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Dummy coil for noise reduction

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  • Dummy coil for noise reduction

    I heard Scott Henderson describing their noiseless setup on his Suhr guitars, involving a dummy coil with no magnet. After a little research, I found that it simply gets wired in series between the switch and volume pot.

    I tried an old ceramic bar single junker, and holy crap... it’s almost humbucking quiet. I’m using a 500k volume pot, so the slight treble loss isn’t that noticeable. Why is this not more popular?
    “I can play the hell out of a riff. The rest of it’s all bulls**t anyway,” Gary Holt

  • #2
    Re: Dummy coil for noise reduction

    It's not popular because it doesn't modify only the treble content: it tends to change the output level and dynamics.

    Now, if the dummy coil has the "proper" specs, it can do the job in a better way than expected. It just requires a careful choice... and/or a bit of luck. :-)

    For the record, while several of my own guitars include "advanced" noiseless systems, I've also mounted two of them with "crude" dummy coils.
    I've left one (a Strat) as it is because it works.
    In the other (Hamer with P90's), I had to mount a LR network in parallel with the noise cancelling coil because the specs and sound of the PU's were too obviously altered... The parallel LR network has brought back the clarity but diminishes the output even more so I've not really a guitar with "noiseless P90's": it has a noisy P90 tone and a humbucking sound which is different (clearer, less powerful, somehow reminiscent of weak mini humbuckers).

    Glad to know that it works for you, anyway. Enjoy!
    Last edited by freefrog; 12-09-2019, 12:22 AM.
    Duncan user since the 80's...

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    • #3
      Re: Dummy coil for noise reduction

      Interesting.

      I spent the day ripping the guitar apart, trying things, putting it back together, ripping it back apart, etc... plus I hadn’t spent tons of time with it in the first place. Regardless, the end result is all pickup positions sound very good, the noise is practically nonexistent, and I’m happy with it. It’s very possible it has more output, but the stars lined up and I probably lucked out.

      In the future, I’ll probably add a switch to cut the dummy coil so I can better see what it’s doing.
      “I can play the hell out of a riff. The rest of it’s all bulls**t anyway,” Gary Holt

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      • #4
        Re: Dummy coil for noise reduction

        Dummy coils aren't that popular because you need a super-switch to make it work in all positions and because the coil takes up room in the guitar. It also makes upgrading the pickups a bit more difficult. http://www.frettech.com/frettech/dummy/index.html

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        • #5
          Re: Dummy coil for noise reduction

          That's the site I got the diagram from. Another way I lucked out is all my pickups are wound the same way, so no super switch required. However, I want to add the super switch to get tone bypass in 2 & 4.

          If you're like me, and you're not after a particular Strat sound, but just want 3 singles to sound good, it's definitely a cool option. I also think 2 & 4 sound better with a non-rwrp middle, or at least this combo does. It seems like there's way less signal loss.
          Last edited by JB_From_Hell; 12-09-2019, 07:16 AM.
          “I can play the hell out of a riff. The rest of it’s all bulls**t anyway,” Gary Holt

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          • #6
            Re: Dummy coil for noise reduction

            Ilitch plates sure get good reviews...

            Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk
            What's so Funny about Peace Love and Understanding?

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            • #7
              Re: Dummy coil for noise reduction

              Cool!
              The things that you wanted
              I bought them for you

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              • #8
                Re: Dummy coil for noise reduction

                The Music Man Albert Lee and Silhouette Special use an active dummy coil that works very well- it is dead silent. This is a pic of the coil:

                Click image for larger version

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                Administrator of the SDUGF

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                • #9
                  Re: Dummy coil for noise reduction

                  Originally posted by zionstrat View Post
                  Ilitch plates sure get good reviews...
                  IMHO, the Ilitch solution is elegant and clever: it's impossible to find lower LRC values than in such a wide air coil so, it has a minimal effect on the tone.

                  ... but IME the noise reduction is 1) not total, 2) highly directional and 3) not so adapted to P90's (having compared these things in a test guitar routed for that, I prefer a Kinman P90Hx modified to my liking compared to a real P90 + Ilitch coil: the air coil for P90's has logically to be thicker and it affects the sound noticeably... to be less annoying, it would require a perimeter covering at least the whole periphery of the guitar).

                  For those who would want to mimic the MusicMan active noise cancelling circuit: it's a dummy coil + a buffer. See the schematic generously shared by Mike Sulzer here:




                  FWIW. :-)
                  Duncan user since the 80's...

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                  • #10
                    Re: Dummy coil for noise reduction

                    ^ I like how hum sized P90s are silent since the coil is entirely surrounded by grounded metal. Cover, baseplate, and poles.
                    The things that you wanted
                    I bought them for you

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                    • #11
                      Re: Dummy coil for noise reduction

                      Originally posted by Clint 55 View Post
                      Cool!
                      You should get a stupid hot single coil like an SSL-5 and try it. I know you're not into singles, but it'd make a killer one-pickup Strat setup.
                      “I can play the hell out of a riff. The rest of it’s all bulls**t anyway,” Gary Holt

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                      • #12
                        Re: Dummy coil for noise reduction

                        I wired up a pickguard today with a dummy coil it has a SSL-5 bridge, Fender Custom Shop Pure 54 middle, and SSL-2 neck. The dummy coil is about 7.2K. I wired the dummy coil to a on/off/on phase switch so I can use it in 3 of the 5 positions and still have a reverse-wound middle pickup for positions 2/4. I just need a 5-way switch to complete the pickguard but I don't have a guitar for it yet. I'm hoping the off position will work correctly to take it out of the circuit and that 7.5K will be enough to silence the SSL5.

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