Hum-Free Single Coil Options 2017

I spent several hours listening to u tube videos of comparisons of Fender single coils regular and custom shop v. several noiseless 'single coils', and in every case but one the bright chime at the very top was missing, except the active noiseless Fishman Fluence strat/tele pickup sets.

Since i get my latest single coil guitar (2016 American Standard Tele with custom shop pickups) to cover the low gain and clean amp tones, i decided i would not get 'noiseless' as they just didn't sound the same as a 'real' Tele picku-ps.

But as the gain goes up, i find the ultra bright tone is not nessesary, and somewhat counter productive to a rich powerful higher gain tone, so for high gain using Tele or Strat, the less bright 'noiseless' pickup versions probably sound better.
 
Robboman said:
What's the latest favorite? I know there are other forums to search, but this one has lots of experienced gearheads.

Been reading about Fishman Fluence (Greg Koch Gristle Tone, et al). What about Zexcoil? Seems their new version is coming soon: https://lawingmusicalproducts.com/dr-lawings-blog/?p

I have Kinmans in two Strats I've been quite happy with for a long time, but I still feel like they are missing just the last little tiny bit of tonal mojo. Partly because of the Suhr S I used to have, it came with the routed-in Suhr SSC system and was pretty much dead quiet and sounded great! But I sold that guitar for other reasons.

Thing is, having used a few different Noiseless setups, I find I simply can't stand regular noisy single coil hum any more. I've lost any tolerance I used to have for that. I recently picked up a Tele with Lollars and it sounds great, but only if I hold the guitar at 90 degrees sweet spot away from my amp, otherwise it's BZZZZZZZZZZ. I tried copper shielding the pickup cavity but it barely made any difference.
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Kinmans........ Have blues sets in two strats, one SSS and the other HSS.
 
Hum is part of the charm.... "there's something missing from these noiseless pickups....." hmmm... wonder what it could be.
 
I have Lollars in my Nash and like them but do not like the hum at all. I've been looking at pickups for quite awhile. Fishman and Kinmans have been on my radar. Someone recently pointed me to Bill Lawrence Pickups? Supposedly very similar to kinmans? http://www.wildepickups.com/
Swears by them and they are cheaper.
 
Keg8605 said:
Someone recently pointed me to Bill Lawrence Pickups? Supposedly very similar to kinmans? http://www.wildepickups.com/
Swears by them and they are cheaper.
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Wow, they are WAY cheaper! I've known of Bill Lawrence pickups since... forever, but I've never had any myself, and I would have assumed they cost a lot more.

Hard to believe there's any similarity to Kinmans though, just looking at them. The NF (noise free) looks like a simple stacked humbucker. I think the twin blades also sound closer to HBs than SCs, don't they? I'm sure these are nice pickups (especially at these low prices) but I have doubts that they'll do authentic Strat or Tele single coil tones.
 
Robboman said:
Wow, they are WAY cheaper! I've known of Bill Lawrence pickups since... forever, but I've never had any myself, and I would have assumed they cost a lot more.

Hard to believe there's any similarity to Kinmans though, just looking at them. The NF (noise free) looks like a simple stacked humbucker. I think the twin blades also sound closer to HBs than SCs, don't they? I'm sure these are nice pickups (especially at these low prices) but I have doubts that they'll do authentic Strat or Tele single coil tones.
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That's kind of the gist I was getting too. Other than the suggestion from some local strat guys that's the most I've heard of them. Still might have to give them a whirl.
 
Anyone have experience with http://www.ilitchelectronics.com/? They still sell Strat backplates just like the former Suhr product, but more intriguing is the Strat and Tele pickguards with noise cancelling coil built in. Hmmm. Would this de-noise my current Lollars?

From another thing I read, part of the reason for SSCII is that it was made in-house at Suhr so they don't have to pay a 3rd party like they did for SSC. Maybe the 3rd party was these guys. (EDIT) Confirmed on http://www.ilitchelectronics.com/company/

In 2005 Ilitch patented his hum canceling technology for electric guitar single coil pickups and licensed it to Suhr Guitars(JST). In 2011 both companies went their separate ways and ILITCH ELECTRONICS expanded his line of Hum canceling products for single coil guitar pickups to cover the most popular guitar models and single coil pickup combinations.
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Robboman said:
Anyone have experience with http://www.ilitchelectronics.com/? They still sell Strat backplates just like the former Suhr product, but more intriguing is the Strat and Tele pickguards with noise cancelling coil built in. Hmmm. Would this de-noise my current Lollars?

From another thing I read, part of the reason for SSCII is that it was made in-house at Suhr so they don't have to pay a 3rd party like they did for SSC. Maybe the 3rd party was these guys. (EDIT) Confirmed on http://www.ilitchelectronics.com/company/
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I have both SSC and SSCII and they are both awesome. As you found the original SSC was created by ilitch. The ilitch is prob the way to go for after market. Music Man guitars have a nice system in them that they don't sell to the public.
 
I can't speak to the actual Fishman single coils, but I have the Devin Townsend set where the alternate voice is a Telecaster-type sound. I think they sound fantastic and they're very quiet. Recharging isn't really an issue for me since my battery has lasted for the advertised 100 hours without recharging. It beats replacing 9 volt batteries!

I was toying with the idea of getting a MIM Strat and hot rodding it with some upgrades including the Fishman set, but I'm in a good place right now with my guitars so that's not really at the top of my list.
 
Stratoblaster said:
Can anyone tell me if Kinman pickups reduce/eliminate RF noise?
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Yes. I have a HSS and SSS Strats with Kinmans and in my experience, they work as advertised. Of course, being an Australian, I had to say that about my fellow countryman's products. :D In all seriousness, they are very quiet. That being said, from the Kinman site,
"
26) I've fitted Kinman Hx-Pickups but I still get some hum when I let go of the strings, what gives?

Kinman AVn-Pickups have Zero-Hum BUT you have to remember that pickups are not the only thing that collect noise and hum. Every exposed electrical contact (switches, pots and output socket) and the wiring itself contribute to noise. This is the reason that shielding in the wiring cavities is necessary for the ultimate noiseless guitar. When you are in contact with the strings (which are grounded) you become a (human) shield and noise is kept out of the system. However, when you let go of the strings noise can once again enter the guitar. For more info about this subject read the section on shielding on the Perfect Guitar page of the Tone Workshop. "
 
I have a Suhr Classic with ML pickups and the SSC system. There is a touch of hum under rows of par cans, but that guitar is a tone monster and I will gladly put up with the little bit of hum. The Suhr just sings. I have Lollars on my signature guitar (disclaimer: I am an endorser for WG Bristol Guitars). The Lollars have great tone, but more hum.
 
geriatric said:
Yes. I have a HSS and SSS Strats with Kinmans and in my experience, they work as advertised
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Thanks for the info. I was curious since the site talks a lot about their pickups reducing hum and not a lot about RF noise.

I have Evans noiseless pickups in my '76 Strat which are completely free of RF noise and hum, and am looking for something similar. Too bad they don't make them anymore.

Nice props for your fellow Australian!!
 
I've been wanting the Fluence set for my Strat, but just haven't pulled the trigger on them. I have regular SC Duncans in my homebuilt parts-Tele, though, and they're pretty quiet. I grounded the outer end of the coil, and used the beginning of the coil as my signal. Helps to cut out a lot of 60hz hum, since the outside winds of the coil are now doubling as shielding.
 
faulknier said:
I've been wanting the Fluence set for my Strat, but just haven't pulled the trigger on them. I have regular SC Duncans in my homebuilt parts-Tele, though, and they're pretty quiet. I grounded the outer end of the coil, and used the beginning of the coil as my signal. Helps to cut out a lot of 60hz hum, since the outside winds of the coil are now doubling as shielding.
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Do it. do it now.....the Fluence Strat set is amazing, IMHO....got it on a SqUier Strat and was transformed..Im about to convert my Suhr modern satin with 2 singles and the Classic humbucker .
 
bradlake said:
Do it. do it now.....the Fluence Strat set is amazing, IMHO....got it on a SqUier Strat and was transformed..Im about to convert my Suhr modern satin with 2 singles and the Classic humbucker .
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All the demo videos I've seen of them sound good, and from an electronics nerd's perspective, I'm really intrigued by the whole printed coil concept. But that Strat needs a lot of setup work done (going from .13s in a baritone tuning back to .10s in standard, and the frets could use a little bit of a leveling job), and I'm kinda lazy sometimes, so I haven't ordered the pups yet. One of these days, I'll get around to it, and it'll be like a brand new guitar again.
 
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