Anyone Use Noiseless Pickups

[Maximus Decimus Meridius]

I've always played humbucker equipped guitars but the other guitarist in the band I'm in uses a single coil guitar and is always fighting the 60 cycle hum or whatever it is.

Are noiseless pickups the answer and if so any recommendations?

 

[Rocco Crocco]

I have Fender Noiseless Gen 4 pickups in a Schecter Strat. The noise from single coils in my house is crazy, so I took a chance on these pickups and I really like them. I'm also eyeballing a noiseless P90 for my SG. Its such a great guitar but the noise just wrecks any joy from playing it.

 

[crazytrain513]

I have a Jackson Adrian Smith with the Fender Samarium Cobalt Noiseless pickups in the middle and neck position and I really like them.

I think a lot of purists will tell you they neuter the tone of a true, wide-open single coil but to me, I like the way they sound and even under high gain, they might even be a bit quieter than the DiMarzio Super Distortion I have in the bridge.

Clean, they are spanky and shimmery enough for my purposes (I mostly play a volume-rolled-down-on-a-dirty-amp clean).

 

[JohnnyN]

The only experience I have with Fender Noiseless pickups, is from the Tele Player Plus i bought late last year.
I was surprised how similar they sound to true single coils. I don't know, but the coils may offset quite a bit, to obtain that sound.
I'm happy with them in that guitar.

 

[SWeAT hOg]

Strike up the band. No more 60 cycle hum to be heard.

 

[Brek]

I also have a player plus strat and am happy with the noiseless pickups in it. they actually have less background mains type interference than my humbuckers do. I have a standard player tele, which is the same for background/mains junk, but that has custom shop pickups in it. No idea if they are songle coil or humbucker types

 

[mudface]

I have a Fender Custom Shop Beck Strat..... it has Ceramic high output Noiseless pickups.... with the volume turned to 10 they are very PAF like.... volume rolled off very Strat like. They are a special wind for Jeff Beck and are the very same Fender uses on Beck personal guitars. Checking out Becks tone when he uses a Fender Custom Shop guitar,... that exactly what mine sounds like.... very articulate to very nasty and fat. Though it may not be for everyone.

 

[cooljuk]

I'd much rather have hum than comb filtering / phase cancellation.



If you're the kind of guy who can't hear the music through the hum, and you want to get that hum out of your head, start listening to the snare wires buzz when the bass plays. That'll re-direct your perfectionism appropriately and a little guitar hum will seem silly.

 

[Rocco Crocco]

Gear Page thread on the same topic.

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/noiseless-pickups-reviews.2347793/

 

[AJK1]

Clapton has used them for years and he seems to have a nice tone with them

 

[mudface]

I'd much rather have hum than comb filtering / phase cancellation.



If you're the kind of guy who can't hear the music through the hum, and you want to get that hum out of your head, start listening to the snare wires buzz when the bass plays. That'll re-direct your perfectionism appropriately and a little guitar hum will seem silly.

Your absolutely right,... during a live performance there is so much noise going on.... cab rattles,... bass drum pedals.... squeaks.... snare buzz.... a little guitar buzz just adds to the atmosphere.

But I can’t stand the noise when recording. There are plenty of tools and methods to reduce it,.. though it does get a little psychological.

 

[cybermgk]

I have a Fender Deluxe Roadhouse Strat with Vintage Noiseless Strat. I like them enough

 

[bluesoul]

When I play a strat or tele I always quicly zero the volume inbetween songs. It’s like I am the noise gate! I have been doing it so long It is automatic without thinking.

 

[eddie_bowers]

I have Fender Noiseless Gen 4 pickups in a Schecter Strat. The noise from single coils in my house is crazy, so I took a chance on these pickups and I really like them. I'm also eyeballing a noiseless P90 for my SG. Its such a great guitar but the noise just wrecks any joy from playing it.

Go for the Kinman p90 noiseless. They are absolutely fantastic. Sound like the real deal to me and I can add compression or gain without hum.

 

[eddie_bowers]

I have the Kinman P90 noiseless which are stellar. In my strat I have the Dimarzio “Area” pickups and I really like them. Maybe not quite as good as Kinman but damn good.

That strat is on loan right now to a friend who hosts jams. He knows nothing about what pickups are in it or other little mods I’ve done, but tells me people rave about my strat.

 

[rich85]

The Fender Ultra and Gen 4 pickups are really good.

I view noiseless pickups as a tool. If you are fighting noise, screw your vintage accurate tone that nobody cares about and just use some damn noiseless pickups.

I do think the older ones definitely changed the tone from a normal single coil a fair amount. They lacked some chime that’s for sure. But the Ultra and Gen 4 ones don’t at all in my opinion. The Player Noiseless seem to be the Gen 4 I think?

 

[edro]

I've a 2009 Amer Dlx SCN S-1 and a 2019 Ultra w/ Ultra Noiseless S-1 Texas Tea......

Love both..... Love my other Strats too, especially my first run Hwy 1.... I can deal with the touch of noise from it...

 

[Les Paulverizer]

I have this Strat that I've been using quite a lot recently, more suitable to some of the work i've been getting lately than other guitars, and it's a killer.
The outer pickups are DiMarzio, a Chopper at the bridge and a Fast Track 1 in the neck position and in spite of what some cork sniffers think they sound absolutely fine, they're humbuckers but totally "single coil" sounding and with the added split coil option, which lowers the volume ever so slightly and adds a little more treble.
Highly recommended.

 

[AJK1]

I gigged in a 90’s cover band for 3 years with a Strat I had with basically the same pickup setup as yours and it was killer, so versatile, so many different sounds
The Dimarzio pickups are great

 

[RetropM]

I'm one of those crazy people who still have EMGs (single coils) in my Strat and Tele to this day and they certainly sound like a Strat and a Tele to me. No, they don't sound the same as traditional single coils, but I like them.