Hi,
I own a Ibanez guitar with 2 humbuckers and a single coil. I use the single (mid position) for most of my rythms and leads. BUt there is this problem that i encountered with my peavy amp. When i use the single coil, There is always a static sound (which is quite loud) heard on my peavy amp whenever i my guitar is not played. This gets worse with distortion effects turned on. However, When i switch to using the humbuckers, the static disappears or gets down to a really low level. I'm not sure what the problem really is. Any advice to get rid of that unwanted noise?
excuse my lack of knowing how to explain things...
a humbucking pickup cancels the hum that you hear when you run a single coil. through some magical act of god, they were able to cancel the hum. when you run your singlecoil alone, it hums as tere is nothing else to stop it. i know on fender guitars (like strats and tele's) you can shield the p/u's and cancel the hum from SC's. as far as doin' that with humbuckers mixed in there i have no clue. but lots of people here know what they are talking about and can probably direct you better than I
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-Led Zeppelin-
You can shield your guitar. That will remove that hum to some extent. You could also use a noise gate or something. Hum comes with the territory of having a single coil pickup, though you can reduce the amount of hum in various different ways.
The reason a humbucking pickup works because it is two single coils wired in series (current flows through one and then the next) but out of phase. The backround noise (hum) that is picked up by the coils (not the magnets) is cancelled out. This is because the hum is sent by one coil as a + (positive) charge and the hum is sent by the other coil as a - (negative) charge. The opposite currents (flowing in different directions) then cancel each other out and no hum is passed on.
The reason that the signal from the vibrating strings is also not cancelled out is because the sets of pole pieces within each coil have opposite magnetic polarities. That way when the secondary coil inverts the signal from the disturbed magnetic field it duplicates the electrical signal instead of cancelling it (like it does with the hum).
The effect of this all is a pickup that is less responsive to higher frequencies (not necessarily a bad thing) and decreased sound definition (not necessarily a bad thing). The sound is therefore fatter than that of a single coil pickup. The humbucker is also a louder pickup than a single coil (because its basically two single coils).
The main difference between Fender and Gibson is the use of humbucking pickups by Gibson and the use of single coils by Fender, though there are plenty of other differences.
aka Izabella
Not sure if anyone said this, but wanted to clarify somethign really quick just incase..
They call it humbucking...Because it bucks the hum..
Not sure if anyone said this, but wanted to clarify somethign really quick just incase..
They call it humbucking...Because it bucks the hum..
The simplified version of what I said :).
aka Izabella
So it is very normal for single coils to emit these static sounds ?
Hmm i thought my guitar was'nt earthed well.
I had tried to used noise gates to kill the static sounds but i don't think it is a very good idea as it kills the tone of the sound.
It sounds more like a switch going bad maybe you should change your five way switch or pot your coils as well as shield your pickguard. Do a Google search on any of these terms or if your lazy go here:
Repotting pickups
Repotting 2
Quieting the BEAST
Switch wiring
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Lots of people think that the hum is part of the "fender sound". The problem is that Fender, along with all the other guitar manufacturers are really negligent in not sheilding their guitars. Even humbucker equipped guitars can benefit. The wiring, pots, ect can pick up hum too, not just the pups.
Some people complain that after sheilding that they still notice that hum is persitient. What they don't realize is that they're also playing at higher gain levels. Lots of guitarists simply turn up the gain untill the hum comes in then back down a bit to get rid of it. After sheilding the hum is reduced and lets them crank that gain knob more.
This website: http://www.guitarnuts.com/index.php is a great resource for sheilding and general wiring needs. They don't have diagrams of the HsH pickup combo you're sporting, but you could probably find somthing in their forums. And if you're not really confident in doing it yourself just take it in to a tech.
-Metaellihead
