I'm giving up on noiseless single coils.

[LeftyStrat]

I'm pretty sure I have tried them all. The latest were Dimarzio Area pickups. They sound really close, but they don't "feel" close. There is just something compressed that a real single coil doesn't have.

Guess my next experiment will be the BPSSC. If that doesn't work, maybe a dummy coil.

Damn modern radiation.

[hbamp]

I tried them all to. Useless, they never give the same feel.

[Chris G]

I'm pretty sure I have tried them all. The latest were Dimarzio Area pickups. They sound really close, but they don't "feel" close. There is just something compressed that a real single coil doesn't have.

Guess my next experiment will be the BPSSC. If that doesn't work, maybe a dummy coil.

Damn modern radiation.

Lefty,
I have installed one of those BPSSC. It does work great. It's a balancing act though, as far as hum is concerned you adjust a very small pot to get to the sweet spot.
Will be a change, strat tones no hum
Might feel odd at first.. but having tried a bunch of noiseless pickups myself, This was the best way to go.
Would love to try a dummy coil at some point.
Chris

[alvarezh]

Try the "MXR Noise Clamp" on regular S/Cs. Plenty of demos on YT.

Buy from MF, you can always return it.

A little bit tricky to adjust, but no coloration what so ever, at least to my ears.

On the other hand you have the "Ilitch Noise Canceling System" for std. S/Cs also, used by Suhr and Lindy Fraling:

http://www.ilitchelectronics.com/

Angela has them cheaper:

http://angela.com/search.aspx?find=Ilitch+Electronics

Have a good weekend.

[Zero4]

I'm sad you're disappointed with the Area pickups. They are by-far the best at reproducing a true single coil tone.

For everyone who says they all suck, those ones usually change their mind.

Unfortunately, most people are exposed to them by Fender Noiseless, and those don't sound anything like singles... so people assume they are all bad.

I've changed a lot of opinions with my main Strat. Area 67/58/61 n/m/b

Also have the Area T and Area Hot T in my Tele.


Maybe what you seek is part of that noise the true single coils bring?

[Reeltarded]

Yeah, I really like those. I thought they sounded better than most single coils in general. I just live with the noise otherwise.

I like EMG Tele sets though. Zooom! Kerrrrrang!

[pullshocks]

I am about to wire up a test bed guitar with holes for 4 or 5 single coils to A/B a number of pickups I have on hand including a set of Kinmans against a prized old Fender. We'll see......

Funny thing to me about trying different combinations of amp control settings, speakers, and guitars with different pickups is that sometimes nothing sounds good to me. Might have to do with how I'm playing, might have to do with my hearing loss, maybe just my mood.

[JazzGuitarGimp]

Lefty,

Have you tried EMG active pup's? I've been using them for at least 25 years in all my single-coil-equipped guitars. Maybe it's because I've been using them for so long that I've just become accustomed to their sound, but I like them quite a bit.

If you have tried them, what is it about them you don't like?

Thanks,
Lou

[LeftyStrat]

Lefty,

Have you tried EMG active pup's? I've been using them for at least 25 years in all my single-coil-equipped guitars. Maybe it's because I've been using them for so long that I've just become accustomed to their sound, but I like them quite a bit.

If you have tried them, what is it about them you don't like?

Thanks,
Lou

Actually, I've keep going back to EMG-SA's for many years. It seems my pattern over the years has been:

- Try a single coil
- Get sick of the noise, go back to EMG.
- Try a noise-less.
- Don't like the tone, go back to EMG.
- Repeat over and over.

But I think I will try single coils one more time with either the BPSSC, or a dummy coil.

All the pickups I have I eventually sell, except the EMG-SA's.

Maybe if I could come up with a way to power the preamp without having to install a battery in the guitar, I'd just leave them in.

[FUCHSAUDIO]

www.zexcoil.com

Not cheap, but killer tone.

[renshen1957]

I'm pretty sure I have tried them all. The latest were Dimarzio Area pickups. They sound really close, but they don't "feel" close. There is just something compressed that a real single coil doesn't have.

Guess my next experiment will be the BPSSC. If that doesn't work, maybe a dummy coil.

Damn modern radiation.

Have you tried Kinman's? I had a number of guitar players who played my strat which has Kinman Woodstocks from 2004 who really liked them enough to want to run off with the guitar.

Best regards,

Steve

[tubeswell]

Have you tried plain ole strat body cavity shielding for your plain ole single coils?

http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/shielding/shield3.php

I did this to my '89 Am Series, and it reduced the stray HF considerably

[LeftyStrat]

Have you tried Kinman's? I had a number of guitar players who played my strat which has Kinman Woodstocks from 2004 who really liked them enough to want to run off with the guitar.

I haven't, I may give them a try.

Have you tried plain ole strat body cavity shielding for your plain ole single coils?

http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/shielding/shield3.php

I did this to my '89 Am Series, and it reduced the stray HF considerably

Yeah I used the copper tape from stewmac. Problem is my house is full of computers and compact fluorescents.

[LeftyStrat]

Anyone using Klein pickups? (https://www.kleinpickups.com). Think I might try a set of '59's and the BPSSC.

[Tonegeek]

My 2 cents:
I have tried Lace Sensor (Blue I think), Kinmans, Duncan Lil'59's. The Lil 59's are not in the same category as they don't do the quack thing, but they are a good choice if you want a fat sound leaning toward Gibson HB territory. I like the Lace better than the Kinman's. I still prefer the sound of the original noisy SC pickups and have given up on the HB pup. I like the EJ tone (to the extent that I can get it) and something about the HB pups just does not work when you set the rest of your system up for that sound. There is some kind of dissonance going on when pushed. Like Lefty said, they don't feel right.