Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

This isn't about a Ric, more like a '60s Strat. As those who own '62 AVRI Strats know, the stock pickups honk and hum like crazy. I've had the guitar for what is going on three years, and I love it to death, but I want to know how I can make the stock pickups stop humming? If I can't, what are some single-coil Strat-like pickups that don't hum?

Here's something that's interesting: my 12k toasters in my 1997 and 360/12V64 do not hum that bad. If they do, I can't notice it.

rick guitar pickups are fairly well shielded with the metal covers, which the strat does not have. you could try to use adhesive copper tape and wrap the coils removed coils out of the plastic cases. i found some at a craft store in different widths. you must run a soldered wire from the tape to the ground on the back of a pot. good idea to solder the tape joint after the wrap. also shielding the back of the pickguard and cavities is a good idea as well and ground them.

How to cancel hum?

Wise-acre answer: tell the singer to learn the words.

(Ducks and runs for cover ...)

Jake, every major pickup manufacturer makes noiseless Strat pickups. All depends on how much you wanna spend.

sloop_john_b wrote:Jake, every major pickup manufacturer makes noiseless Strat pickups. All depends on how much you wanna spend.

How much do you venture the Noiseless pickups available on the Clapton Strats are?

All single coil pickups hum. That's the nature of the beast - and part of the reason they sound "responsive". My advice is to experiment with the settings on your amp - ie: don't have the treble wide open.... there's a trade off between noise and tone. also - ride the volume on your guitar between rhythm and lead tones.... my strat will howl at rhythm volumes and high volume settings on the guitar - but I can still get usable sounds by allowing for the gain by adjusting my volume on the fly. YMMV

Good luck.

The crudest, yet most effective way to shield an F-style pickup is using aluminum foil, period. That's how I would address pickup noise issues on my now-gone F basses. And no, no trebles were lost in the process...

To make it a bit easier to do, try the aluminum duct tape used by furnace install contractors. It sticks and stays in place.

craft shops have the adhesive copper tape in various widths. i used 1/4" for the rear rick bass pickups. solder the joint after wrapping the coil, then solder a ground wire to it .

BAD RONBO, KiLLeR DWaRfS wrote:craft shops have the adhesive copper tape in various widths. i used 1/4" for the rear rick bass pickups. solder the joint after wrapping the coil, then solder a ground wire to it .

There you go. I didn't know craft shops have it. I'll have to have a look-see.

How to cancel hum?

Don't order it to begin with..

(Holds his ground and hopes no current wil leak to it )

i got it at a store here called hobby lobby. it is stained glass copper foiling tape by studio pro #680 distributed by diamond tech ,tampa florida. 1/4" x 36 yds for $7.00 ! it's in a dispensing roll and has adhesive on the copper with backing.

johnallg wrote:

BAD RONBO, KiLLeR DWaRfS wrote:craft shops have the adhesive copper tape in various widths. i used 1/4" for the rear rick bass pickups. solder the joint after wrapping the coil, then solder a ground wire to it .

There you go. I didn't know craft shops have it. I'll have to have a look-see.

BAD RONBO, KiLLeR DWaRfS wrote:i got it at a store here called hobby lobby. it is stained glass copper foiling tape by studio pro #680 distributed by diamond tech ,tampa florida. 1/4" x 36 yds for $7.00 ! it's in a dispensing roll and has adhesive on the copper with backing.

johnallg wrote:

BAD RONBO, KiLLeR DWaRfS wrote:craft shops have the adhesive copper tape in various widths. i used 1/4" for the rear rick bass pickups. solder the joint after wrapping the coil, then solder a ground wire to it .

There you go. I didn't know craft shops have it. I'll have to have a look-see.

Thanks Ron - Hobby Lobby we got.

wim wrote:

How to cancel hum?

Don't order it to begin with..

(Holds his ground and hopes no current wil leak to it )

Wim, our attempts at humor apparently fell on deaf ears ... or maybe they couldn't be heard because of all the humming.

doctorwho wrote:

wim wrote:

How to cancel hum?

Don't order it to begin with..

(Holds his ground and hopes no current wil leak to it )

Wim, our attempts at humor apparently fell on deaf ears ... or maybe they couldn't be heard because of all the humming.

with all the hum cancelling going on, I guess they only saw the or of it.