Single Coils And Hum

[Billy Bones]

Hi Folks,

My first Tele.

Neck position hums. (Sounds like B flat, so 60 cycle?)

Bridge Position hums.

Selector in middle so both pickups on. Very small hum.

Is this because the single coils are getting together and making a humbucker? The bridge position is reverse wound.

Thanks,

Billy

[lovekraft]

That's it - the reverse wound pickup is cancelling most of the hum generated in the other pickup.

[possum1284]

That's it - the reverse wound pickup is cancelling most of the hum generated in the other pickup.

←

i hate single coil pickups. what a waste of time it was wiring my humbuckers for coil tap. when in single mode it drives me nuts.

[lovekraft]

Thanks for sharing with the group - feel better now? If it's the noise that's driving you nuts, shield your guitar! It may never be dead quiet, but you can make almost any setup quiet enough to be playable if you work at it.

[MerlinTheWizard]

Single coil pickups are definitely playable, if not "dead quiet".

Good shielding is a plus. Also, realize that if you play anywhere near a CRT monitor, no matter how much shielding you have, you will always get a lot of hum. Single coil pickups are almost unusable near a CRT screen. Period. The solution is to play away from the screen, or buy an LCD monitor. I say that because this is often overlooked, and more and more common (people tend to use computers more often than they used to when playing music, for obvious reasons...)

If your pickups are humming even when there is no CRT screen around, then try shielding your guitar...

[Billy Bones]

Thanks Folks.

Billy