Call Us Today! 843-347-5742|haywire@sccoast.net

Do You Need Noiseless Guitar Pickups?

/, Noiseless Guitar Pickups/Do You Need Noiseless Guitar Pickups?

Do You Need Noiseless Guitar Pickups?

Do You Want Noiseless Pickups?

“Noiseless” pickups are not soundless. What do I mean by that?  Noiseless guitar pickups  can be loud. HUH? Exactly.
I mentioned to a guitar player that I was going to add “noiseless pickups” in his guitar. He freaked out and said “NO” I want to be heard. So, I repeated: “Noiseless is not soundless”.  It’s just better quality, cleaner, less distorted, clear sound – a good signal. Who wouldn’t want that?
Is it possible to have very loud guitar pickups with no hum or buzz? The answer is yes, of course. One of the first things that new guitar players find about pickups is that single-coils can hum and generate noise. Alternatively, when they hear something referred to as a “noiseless” single-coil they get confused. Some guitar players are subject to confusion and explained how the “noiseless” can make his life better.  I hope he gets it.

Noiseless Are Stacked……You may Not Need Them

Many sets of pickups that are noiseless are stacked. Stacked?  Quiet? Sure because they are humbuckers wound one on top of each other. As much as half of the coil is wound North the other half South. Most of all, the hum canceling property is also just like a humbucker wound side by side however, these are built up instead. Sometimes all you have to do is check the grounding on a guitar. If there is a loose ground wire then you’ll get lots of noise. That is where single coils get a bad rap.

A small problem should stay small

First of all, if your pickups are not installed or grounded properly it can wreak havoc on your sound. If there is a rheostat in the circuit that will hurt you as well. If the circuit isn’t grounded you’ll have the same problem. Let’s say you have a three prong plug from your amp, but the ground in the building where you play has a ground not connected. Finally, it’s not always the pickups so make sure you’re blaming the right source. When offering noiseless pickups to our customers we make sure they know they have other choices and we look further if there is a “Hum” problem. In the Haywire Custom Shop we always try and take the least invasive, least expensive fix first to help our customers make wise purchases. As a result, a small problem should stay small. We’ll find it for you!

By | 2020-02-17T14:47:19-05:00 May 18th, 2018|Guitar Education, Noiseless Guitar Pickups|0 Comments

About the Author:

Mr. Rick Mariner Owner and Founder and CEO of Haywire Custom Guitars Inc. He is a member of The Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans (A.S.I.A.) as well as a guitar player. Rick holds a bachelors degree from University of Md. and a Masters degree from George Washington University. Rick developed his exclusive 8 – Point “Gig- Ready” guitar process that allows for Custom Guitars that are “GIG-READY”. With Rick’s many years of development and guitar set-up experience, Haywire Guitar shop “Builds satisfied players… one Haywire guitar at a time”.

Related Posts

Leave A Comment