What are the absolute best noiseless strat pickups?

[LReese]

Re: What are the absolute best noiseless strat pickups?

I'm still on the (insert your favorite Single Coil) and Ilitch product kick as the best no-noise solution. If you want a whole guitar, Suhr's current solution works just as well. Fishman's Fluence product is also great if you don't mind batteries.

That being said, I'm getting less bothered these days from the 60z noise from Strats. Then again, I'm not a gainiac. I also dislike noise gates ( sorry, they give the sound a weird feel IMO but of course YMMV)

[Diminished Triad]

Re: What are the absolute best noiseless strat pickups?

I agree Antiquity II pickups and some extra caution during build/install and "noise" is of no significance. In general I have seen that installation and set up play a serious role/factor in the reduction of "noise" from single coil pickups.

[DreX]

Re: What are the absolute best noiseless strat pickups?

I love the tone and feel of Duckbuckers or vintage rails, they are the only noiseless vintage single coil style pickups I have installed. Not single coilish, but have a sweet treble, silky mids with a nice, slightly compressed pick response.

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: What are the absolute best noiseless strat pickups?

I love my Wilde pickups....not just because they are very quiet, but it is the sound and usefulness that really makes me love them.
I can change the sound with the toneknobs, it is not just rolling off the topend anymore, they react well to volumeknob changes as well.
My amp reacts in a more tactile way.
Use Micro coils in my Ibanez s430, and L-500 C and L in my Ibanez R540, L-280's and a L-290 in the bridge of my CS Beck, have another old Ibanez lined up for my two L-90's, plus a L-280 in the middle.

[Zacker]

Re: What are the absolute best noiseless strat pickups?

Either shields, Hot Rails pickups or this:

[Evan Skopp]

Re: What are the absolute best noiseless strat pickups?

I love the tone and feel of Duckbuckers or vintage rails, they are the only noiseless vintage single coil style pickups I have installed.

I really like them too. But I think the Classic Stack Plus has them beat.

One pickup that doesn't get the respect it deserves is the LiveWires Classic II; probably because they're active. But they certainly get the tone--and no hum.

[Liquids]

Re: What are the absolute best noiseless strat pickups?

I've been happy with the Wilde Lawrence L-45s and the L-200 (L-290 in the bridge with that set).

As compared to regular single coils...well, which strat single coil variation are they supposed to be compared against?

There certainly isn't only "one" SC sound...however, while lines can blur, the difference between the strat SC sound and a full HB sound is very very distinct to me. Great sounds are not delegated to one of the other of course, but they're distinct.

I'm not a purist...I want a good tone. The Wilde pickups sound good and sound like SCs to my ears, and more than many other options do, from what I've listened to, etc. I work on my tone and playing the notes, from there...

I can understand that maybe these or other pickups just don't sound like what someone else has in their head as what they "should" sound like--good PAF style pickups often work that way for ME--but I like what I get with these, a lot.

Then again, some swear by this brand/model of SC and can't stand another that is even within the same ballpark... I might mention, I recently got an Ibanez Roadstar with 2 Ceramic SC's ~4.6k (and a Bridge HB I was using in split mod rather than HB mode). Tonally, that would have worked (minus inevitable hum, etc). I can make most SCs work. IMO...I use the tone control (and change the value as appropriate).

I myself simply cannot manage to play anything when my rig has that continuous awful hum even "behind" the notes--it distracts me so much, I don't even successfully focus on the music. Ideals about tone becomes moot at that point. The best SC tone in the world is useless to me as a player in that scenario. I might humbly say, more than I play guitar, more than I play a strat-style guitar(s), more than I play SC sounding pickups...I play music!

Thankfully, when I play the Wilde's, I don't mentally digress into there being something missing tonally or in their feel, so I can just play, sounds unmistakably like a Strat, and there isn't any dreadful hum going on. I suspect that sounds overly simplistic, or like I don't have ears, but I do...however, those pickups absolutely work for me.

[B2D]

Re: What are the absolute best noiseless strat pickups?

Has anyone mentioned the Lace Holy Grails yet? Those are fantastic.

[GuitarDoc]

Re: What are the absolute best noiseless strat pickups?

I have tried way too many noiseless pickups from different manufacturers (Including Fender, Seymour Duncan, Dimarzio, and Lollar pups) and also have used the Suhr BPSSC.

It breaks down to two noiseless pickups from different manufacturers ...

Zexcoils - Fat Series

Kinman - Big Nine O

Is there a particular reason that you used a type color that can't be read on the typical background color?!

[LReese]

Re: What are the absolute best noiseless strat pickups?

^I've been curious about that too. Do tell.

[IMENATOR]

Re: What are the absolute best noiseless strat pickups?

Whatever ones give me the tone I like, run through a Decimator G string noise gate, because that way I don't have to limit myself to "noiseless" pickups. I can get all the tone of whatever pickup I want to use, but without the buzz, and no change in tone that I can detect.

+1 here

[simonbaker]

Re: What are the absolute best noiseless strat pickups?

I've got HSS Kinmans in one guitar. Two 62s and an Extra Vintage HB. Really great pickups. They are technologically clever, and they do what they say.

I've got a Joe Barden tele neck pickup and a JB trembucker in my tele.

Now I'm looking for a noiseless middle Strat pickup to Nashville-ize the tele.

Looking at Dimarzio area 58 and Seymour STK-S4 as possibilities.

It would be great if there was a shootout of these and the Kinmans on the Web somewhere.

I'm quoting myself here, but I went with an Area58 for the middle.

I've wired it all with a Schaller Megaswitch, so I have three in between sounds, and not the middle on its own.

For my telecaster, the Area58 sounds fantastic. It works brilliantly with the JBE and the TB-4.

I'd say that it sounds as good as the Kinmans in this context, and they all sit happily with a 250k volume pot as well.