Problem with '62 RI Strat

[JakeK]

I've had this problem with my '62 RI Strat since I've owned it...the pickups are a little too noisy. What is the ohmage of the '62 Strat pickups and what is the ohmage of standard Strat pickups? Are the standard pickups less noisy than vintage? I'm sending it off to my local luthier for new strings and a setup to accomodate the strings and if I can get the ohmage of standard pickups, perhaps I can have him wind them to that ohmage.

[yettoblaster]

The vintage spec (57/62) pu's are nice sounding in their way, but the middle is not reverse wound, so you don't get humbucking when combined with the neck or bridge pu.

The Custom Shop aftermarket sets generally have a reverse wound middle, as do the American Standard Strats.

[deaconblues]

It's the nature of the beast...a reissue will not have the latest in sound-canceling technology. I think the reissue pickups have a lower rating than the newer Strats, something down in 5-6K ohms like vintage Ricks.

One thing you or your tech can do cheaply is fully shield the back of the pickguard and control cavity. On the older Strats they only shield behind the pots. Full shielding will cut the hum substantially.

[BlueAngel]

As Steve and Dan said, it's nothing to do with the impedance of the pickups - Strat single coils just hum, period. A louder pickup will actually hum more, all other things being equal, simply because it has a higher output and it will pick up the same proportion of noise to signal.

The only ways to totally remove the hum are to use hum-cancelling pickups, ie either side-by-side or stacked humbuckers, or to have a system using a dummy coil and some additional electronics. All these change the tone at least to some extent (no matter the claims for some of them).

Using a RWRP (Reverse Wound, Reverse Polarity) middle pickup will cure a large proportion of the hum, but only when you're using the 2 and 4 positions, and there is a small effect on the tone in these positions as well - which may simply be due to the lack of hum, which is actually a significant part of the 'vintage' tone, but is also possibly a real change due to the way the magnetic fields interact.

Sheilding and 'star' grounding can help, but will never eliminate magnetically-induced hum entirely - however, vintage Strats are some of the least shielded guitars ever made, so shielding can make quite a difference if you're starting with one. There is also a tone change with shielding if it's done overly heavily (due to increased capacitance), but you can achieve a lot of improvement with little or no change if you do it carefully.

[Clint]

A '62 RI Strat does have a shielding plate on the back side of the pickguard. The original '62s did too. It just isn't that effective. Strats hum, while you're playing it doesn't matter, when you're not, roll down the volume.

[winston]

My Strats hum.........all of them. When I play them they sing.

There's not much I can add other than that is the nature of the beast. In 1962 the advances in technology were not exactly cutting edge and Fender has tried to faithfully recreate that vintage technology in the pursuit of the sound that a number of guitar players claim to prefer. I know I do. You have two choices. Live with it or sell the guitar to me.

[tamborineman]

Jake, you have one of the best non-custom shop Strats made. Don't mess with it. Try to stay away from florecent lights, use a good cable, A`Humm X`from Morley might help if you have a grounding issue with your amps. Otherwise [forget Brian] I want it

[wmthor]

Jake, I have Fender's Custom Shop 54 pups in my right-handed MIM Strat. I think those are some of the best after market pickups available. Sure, the middle pup is not reverse wound like some of the others, but the tone is classic Strat. I've got Lace's Holy Grails in my left-handed American Series Strat. Had the C/S 54s been available with a lefty stagger, I would have use them. The Holy Grails are the closest to C/S 54s that I found with a lefty stagger. An added bonus is that the Holy Grails are very quite. Of course, my newest Strat is a C/S NOS '61. Other that maybe installing the 5 way switch, there's nothing that I intend to change with it. It's everything I wanted in a Strat. However, there's a certain C/S NOS '56 that I have my eye on. But it will have to wait until I have a left-handed 620 or 660.

[deaconblues]

I really want a sunburst '57 reissue...it's in line behind an Epi Zephyr Regent and a new Rick 12er.

Swapped the stock pickups in my Squier for vintage types this summer...it's a different guitar now, sounds really nice.

I don't really like the American Standard Strats sound/playability-wise.

By the way, Clint was right...by '62 the back of the pickguard was totally shielded. You could shield the cavity, though. Don't know if this discussion is moot because of impending sale...!

[BlueAngel]

The back of the pickguard certainly is shielded with a large metal sheet, but the cavity is not, at all. There may be some slight effect due to the vibrato springs (which are also grounded) passing behind the bridge and middle pickups, but the rest of the electrics are totally open to the back, from a shielding point of view. I do think that the very rich, vibrant tone of older-style Strats is partly to do with the lack of shielding though - if you add too much the tone becomes smoother and blander because the shielding is effectively a small tone cap that's in the circuit all the time. I've more than once removed shielding from vintage Strats when restoring them and always found they sounded better.

One improvement you can make without changing anything major is to replace the unshielded pair of wires from the jack to the volume pot with a shielded cable. This is one of the main sources of noise, especially when the volume control is turned down a bit. It doesn't change the tone at all, since the new shielded cable is then effectively just an extension of the cord to the amp which already has plenty of capacitance.

It really depends on your priority regarding noise to tone and originality - I don't mind a bit of noise as long as it's not excessive, and I actually think it's an important part of the character of the tone of an electric guitar - and the sounds you want to use. If you use a lot of distortion you're more likely to need extra shielding. Remember that the Strat was designed at a time when everyone played clean (or at least guitar and amp designers thought they did!).

[Clint]

One improvement you can make without changing anything major is to replace the unshielded pair of wires from the jack to the volume pot with a shielded cable.

That is exactly what I did with mine.

[JakeK]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I guess I CAN get used to the humming. It gives it a unique sound.

[johnallg]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I guess I CAN get used to the humming. It gives it a unique sound.

Just so it stays on key....

[whojamfan]

If you do decide to change the pickups, there are some very sweet sounding hum canceling pickups out there. I just bought a new pickguard for mine, installed all new electronics on it, and did a direct swap with the stock one. Doing this allows me to have the original pickguard as it came from the factory, and my new one with the new pickups and new parts on it. Should I decide later to go back to the way it was, I can do so in about 15 minutes, and return the guitar to it's original configuration.

Whatever you decide, good luck

[shamustwin]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I guess I CAN get used to the humming. It gives it a unique sound.

It doesn't know the words? (rimshot)

I find the Strat hum acceptable when live, annoying when recording. Hear it a lot on my fade outs/song endings.