Humming with may SSL-3 - Help!

[man_in_a_blackbox]

Hi Everybody,
Scenario - I have a Strat with 2 x DimMarzio HS3 PUs at the neck and middle positions - a Stock fender at the bridge. A long time ago I removed the tone controls completely. I do not know if the volume pot is the original and it's label was soldered over long ago so I do not know what resistance it is - 250 or 500 perhaps? (it may even be a tone pot from another guitar...). Anyway it is important to note that ( before the job) the guitar worked great and there are no issues at all.
So, I added a SSL-3 in the bridge position and I was immedietly impressed with the power - it is louder than the Di-Marzio HS3s and brighter - However it hums when I go over 7 on the volume. When I move the guitar around then it varies - but only slightly - as soon as I switch to the HS3 PUs then everything is quiet - yes I have a high gain amp but this does not happen with my other guitar which is an ESP with Seymour Duncans. I also removed the shielding just to see if that was not working and then I got a massive amount of additional static so obviously the ground is ok. I even reversed the black & white cables but it made no difference.

I am wondering whether a) it has hum cancelling and it is normal? b) this is a incorrect volume pot which cannot handle the extra power or c) whether the PU is faulty.

Please help!

 

[Tony_H]

Re: Humming with may SSL-3 - Help!

Hi Everybody,
I am wondering whether a) it has hum cancelling and it is normal? b) this is a incorrect volume pot which cannot handle the extra power or c) whether the PU is faulty.

Please help!

Welcome to the forum!
Well, none of the above. The DiMarzio HS-3 pups are, as I believe, stacked coil designs that are hum-cancelling, whereas the SSL-3 is a true single coil pup, which does not cancel the hum. It is the nature of the beast - the pickup is not faulty.

If you really dig the tone, you could live with the hum.

Or you can get a Seymour Duncan Stack pickup that will not hum, but I believe it will sound differently from the SSL-3.

Hope this helps.
Tony

 

[man_in_a_blackbox]

Re: Humming with may SSL-3 - Help!

Hi Tony,

Thanks for the reply - it is a shame that the SSL-3 hums at very loud levels - I play loud rock music and it is quite noticable compared to the HS3 and the other Seymour Duncans in my ESP. Still, I will try and nail as much interference with new shielding and a new 250 volume pot.
Question1 - is there a resistor I could use on the volume pot which would not kill the power/sustain?
Question 2 - which 'power' Strat PU actually has hum cancelling? What would you recommend?

Regards brett

 

[Tony_H]

Re: Humming with may SSL-3 - Help!

Question1 - is there a resistor I could use on the volume pot which would not kill the power/sustain?
Question 2 - which 'power' Strat PU actually has hum cancelling? What would you recommend?

Regards brett

Question 1: see https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?t=27328
and also http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/potm.htm

Question 2: The hum-cancelling Strat pups I know of are:
1. Fender Noiseless - vintage tone without hum. I haven't tried any of those.
2. DiMarzio has several types - see their website; I only tried the Fast Track 1 that is not made anymore. A cool pickup, though not the most powerful one: I believe the SSL-3 is louder.
3 Seymour Duncan has several types of hum-cancelling Strat-style pups:
- Hot Rails: mid- and bass-heavy tone, good for distortion - actually sounds like a hot humbucker. I have tried the neck/mid version and to me it sounds best in a guitar that's naturally bright-sounding (alder body/maple neck; I have it in a mahogany/maple body, maple neck guitar and it sounds cool).

- Cool Rails: more open, slightly weaker output tone - somewhat like a vintage PAF-style humbucker. I have tried a neck/mid version again. It's brighter than the Hot Rails and can do clean tones better in my opinion.

- JB Junior: a Strat-sized pup intended to emulate the sound of the JB humbucker. Again, I tried the neck/mid version: bright and articulate, though not as treble-rich as true single coils. Could be a good pickup for you - Fender Japan made (or maybe still makes) the Iron Maiden Stratocaster with a Floyd Rose and the Hot Rails (neck + mid) and JB Jr (bridge) pickups - definitely a guitar for loud rock.

That's about all I can say from my own experience.

Hope this helps
Good luck!
Tony

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Humming with may SSL-3 - Help!

Hi Tony,

Thanks for the reply - it is a shame that the SSL-3 hums at very loud levels - I play loud rock music and it is quite noticable compared to the HS3 and the other Seymour Duncans in my ESP. Still, I will try and nail as much interference with new shielding and a new 250 volume pot.
Question1 - is there a resistor I could use on the volume pot which would not kill the power/sustain?
Question 2 - which 'power' Strat PU actually has hum cancelling? What would you recommend?

Regards brett

I would make sure that I also hadn't melted the wiper in the pot. Been there done that. :smack: My singles are vintage output but have a barely noticeable hum. I would use a meter and make sure all my grounds connected well. All that said if an hum is unacceptable then I'd go with the hot stack if I were you. It's the hum cancelling version of the hot. For Single sized buckers JBjr or the rails series are the way to go.

Luke

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Humming with may SSL-3 - Help!

Your SSL hums because it's a single coil. They all do that when you turn up the volume and/of gain.

For what you want, I'd go with the Virtual Vintage Solo. It doesn't sound like a humbucker or a strat pickup. It kind of falls in between a P-90 and a Strat pickup as far as tone goes. AS far as output is concerned, it keeps up very well with the Pearly Gates set in my LP. :burnout:

 

[Inge Malmstein]

Re: Humming with may SSL-3 - Help!

If you compare the HS-3 with the ssl3, you should not wonder about it's output.
The HS-3 is a low-output pickup, but many people think its a high-output, because its a famous pickup for using in heavier styles.
Its not a power-pickup, it just has a nice sound with a lot of gain.
If you want a hot single-Coil tone without hum, i would suggest the live wire hot.
They are the hottest and clearest pickups i ever heard!