which hums at times, and some nice copper ribbon unwound from a scavenged length of old coax cable. I am hoping they can be married.
Update 30 mins later: - Whoah! Do not go there. I thought it was a lazy question and did some searching. It appears that cavity shielding is far too complex and contentious to be resolved within your format. Not saying you couldn't do it, but it would be hours long!
That's a great way of saving money !
Colin I remember subscribing to you way back when you made like a restringing tutorial or something I cant really remember, love your vids, thanks for everything
Where does noise come from...
Basically everywhere even the echo of the Big Bang is radiating around not to mention pulsars and quasars and every electronic device we use 😞 thank god for noise gates 🙏🏽 and humbuckers 🤘🏽
Humbuckers suck
@Dbomb Danny Only good humbuckers are DiMarzio and TV Jones everything else is straight garbage
@Dbomb Danny I prefer the squealing and fuzz and feedback that single coils have with distortion. It just sounds so hairy and out of control. That's why I like dimarzios they have the response and clarity of single coils but with a little extra umph
Thanks for the extra info and your view, I think it definitely makes me think more thoroughly as of what is more sensible to do in the near future. Keep it up (and loud)!
That is just a beautiful strat.
I very much enjoy your videos. You give very practical advice, debunk popular misconceptions, and all the while get the technical underpinnings correct! Excellent work!
Kluson style split post tuners are the greatest tuners ever
Chris Hopkins that’s what my Squier parts caster has!
I prefer locking tuners.
I hate the modern Fender tuners and promptly replace them on any guitar I buy. I don't really have a preference between locking and split post. Both work equally well.
That's a weird way to spell worst
Thanks Fella that was very helpful. Its a Faraday Cage for me!
You get a like for the Ian Malcom reference. Very nice indeed.
I modified my Strat by moving the volume knob over near the horn. If there's one design flaw in the Strat it's the volume knob being nano-meters away from the strings. Now I can palm mute fearlessly all day long.
Thanks Colin. You've just saved me a ton of money. I was sure the P90's in my Casino were badly grounded. They're fine. It's the lights in this damn room.
Brilliant explanation and demo (lights!)
I love vintage tuners. Plus they look better. Although I must admit I have locking vintage style Gotoh, and they're awesome
Great video!
YES if its not broke dont fix it.btw if you can earth the truss rod too it really helps.
I have a 2006 Fender Showmaster (that red guitar in my icon), which I consider to be Fender's answer to the Charvels and Jacksons rockers were playing at the time. Super Strats were what was popular at the time, so Fender made their own Super Strat, and that was the Showmaster. The modifications I made to mine were:
* FU-Tone brass block
* FU Tone coated springs
* Fender American Elite tremolo base plate
* Fender American Elite saddles
* Hipshot Grip-Lock open tuners (I would have used Fender locking tuners, but Fender told me those tuners would not fit. Hipshot comes with a universal mount plate, so Hipshot it is.)
* Seymour Duncan pickup covers (It came stock with a Pearly Gates and a 59, but they were not covered. As a general rule, ALL of my guitars MUST have pickup covers. No exceptions.)
* Last, I removed the gloss from the back of the neck, and went with satin.
Basically, I turned a Korean-made Fender into an American Elite Fender.
Also make sure the pickups are properly grounded.
Loving the mood lighting at 10:25.... very romantic!
I had my appendix removed
Yes
But have your had your appendix removed... ON WEED.....
This is the most interesting science lecture I've seen.
This was an amazingly explained video. Keep the work up!
Colin, looks like you’ll have to play your Strat hanging from the ceiling with the guitar parallel to the floor. ; )
Thanks for all your info.
7:35 it sounds just like in Back to the Future when Marty cranks up the amp.
Thank you very much for explaining why single coils make noise.
Just the video I was looking for! Thanks!
Hey Colin, next Tata video: I'd really like to know why the third beat in a measure of 4/4 is often the highlighted beat, the one the snare most often strike on. Why do our brains find that beat most satisfying?
Because it's the signal of the turn, to let us all know that the next beat is coming
It would be interesting to hear if the noise from your lighting is as noticeable with a battery powered amp-before watching this video I had the impression that noise from lights and appliances was introduced into the audio signal due to the amp being plugged into the "mains," the same source that powers the lighting. I've noticed that lights with dimmer rheostats are particularly noisy.
Another great video. All excellently explained Colin
Hot has an accent and smart. Keep killing it Colin!
There’s a lot of noise from the wiring in my house, especially the lights, even if they are switched off. I could take the fuse out for the house light circuit and record in the day 😂. I’ve started using waves x noise / z noise plugins on recorded parts. There’s a learn button that will analyse the noise then you can play with the threshold and things to eliminate it. It works surprisingly well. You can get a good balance where the noise is barely there and pretty much no tone loss in the highs. Even better if I record in a certain part of my room/angle where the noise dips it’s perfect. I did shield my guitar but think I could do a better job, will improve it next time I change strings.
Always a good lesson. Thanks
I was doing electrical work while watching this video. When you turned off the lights, it got so dark that I couldn't see anymore... I ended up getting lit up, and now my hair looks like Flock of Seagulls. Then to make it worse, a seagull landed on my head. You probably shouldn't do that again.
Great video, btw. I feel smarter as always. (Do you know if they sell seagull repellent?)
When recording with my single coils I always sit on the opposite side from my amp (this is the sweet spot) man I have tried everything 1) I have electrically shielded my guitar 2) I bought a power conditioner 3) I use the Iso-Brick for my pedals but I still get noise....
Thank you sooooo much for this video!!! It was really helpful!
As always, top notch content!
love that «peck-up» pronunciation)
I thought the reason for locking tuners was more for convenience when changing strings
A string that is locked is less likely to slip during bends than a string that is wrapped around a tuning post and relying heavily on friction to hold it in place. And they're fast to change.
Was going to look this up yesterday, but hey this works
Even if you shield your guitar, there is always a hum. I've shielded my strat. I think its normal to a single coil to hum.
Great video.
May I ask something? I get that if you want a true single coil tone, you go for a true single coil. But what limitations in a dummy coil design is bothering you?
Hello from Edinburgh!!! Love your channel. I agree with the hum problem. I would like to find out the difference between Tri-sonic pickups and single coils. There just isn't a video on TH-cam at all about this subject. Thanks in advance...Alex.
Great informative Vid Colin.
Cheers Mate
How can the phases of the two noises cancel out, but not the phases of the strings ?... I think I'm missing something.
The signals aren't phase inverted, only the noise picked up is.
Same as in a humbucker, the two coils are wired to add together, but due to the reversed magnetic polarity of each coil the hum manifests phase flipped in each.
The signal and the hum are generated by two different processes, so it's easy to manipulate one without affecting the other.
@@ScienceofLoud Thanks for the answer, but... Generated by two different processes ? Can you go in more details ? That sounds interesting.
The signal is induced in the coil by the steel core of the string vibrating within the pickup's magnetic field.
The phase is dependant on both the direction the coil is wound and the polarity of the magnet.
The noise is electromagnetic waves interfering with the pickup.
The phase is only dependant on the direction of the winding.
If you were to just change coil direction then you'd cancel hum, but also cancel signal, but because you have a reverse wind and reverse polarity the signal phase changes 360 to where it started, but the noise only phase changes 180 giving cancellation.
@@ScienceofLoud thanks Colin, everything makes sense now
It’s sort of the same idea as electrical wire in a conduit. Having two or three phase conductors in a conduit or cable assembly together cancels out some of the magnetic crap that causes heat. Same with having a phase conductor with its neutral conductor. This is why old knob and tube houses cannot be insulated the way a house with modern wiring can. The hots and neutrals are far apart and do not cancel each other out. In this case the byproduct is heat instead of noise, and in the case of knob and tube combined with insulation the heat can cause a fire. Either way, the cycles of alternating current cancel each other out.
Here's my counterpoint to the locking tuner bit: locking tuners aren't just about better tuning stability, they also make for quicker string changes. I'll also shill for D'Addario's Planet Waves locking auto-trim tuners, since not only do they lock and have an 18:1 ratio. But they are designed to cut the access string after you've locked and proceeded to twist the machine head.
Strat single coil is only noisy if you started out using humbuckers. If you started with single coils, humbuckers are just quiet.
i do not use locking tuners for tuning stability. I have a kid and a tiresome job and a million hobbies. taking 5 minutes to change strings vs 10-15 of normal tuners means 5-10 min extra playing time. that's pretty valuable to me.
edit: another thing. i have a local luthier who swears that shielding single coil guitars will make most him worse... why would he say that?
The reason the hum stops when you turn the guitar to be parallel to the ground is because that's the way the coils are wound: parallel to the ground. An electromagnetic wave induces a current in a wire that is perpendicular to the direction of travel of that electromagnetic wave. If the coil and the wave are parallel, no current is induced and the hum stops! :)
Thanks for info Colin 👍
I have a similar issue with the noise with my Squier Affinity Jazzmaster with tilting it sideways, only it has humbuckers instead of single coils. I do use a cheep behringer noise gate, which does do the job to a certain extent, but not as much as I'd like.
Nice one, Colin
This is why all my guitars have humbuckers installed. With single coils it is very difficult to do home recording, especially if you are controlling a DAW on your computer while doing guitar tracks as a single coil pickup will suck in the EM from my computer.
My strat (well, clone from Jaxville - the one with a lightning bolt on) has no middle pickup, an angled humbucker in the bridge, master tone, and a Gibson-style switch instead of a second tone for pickup selection. My brain scientists were certainly preoccupied.
i wanna chuck locking tuners in mine
When two pickups are used, the noise signal is picked up 180° out of phase, so they cancel each other.. but won't that phase difference cancel out the picked up guitar signal too?
No.
The phase of the signal is dependent on both the direction of winding and the magnetic polarity.
The phase of the EMI noise is only dependent on the direction of winding.
By reversing both the signal remains in phase with the other pickups, but the EMI noise is 180 out of phase.
@@ScienceofLoud thanks for explaining man
But is there a reason why the phase of the signal depends on both the direction of winding and magnetic polarity whereas the phase of EMI noise dependent only on the direction of the windings?
The signal generated in the pickup by the strings is a result of the steel core of the string perturbing the magnetic flux which induces an electric signal in the coil. Change either the magnetic polarity or the coil winding direction and you flip the phase of the resultant signal.
Inbound EMI interacts with the coil only. The oscillating electric field of the radiation forces charge carriers to move in the coil. Obviously the coil direction matters in this case. This process basically ignores the pickup's magnetic field.
@@ScienceofLoud o I see
For string vibrations, the signals are generated based on Faraday's laws of EMI and for external EM noise, the windings act just like an antennae, hence no phase reversal.
Thank you man for taking the time to explain this stuff 👍
You should switch to LED lights, or halogen lights. Those huge florescent lights give off lots of radiation! Most stores don't even sell them anymore
Great job!
Dude the visible light isn't the problem, it's just that when you turn on the light, the AC circuit of the high watt lamp gets closed and that is the source of the low frequency hum. You wouldn't be able to hear any hum from a microwave let alone visible light.
Nice shirt!! 👍👍
Cool channel man
Hello. great video as always. I was wondering if you can do a video explaining what is what makes a pedal having more gain than others? That would be great
Great info!
Colin, baby, you know I love you, but to suggest that "no compressor is noisy"... Well, it's clear that you have never played a cheap compressor. When I was a teenager and super poor, I purchased an all-plastic Ibanez bass compressor for my bass rig for about $20 USD. I used it for about five years and thought exactly what you said, so I tried my hardest to shield my bass, to use expensive Mogami cables that use gold in their construction, but nothing stopped the compressor noise until I purchased a $180 USD MXR M-87 Bass Compressor, which is utterly noiseless. Like, no noise whatsoever- doubtless helped by the fact that all my basses are shielded with copper and I use gold Mogami cables lol... SOME noise can come from cheap analog compressors. Some noise CAN come from there.
I fucking love that shirt.
Dirty pods are so annoying with strats. easy fix, but when you get em its just annoying.
Anything that requires the removal of the scratchplate is super frustrating. It's just tedious to take the whole thing apart to access the electronics.
I think the reason why people tend to modify strats more often than any other model is because it's extremely hard to fuck up in an unrecoverable way. You can easily add controls, pickups and electronics with almost no wood routing. Meaning at worst, you're just left with a damaged pick guard which is easily replaceable
That’s what I went thru and I turn off & even unplug my Walmart floor lamps ( cheap lamps 🤬 ) leaving off tv & unnecessary lights helps as well ... you don’t have to tin your Ax if you have a good ground in there. Noise gate rules!!!
Is the middle pickup being out of phase a standard strat thing, or is that something you set up? Awesome video BTW!
Depends on what model of Strat but it's not uncommon. The pickups I removed from this guitar also had a RWRP middle pickup.
Does Shielding Affect Tone ( particularly ) " Top-End Strat Chime " ? - Does any one know the correct answer? I Hear so many different answers and opinions on this topic ?
Of course not, shielding simply blocks outside radiation from interfering with the guitar signal. It's a cage entirely separate from your electronics connected to ground. It has no influence on your signal's tone other than preventing noise getting into it.
@@ScienceofLoud I am just tryin to Reduce / Minimize 60 Cycle Hum when I use an Overdrive, a Fuzz or Distortion. Thinking about a Decimator 2, Zuul, Janglebox or similar? The Strymon Zuma with the Evidence Audio SIS Plugs helped tremendously. Thanks for your reply.
I got the new origin effects stacked compressor now the hum is doing my head in. Looking at ways to combat it
I think you'd like fralin split blades Colin, I just picked up a partscaster with a set and they're pretty sweet.
You need to explain what a Faraday cage is in more detail :)
I had no idea ... :o