Will a high wound single coil pickup hum more than a low wound single coil pickup ?
- Thread starter JB6464
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Re: Will a high wound single coil pickup hum more than a low wound single coil pickup
the qp does seem to have a touch more hum than other pups but that might be due to the magnets? i dont notice the ssl3 having more hum than a ssl1 on stage but in a studio, you might
the qp does seem to have a touch more hum than other pups but that might be due to the magnets? i dont notice the ssl3 having more hum than a ssl1 on stage but in a studio, you might
eclecticsynergy
Well-known member
Re: Will a high wound single coil pickup hum more than a low wound single coil pickup
Yep, more output translates to more hum.
QP is a great pickup though!
Yep, more output translates to more hum.
QP is a great pickup though!
SweetClyde99
Active member
Re: Will a high wound single coil pickup hum more than a low wound single coil pickup
Just to clarify, is everyone saying the increased hum is only due to the increased output, with the signal to noise ratio staying pretty much the same as a lower output single coil, or that the higher output single coil will actually increase the signal to noise ratio compared to a lower output single coil as well? I’m assuming the former but wanted to make sure.
Just to clarify, is everyone saying the increased hum is only due to the increased output, with the signal to noise ratio staying pretty much the same as a lower output single coil, or that the higher output single coil will actually increase the signal to noise ratio compared to a lower output single coil as well? I’m assuming the former but wanted to make sure.
thefsb
New member
Re: Will a high wound single coil pickup hum more than a low wound single coil pickup
If the signal to hum ratio is the same (of Quarter Pound and Antiquity, for example) then the *practical* difference is likely nil, since one way or another you'll adjust levels to whatever is needed. Isn't it?
If the signal to hum ratio is the same (of Quarter Pound and Antiquity, for example) then the *practical* difference is likely nil, since one way or another you'll adjust levels to whatever is needed. Isn't it?
Re: Will a high wound single coil pickup hum more than a low wound single coil pickup
In theory, the hotter the coil, the more noise it could inject, BUT...... it depends on a several factors. A very dark sounding pickup with a lower resonant peak will probably have less apparent hum than a coil that has fewer winds and a higher resonant peak. This is simply because the annoying part of the hum that you hear is reduced due to the natural HF roll-off of the coils design. I think most of the issues of noise is bad shielding, less than stellar cables, and using too much gain. I feel that I use a lot of gain, but with the three different single-coil guitars I have, I barely notice any buzz or hum at all if any when I stop playing. I have one guitar with the Jerry Donahue Tele pickups in it, which are pretty hot and they are as quiet as can be until you start going beyond modest amounts of gain. To give you an idea, one of my amps is a Peavey Triple XXX, and I have little or no issue with that at all with hum and buzz from my single coils.
I find the trick is to twist the pickup coils leads and make them as short as practical. Next is to of course have decent shielding on the pickguard. I don't like using the back of the pots as a ground connection either. The base of the pot is electrically connected to the back of the pot and I find that the fewer ground connections you can make the better. So pick one spot to make all the needed grounds converge at. I don't like having unused coils left closed either. For those that coil tap, depending on how it's done, some coils are shunted to ground in order to turn them off, this is what I don't like. When you shunt the coils to ground you create a closed-loop inductor. This activates the coil and it can ( not saying it will ) have an effect on the strings and the surrounding circuits as it is trying to induce EMF or some form of electromotive energy. I prefer leaving coils open so that they have no inductance and therefore no effect on the strings or surrounding circuitry. Most switches leave the unused coils open, but some switching schemes such as those on a super switch will simply shunt to ground in order to turn things off.
So if the back of the pickguard is shielded so that all components touch the shielding, then the ground created at any one point will also encapsulate the pots and the pickups while reducing the number of ground loops that can exist. Remember that the shortest path to ground is how electricity wants to flow, so if you have 5 different ways to travel to ground, you have that many different loops that can affect things. This sounds very much like Audiophool kind crap, but this much of wiring a guitar as best as I can tell is true. As an example I typically use the side of the pickup selector switch as the ground point for my guitars. This makes the switch the path for the ground to go from all electronics and the pickguard shielding. It will all converge at that single point. The leads on the pot are NOT connected to the base of the pot, so if you run a ground lead to the ground point on the switch, there is only one path to ground from that pot, the shielding simply encapsulates the pot and the point where that grounding takes place is the same as all others.
This should also help reduce noise and hum as the whole circuit of the guitar will be ONE circuit as opposed to several different circuits coming together as one. Having only one ground plane should also reduce capacitance and ground loop based inductance. Twisting all wires that run together should also reduce or at least help in reducing noise and created electromagnetic fields. This means that each pickup should have its wires twisted together, the wires from the output jack should be twisted together and any other wires that are designed to work as an electrical pair should be twisted together. For a guitar this really just means each pickup, and the output jack. The tone pot gets a pass because trying to twist the ground and the lead to the volume pot is too short to even consider twisting them. If you have a switch that is separated from the main circuitry like a Deluxe Telecaster or Les Paul, the wires to the switch should be all be twisted together. Since only half of the wires will be active at any one time and the other side will leave the coil it's connected to open, you will still have noise reducing benefits.
If you open your guitar up and there are just wires all over the place and there is miles of wire that doesn't need to be there, it is just that much more wire to act as an antenna. The cleaner, simpler, and shorter you can make the wiring, the better. After you get that sorted, then at least the buzz and hum you do hear is then a result of environmental issues. Fluorescent light ballasts, dimmer packs ( for stage lighting ), large wall warts, or other large machinery with noisy power supplies and lots of inductance ( motors, or other electromagnetic devices ) will then be the major cause of your buzz. One thing that I see happen a lot ( I am a sound engineer so I deal with a LOT of bands ) is using speaker cable as an instrument cable...... Not saying this is you, but saying that I have seen it more times than I would have liked to have counted. The quality of your cable does make a difference. I do not believe you need to go out and buy a $100 cable, but a $10 one may not work so well all the time. My best cables are 20+ year old Livewires that I got from Sam Goody's and were $14 at the time for a 20' cable! I have a $40 " studio-grade " cable that sounds like ****, and buzzes to boot..... So cost is not always the major factor.
Anyway, I hope this helps and that you have a clean and clear, buzz free guitar!!!
In theory, the hotter the coil, the more noise it could inject, BUT...... it depends on a several factors. A very dark sounding pickup with a lower resonant peak will probably have less apparent hum than a coil that has fewer winds and a higher resonant peak. This is simply because the annoying part of the hum that you hear is reduced due to the natural HF roll-off of the coils design. I think most of the issues of noise is bad shielding, less than stellar cables, and using too much gain. I feel that I use a lot of gain, but with the three different single-coil guitars I have, I barely notice any buzz or hum at all if any when I stop playing. I have one guitar with the Jerry Donahue Tele pickups in it, which are pretty hot and they are as quiet as can be until you start going beyond modest amounts of gain. To give you an idea, one of my amps is a Peavey Triple XXX, and I have little or no issue with that at all with hum and buzz from my single coils.
I find the trick is to twist the pickup coils leads and make them as short as practical. Next is to of course have decent shielding on the pickguard. I don't like using the back of the pots as a ground connection either. The base of the pot is electrically connected to the back of the pot and I find that the fewer ground connections you can make the better. So pick one spot to make all the needed grounds converge at. I don't like having unused coils left closed either. For those that coil tap, depending on how it's done, some coils are shunted to ground in order to turn them off, this is what I don't like. When you shunt the coils to ground you create a closed-loop inductor. This activates the coil and it can ( not saying it will ) have an effect on the strings and the surrounding circuits as it is trying to induce EMF or some form of electromotive energy. I prefer leaving coils open so that they have no inductance and therefore no effect on the strings or surrounding circuitry. Most switches leave the unused coils open, but some switching schemes such as those on a super switch will simply shunt to ground in order to turn things off.
So if the back of the pickguard is shielded so that all components touch the shielding, then the ground created at any one point will also encapsulate the pots and the pickups while reducing the number of ground loops that can exist. Remember that the shortest path to ground is how electricity wants to flow, so if you have 5 different ways to travel to ground, you have that many different loops that can affect things. This sounds very much like Audiophool kind crap, but this much of wiring a guitar as best as I can tell is true. As an example I typically use the side of the pickup selector switch as the ground point for my guitars. This makes the switch the path for the ground to go from all electronics and the pickguard shielding. It will all converge at that single point. The leads on the pot are NOT connected to the base of the pot, so if you run a ground lead to the ground point on the switch, there is only one path to ground from that pot, the shielding simply encapsulates the pot and the point where that grounding takes place is the same as all others.
This should also help reduce noise and hum as the whole circuit of the guitar will be ONE circuit as opposed to several different circuits coming together as one. Having only one ground plane should also reduce capacitance and ground loop based inductance. Twisting all wires that run together should also reduce or at least help in reducing noise and created electromagnetic fields. This means that each pickup should have its wires twisted together, the wires from the output jack should be twisted together and any other wires that are designed to work as an electrical pair should be twisted together. For a guitar this really just means each pickup, and the output jack. The tone pot gets a pass because trying to twist the ground and the lead to the volume pot is too short to even consider twisting them. If you have a switch that is separated from the main circuitry like a Deluxe Telecaster or Les Paul, the wires to the switch should be all be twisted together. Since only half of the wires will be active at any one time and the other side will leave the coil it's connected to open, you will still have noise reducing benefits.
If you open your guitar up and there are just wires all over the place and there is miles of wire that doesn't need to be there, it is just that much more wire to act as an antenna. The cleaner, simpler, and shorter you can make the wiring, the better. After you get that sorted, then at least the buzz and hum you do hear is then a result of environmental issues. Fluorescent light ballasts, dimmer packs ( for stage lighting ), large wall warts, or other large machinery with noisy power supplies and lots of inductance ( motors, or other electromagnetic devices ) will then be the major cause of your buzz. One thing that I see happen a lot ( I am a sound engineer so I deal with a LOT of bands ) is using speaker cable as an instrument cable...... Not saying this is you, but saying that I have seen it more times than I would have liked to have counted. The quality of your cable does make a difference. I do not believe you need to go out and buy a $100 cable, but a $10 one may not work so well all the time. My best cables are 20+ year old Livewires that I got from Sam Goody's and were $14 at the time for a 20' cable! I have a $40 " studio-grade " cable that sounds like ****, and buzzes to boot..... So cost is not always the major factor.
Anyway, I hope this helps and that you have a clean and clear, buzz free guitar!!!
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