SC hum Cancellation

MrBump

Has anyone used these before?

http://www.fralinpickups.com/bpncs.asp

Getting a little tired of the hum in my otherwise awesome Strat.  I've shielded the cavity as best I know how, buy there's still noise, especially with an OD pedal kicked in.

olafgarten

This is basically a dummy coil on the trem plate, pretty good idea actually.

richardhomer

I had one (branded Suhr - though it's the same product) fitted to a CS Strat.

It worked superbly. Some say they slightly alter the tone - I'm not convinced it did.

Put it this way - if noise really bothers you on a Strat, it's the best solution currently available in my opinion.

hubobulous

I can only speak for the Suhr SSCII which is awesome and really doesn't affect tone at all. Brilliant idea, well executed

robinbowes

I use Kinman pickups - I like them a lot.

R.

Sassafras

VHT Valvulator.

I know I'm always banging on about it but it still amazes me the way it completely cancels single coil noise as well as making the guitar sound, well, just better is the only way I can describe it.

ICBM

Although I haven't tried one personally, from the clips I've heard the Suhr one definitely affects the tone, if only slightly. Possibly less than even good stacked humbuckers, although I'm not sure.

Shielding makes no difference to hum, by the way - only to electrostatic buzz, which is not the same thing.

richardhomer

ICBM;848033" said:

Although I haven't tried one personally, from the clips I've heard the Suhr one definitely affects the tone, if only slightly. Possibly less than even good stacked humbuckers, although I'm not sure

I fitted the one I had to my Strat - so I had a 'before and after' comparison - though not the ability to do a direct A/B.

If there is a difference, it's really minimal. As I said in my earlier post - I'm unconvinced it was any different at all. The guitar retained a very clear high end and a very 'open' mid-range - in other words, the characteristics you'd expect from a vintage style Strat.

ICBM

richardhomer said:

I fitted the one I had to my Strat - so I had a 'before and after' comparison - though not the ability to do a direct A/B.

If there is a difference, it's really minimal. As I said in my earlier post - I'm unconvinced it was any different at all. The guitar retained a very clear high end and a very 'open' mid-range - in other words, the characteristics you'd expect from a vintage style Strat.

Someone posted a demo clip on 'another place' a few years ago, and even though they claimed there was no difference, you could clearly hear where it was being turned on and off. It was thinner-sounding when on - the highs and midrange openness were a bit more exaggerated. If that's what you like in a Strat sound you may even prefer it.

MrBump

Thanks, chaps. Might do a little more snooping.

west

My tech/ mate fitted the suhr back plate to my anderson classic , first of all with 3 suhr v60lp's initially we put it on a push pull pot ( like the scott henderson video clip )  couldn't tell the difference tonally just the hum disappearing , then later we added a lollar imperial in the bridge , still no conflict its great ! ..... 

hubobulous

This was from a few years back, but obviously still valid....as an aside, Don is now head of Custoomer Services at Suhr.

ICBM

^ Exactly. It's clearly slightly thinner and brighter with the system on, slightly punchier and middier with it off. Not a huge difference, but as with all these things it sometimes matters to some people. If you like bright and quacky you might even prefer the sound with it on though.

musteatbrain

I bought the suhr after market one and returned it. It required me to widen a drill hole to get the wire through the guitar body cavity as there wasn't enough space where the existing earth went through. Too much hassle I thought.

MrBump

Another clip.

Think I'll have to give the back plate a try.

Mkjackary

I don't know what all the fuss is about.
I have a set of oil city's in my American deluxe strat, played on stage with loads of light and probably acdc levels of gain and no real amount of hum.

Good single coils and a good amp along with good quality cables and it shouldn't be a massive issue unless you have silly amounts of gain

ICBM

Mkjackary said:

I don't know what all the fuss is about.
I have a set of oil city's in my American deluxe strat, played on stage with loads of light and probably acdc levels of gain and no real amount of hum.

Good single coils and a good amp along with good quality cables and it shouldn't be a massive issue unless you have silly amounts of gain

It can be sometimes. I know of a couple of venues where any kind of single coil was almost unusable even clean, unless you stand at a particular awkward angle. If that does happen you really do need some sort of hum-cancelling on the guitar, even if it's a sound you wouldn't normally want to use. (eg a RWRP pickup set, so you have to use a two-pickup sound.) Cables make no difference, any more than shielding - it's not that sort of noise.

I totally agree that the Suhr system works, by the way - and that having the option of turning it off is useful. I just don't agree that it doesn't affect the tone of the guitar.

OilCityPickups

You are adding a wire coil to the system ... which in order to cancel hum must add a significant number of wire turns to what ever pickup or combo of pickups you are using. As these coils are not signal generating, they are 'dead weight' on the pickup's output. The added turns act like tone filtering, changing the pickups resonant peak to a greater or lesser degree depending on the number of turns. If you need hum cancelling then this certainly a reasonable approach, but as ICBM says it has no choice but to change the tone. 

My own approach is to always carry a spare humbucking guitar when going to venues I don't know.

MrBump

Mkjackary said:

I don't know what all the fuss is about.
I have a set of oil city's in my American deluxe strat, played on stage with loads of light and probably acdc levels of gain and no real amount of hum.

Good single coils and a good amp along with good quality cables and it shouldn't be a massive issue unless you have silly amounts of gain

Yeah, I'm sure it has loads to do with the environment.  Nothing low quality in my setup (apart from the player, on occasion) - Mojo pickups, Egnater amp, decent quality powered effects.

I actually AB'd this against my tele in the same environment, and I'm wondering if it's more of a grounding issue... Might have to have a poke around inside.

Does anyone know if there's an easy way to test for earthing problems with a multimeter?  Is it just a case of checking for continuity between all the ground connections and the final earth point on the jack, or is there a smarter way of doing it?

ta.