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Single Coil Hum

Collin Bass

Collin Bass

Aug 8, 2015
251
645
46
Welland, Ontario
#1
Ok, so I'm sure this topic has been covered 1000x over. But I'm lazy and maybe there are recent products since released that I will learn about.

I have a MIJ '54 Precision reissue with a Basslines (Seymour Duncan) Quarter Pounders and the clarity is fantastic, even with flatwounds, but they're so noisy almost no matter where I play.

Just wondering what is my best route for fixing this. I know power conditioners and noise gates MAY help, probably shielding would be best if I want to keep the existing pickup. I'm not opposed to throwing a new pickup in there either, but am afraid to lose everything I like about the single coil if I find a hum canceling pup to replace it with.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Solutions?
 
#7
Collin Bass said:
Did it still SOUND like a single coil at all?
Click to expand...

I've installed several stacked/split 'single coils' , none of them sounded as lively as a standard 51 single.

There's also the small matter that nobody makes a split/stacked QP, magnets in the Duncan 51 stack are smaller which does mean a difference. Your Duncan SCPB-3 (QP) is quite high output, good chance that higher output is increasing your hum awareness.

Sadly YT videos, sound clips etc are pretty much useless as the only true test is you buy and fit a stacked/split in YOUR bass then hear how it performs through YOUR rig and in enviroments YOU frequent.

I'd suggest shielding to see how you get on, shielding won't get rid of hum but it will remove other forms of interference, never a bad thing :thumbsup:
 
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#9
There's a myth that hum cancelling pickups don't sound as good as single coils. There is no absolute truth to this - yes, there are some hum cancellers that don't sound good, but there are also single coils that don't sound good. Good pickups are good pickups, and can be made either way, if the person designing the pickups knows what they're doing.

One of the tough things about this is doing a controlled listening test. People that believe that single coils sound better will, when they hear a pickup that's humming, naturally rate that as better - it's confirmation bias.

All that said, if you have magnetically induced hum, no amount of electrostatic shielding will fix it. Electrostatic hum and RF interference will yield to shielding, but there are 2 different mechanisms that put noise into a pickup, and to be truly silent, a pickup has to address both.
 
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#10
micguy said:
People that believe that single coils sound better will, when they hear a pickup that's humming, naturally rate that as better - it's confirmation bias.
Click to expand...
Do you think a similar 'confirmation bias' could also also affect the "stacked/split coil" crowd or are they somehow immune ?

A bit OT as the OP is asking do stacked/split coils sound the 'same' as single coils, not do they sound better.
 
#11
No one around here seems to believe it but I found that a thick metal plate (like an aluminum pickguard) mounted around a single coil pickups significantly reduces a certain type of single coil noise. It doesn't even need to be grounded. This won't help with hum but if you are getting an orientation sensitive static type of noise, in my experience, at can be significantly reduced with a plate. Has to be a conductor. I have used aluminum and copper and they both have the same effect. I went through 5 single coil basses before I finally figured out how to kill this static.
 
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#12
Collin Bass said:
Ok, so I'm sure this topic has been covered 1000x over. But I'm lazy and maybe there are recent products since released that I will learn about.

I have a MIJ '54 Precision reissue with a Basslines (Seymour Duncan) Quarter Pounders and the clarity is fantastic, even with flatwounds, but they're so noisy almost no matter where I play.

Just wondering what is my best route for fixing this. I know power conditioners and noise gates MAY help, probably shielding would be best if I want to keep the existing pickup. I'm not opposed to throwing a new pickup in there either, but am afraid to lose everything I like about the single coil if I find a hum canceling pup to replace it with.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Solutions?
Click to expand...
My new pickup guru is @Matt Kustom. Tell him what you want (a pickup that sounds like SD Quarter Pounder for a '54 P reissue, but without any hum), and let him tell you what he can do.
 
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#13
micguy said:
There's a myth that hum cancelling pickups don't sound as good as single coils. There is no absolute truth to this - yes, there are some hum cancellers that don't sound good, but there are also single coils that don't sound good. Good pickups are good pickups, and can be made either way, if the person designing the pickups knows what they're doing.

One of the tough things about this is doing a controlled listening test. People that believe that single coils sound better will, when they hear a pickup that's humming, naturally rate that as better - it's confirmation bias.

All that said, if you have magnetically induced hum, no amount of electrostatic shielding will fix it. Electrostatic hum and RF interference will yield to shielding, but there are 2 different mechanisms that put noise into a pickup, and to be truly silent, a pickup has to address both.
Click to expand...


So how do I know which hum/hiss I am getting. The noise changes in sound and volume as I told the bass and or walk around the room...

I know there are good and bad PUPS whether single coil or humbucking. I love the Aguilar PJ pups in my other bass. But they are definitely meatier than my basslines pups. And when I'm playing my pups don't sound bad either, they sound great and they do have that extra clarity, but that damned hissing is getting on my nerves and is picked up majorly whenever I use my dirt pedals.
 
#15
kodiakblair said:
Do you think a similar 'confirmation bias' could also also affect the "stacked/split coil" crowd or are they somehow immune ?
Click to expand...

If you’re human, you’re subject to confirmation bias. Listening to a single coil, though, I know I hate the sound, but it’s because I can’t stand hum. With a hum canceller, I can hear the sound of the pickup (the hum isn’t in the way) and some I like, some I don’t.
 
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#16
Haven’t played the Duncan stack, but overall I find splits get the closest to single coil sound.

there is another solution often not used, which are the large area low turn dummy/air coils. Ilitch makes these “systems”, tho they’re not cheap: HOME
Maybe he can make one for your pickguard…

or I’ve seen posts for DIY versions, I may try it one day just for fun. But I found split coils work really well for me so I don’t bother…
 
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#18
micguy said:
There's a myth that hum cancelling pickups don't sound as good as single coils. There is no absolute truth to this - yes, there are some hum cancellers that don't sound good, but there are also single coils that don't sound good. Good pickups are good pickups, and can be made either way, if the person designing the pickups knows what they're doing.

One of the tough things about this is doing a controlled listening test. People that believe that single coils sound better will, when they hear a pickup that's humming, naturally rate that as better - it's confirmation bias.

All that said, if you have magnetically induced hum, no amount of electrostatic shielding will fix it. Electrostatic hum and RF interference will yield to shielding, but there are 2 different mechanisms that put noise into a pickup, and to be truly silent, a pickup has to address both.
Click to expand...

There is a difference between single coils and humbuckers. IMO, there are solid arguments for both sides.

Single coils vs humbuckers: Which pickup type is right for you?

That doesn’t make one “good” and the other “bad”.

A question for you, can you hear hum when you are playing the bass? The signal(bass note)-to-noise (hum) ratio is significant when playing a single coil. Hum is most (only) problematic when NOT playing. There are scores of filters for de-noising when recording to a DAW. You can roll back/mute when not playing in live situations.
 
#19
Akiyama said:
There is a difference between single coils and humbuckers. IMO, there are solid arguments for both sides.

Single coils vs humbuckers: Which pickup type is right for you?

That doesn’t make one “good” and the other “bad”.

A question for you, can you hear hum when you are playing the bass? The signal(bass note)-to-noise (hum) ratio is significant when playing a single coil. Hum is most (only) problematic when NOT playing. There are scores of filters for de-noising when recording to a DAW. You can roll back/mute when not playing in live situations.
Click to expand...

I play church gigs, where we go from flat out rock band level to underscoring someone talking quietly (a prayer). Can I hear hum in that situation? Absolutely - a bass with single coil pickups is simply unusable in my world. If you’re in a Ramone’s tribute band, yes, the music ( which goes from very loud to insanely loud) will drown out the hum, but that’s not my world.
 
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#20
micguy said:
I play church gigs, where we go from flat out rock band level to underscoring someone talking quietly (a prayer). Can I hear hum in that situation? Absolutely - a bass with single coil pickups is simply unusable in my world. If you’re in a Ramone’s tribute band, yes, the music ( which goes from very loud to insanely loud) will drown out the hum, but that’s not my world.
Click to expand...

Cool, you do you
 
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