The Steel Guitar Forum Store 

Post new topic Single coil hum?
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Reply to topic
Author Topic:  Single coil hum?
Jim Kennedy

 

From:
Brentwood California, USA
Post  Posted 30 Apr 2017 2:29 pm    
Reply with quote

I just started playing play my early 80's Shobud pro 1 through a Fender Twin Reverb. The anp was pretty noisy when I bought it and was just serviced. I get a noticeable hum when I start pushing the volume on the steel. Eliminated the tuner, volume pedal, and used several different cords. Hum still there. No hum with a guitar with humbuckers. Very slight hum with my Tele when playing the front or back pups seprately. My shobud pup is 15.5k. Tele pups are 10k rear and 7k front. Checked grounding on the bud. No problems I could find. I can touch from my ground lug to anywhere else--key head, strings, anywhere on the changer, it reads short to ground. I am assuming the noise is caused by the hotter wound pup. Any suggestions short of going to a hum bucker pup?
_________________
ShoBud Pro 1, 75 Tele, 85 Yamaha SA 2000, Fender Cybertwin,
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Jack Hanson


From:
San Luis Valley, USA
Post  Posted 30 Apr 2017 2:38 pm     Re: Single coil hum?
Reply with quote

Jim Kennedy wrote:
Any suggestions short of going to a hum bucker pup?

View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Lane Gray


From:
Topeka, KS
Post  Posted 1 May 2017 4:05 am    
Reply with quote

Have you tried changing the orientation of the guitar?
60 cycle hum is caused by the pickup acting as an antenna.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Yahoo Messenger

Tony Prior


From:
Charlotte NC
Post  Posted 1 May 2017 4:26 am    
Reply with quote

Its not the amp.

It's Single Coil HUM. It comes for free with every single coil pup. You can try all those hum eliminators but all they do is mask it or change the output freq.

Ask Telecaster players about single coil hum. Some rooms are really bad, others are so so...

Like many here, I have played the room from hell and the only fix was a Humbucker.

sorry to report there may be a moderate fix but not a 100% fix.

One of my Steels has Humbuckers, quite on purpose.

Did you say where it is happening, home or a gig ?

IF it's home you have bad wiring in the room. If it's a club, it's a combo of bad wiring , lights and dimmers.

good luck !
_________________
Emmons L-II , Fender Telecasters, B-Benders
Pro Tools 12 on WIN 7 !
jobless- but not homeless- now retired 9 years

CURRENT MUSIC TRACKS AT > https://tprior2241.wixsite.com/website
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Erv Niehaus


From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
Post  Posted 1 May 2017 7:42 am    
Reply with quote

You talk about hum!! I set up outside for a nursing home performance and I must have set up directly over the underground power cable! Not much music, mostly hum. Whoa!
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Jim Kennedy

 

From:
Brentwood California, USA
Post  Posted 1 May 2017 7:46 am    
Reply with quote

I did move the guitar around. It made no difference. Your responses have confirmed what I was pretty sure of already. I have played many noisy rooms with my tele and it drives our sound guy nuts. I put the Merle mod on my tele and it reduces the noies consideably, but it darkens the sound a bit more than I care for. Thanks for your help.
_________________
ShoBud Pro 1, 75 Tele, 85 Yamaha SA 2000, Fender Cybertwin,
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Jim Kennedy

 

From:
Brentwood California, USA
Post  Posted 1 May 2017 7:48 am    
Reply with quote

Another thought. I had solar power insatlled recently, and my practice room is directly under the panels. You think??
_________________
ShoBud Pro 1, 75 Tele, 85 Yamaha SA 2000, Fender Cybertwin,
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Erv Niehaus


From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
Post  Posted 1 May 2017 7:52 am    
Reply with quote

Either that or an ET is trying to send you a message. Whoa!
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

ajm

 

From:
Los Angeles
Post  Posted 1 May 2017 8:03 am    
Reply with quote

Jim Kennedy: What is the "Merle mod" on your Tele?
View user's profile Send private message

Jim Kennedy

 

From:
Brentwood California, USA
Post  Posted 1 May 2017 8:41 am    
Reply with quote

It puts the pickups in series, giving a bit more gain, darker tone, and cuts down the tele quack, basically more humbucker like. It really knocks the noise down, much more than the middle poisiton on standard tele wiring, which puts the pickups in parallel. In one of the bands I play in we do some Santana tunes. I found this mod, along with some added distortion, reasonably effective at gettting Santana like tone from a Tele. It is called the Merele mod after Merle Hagard. It is standard wiring on the Tuf Dog Tele's.
_________________
ShoBud Pro 1, 75 Tele, 85 Yamaha SA 2000, Fender Cybertwin,
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Jim Kennedy

 

From:
Brentwood California, USA
Post  Posted 1 May 2017 8:44 am    
Reply with quote

Forgot. It gives you four positions on your selector switch. You do not sacrifice any fo the other pickup configurations.
_________________
ShoBud Pro 1, 75 Tele, 85 Yamaha SA 2000, Fender Cybertwin,
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Stefan Robertson


From:
Hertfordshire, UK
Post  Posted 1 May 2017 9:45 am    
Reply with quote

I use the Hum Debugger and its perfect. Couldn't ask for better.
_________________
Stefan
Bill Hatcher custom 12 string Lap Steel Guitar
E13#9/F secrets: https://thelapsteelguitarist.wordpress.com

"Give it up for The Lap Steel Guitarist"
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Jack Hanson


From:
San Luis Valley, USA
Post  Posted 1 May 2017 9:55 am    
Reply with quote

Jim Kennedy wrote:
Another thought. I had solar power insatlled recently, and my practice room is directly under the panels. You think??
Here in the San Luis Valley there are multiple solar farms of acres and acres, and they definitely interfere with cell phone and two-way radio communications. Could very well be you're on to something, especially if the issue did not exist before your panels were installed.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Dan Beller-McKenna


From:
Durham, New Hampshire, USA
Post  Posted 1 May 2017 11:21 am    
Reply with quote

Another vote for the HumDebugger. It isn't perfect, especially in the "strong" mode, but it's pretty darn good. Got me through some rough rooms.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Mike Schwartzman

 

From:
Maryland, USA
Post  Posted 1 May 2017 1:18 pm    
Reply with quote

Hmmm? This topic brought a question to ask...Do the makers (or rewind specialists) of pedal steel pickups use wax potting like many guitar single coils do?

I know that is not a cure for single coil hum, but it helps.

Jim: I tried the 4 way switch (pickups in parallel) on a Tele build. I did not know it was called the "Merle Mod", but I'm enjoying that extra bump that it gives.
_________________
Emmons Push Pull, BMI, Session 400, Home of the Slimcaster Tele.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Tony Prior


From:
Charlotte NC
Post  Posted 1 May 2017 1:35 pm    
Reply with quote

The HUMDEBUGGER pedal does indeed offer some relief in rooms that are so so. No doubt, and that can be a gig saver.

Here's how they work, the premise, the power supply collects real time data of the AC signal noise and the pedal subtracts that data from the audio signal meaning it's a notch filter. In so so rooms it may very well be very good but in bad rooms, the reviews are that it sounds like they are playing thru a slight delay or maybe a chorus. Overall,it appears to be a pretty smart design .

It's my understanding that they do not run on batteries and that would explain why the power supply must be used for the sampling data.

The other review complaint is that it uses a 7.5 vdc supply and may or may not be compatible with pedal boards.
_________________
Emmons L-II , Fender Telecasters, B-Benders
Pro Tools 12 on WIN 7 !
jobless- but not homeless- now retired 9 years

CURRENT MUSIC TRACKS AT > https://tprior2241.wixsite.com/website
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Jim Kennedy

 

From:
Brentwood California, USA
Post  Posted 1 May 2017 1:44 pm    
Reply with quote

Has anone tried any type of shielding? Did a strat once with pretty good results. i suppose you could put shielding around the pup and ground it. Just a thought.

As for the solar, the amp was pretty noisy before it was serviced. Noise is minimal with my Tele, and not at all with a humbucker equipped guitar.
_________________
ShoBud Pro 1, 75 Tele, 85 Yamaha SA 2000, Fender Cybertwin,
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Brad Sarno


From:
St. Louis, MO USA
Post  Posted 1 May 2017 3:35 pm    
Reply with quote

Lane Gray wrote:
Have you tried changing the orientation of the guitar?
60 cycle hum is caused by the pickup acting as an antenna.


but since a pedal steel pickup faces the sky, we can rotate (re-orient) the guitar all day long and it won't ever find the "null" or the 2 quiet spots.


B
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Lane Gray


From:
Topeka, KS
Post  Posted 1 May 2017 3:55 pm    
Reply with quote

I've been able to attenuate it by giving it several degrees of yaw. True, we can't do much about pitch (the orientation sense of the word) and roll, but fifteen degrees of yaw often helps.
When I get a hummy situation, I turn off the front neck between songs (my Zum has a Tonealigner on the C6th neck and a Truetone up front). The hum disappears once everyone starts playing.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Yahoo Messenger

Terry Barnett

 

From:
Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada
Post  Posted 1 May 2017 4:53 pm    
Reply with quote

What you have is, as Tony said, a single coil pickup with all that free hum. That's the reason the humbucker exists in the first place. All the shielding in the world will only give you a small percentage of relief. Add to this the high resistance of most steel guitar pickups and you have a problem. Comparing a Tele to a steel guitar is like comparing a grapefruit to a tangerine. Have you tried gating? Using a noise gate properly adjusted will effectively turn off you signal between tunes and bring back the signal when you touch the strings...the noise will likely not be a problem while your fellow musicians are playing. Don't forget there could be any number of headaches created by faders and dimmers and who knows what else on an electrical circuit. I once playered a club and was on the same circuit as their refrigeration system...every time the compressor kicked in I had a noticeable increase in hum.
This hum problem has been an issue for all the great players we admire...how did or would they handle it? Maybe they simply pulled back on the volume pedal.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Stefan Robertson


From:
Hertfordshire, UK
Post  Posted 2 May 2017 4:58 am    
Reply with quote

Tony Prior wrote:
The HUMDEBUGGER pedal does indeed offer some relief in rooms that are so so. No doubt, and that can be a gig saver.

Here's how they work, the premise, the power supply collects real time data of the AC signal noise and the pedal subtracts that data from the audio signal meaning it's a notch filter. In so so rooms it may very well be very good but in bad rooms, the reviews are that it sounds like they are playing thru a slight delay or maybe a chorus. Overall,it appears to be a pretty smart design .

It's my understanding that they do not run on batteries and that would explain why the power supply must be used for the sampling data.

The other review complaint is that it uses a 7.5 vdc supply and may or may not be compatible with pedal boards.


To clarify in rooms that are really bad if you set your signal to strong you steel sounds like it has a slight chorus effect. HOWEVER with a good amp modeller you can mask this easily and make it sound more amp like than chorus like. Thus the audience is none the wiser.

The Power supply unit is 7.5 so it needs to be plugged into the mains and not a universal pedalboard charger. Batteries suck besides in this day and age I don't know who would want to use them anyway other than on a tuner. So I agree it would've been nicer if it were a more common 9 volt or something.

But in a bad room at least your steel sounds clean and if you can't adjust your amp or pedals at worst sounds like it has a slight chorus effect. So Buddy Emmons on his experimental stuff with Danny Gatton. Can't complain about that if you have his chops. Very Happy
_________________
Stefan
Bill Hatcher custom 12 string Lap Steel Guitar
E13#9/F secrets: https://thelapsteelguitarist.wordpress.com

"Give it up for The Lap Steel Guitarist"
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Bill Sinclair


From:
Waynesboro, PA, USA
Post  Posted 2 May 2017 8:48 am     Re: Hum Debugger
Reply with quote

Tony Prior wrote:

The other review complaint is that it uses a 7.5 vdc supply and may or may not be compatible with pedal boards.


It's actually a 7.5 volt AC supply. As you say, it has to sample the 60 Hz line signal so it wouldn't work with a battery. I only use mine when I'm accompanying an acoustic group. I don't notice the chorusing effect unless it's in the "strong" position so I just don't use that setting. Much less irritating than the "chop" I always seem to get from a noise gate.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Chris Walke

 

From:
St Charles, IL
Post  Posted 2 May 2017 9:50 am    
Reply with quote

I also use the EHX HDb when necessary. Usually the regular setting is fine. I also try to avoid using the "strong" setting, but if that's what's needed, then that's what's needed. Better than the hum.

Sure, it compromises the tone a bit, but in a band mix, I don't think any but the absolute most discerning ears in the audience would even detect the slightest difference.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Joseph Napolitano

 

From:
New Jersey, USA
Post  Posted 2 May 2017 6:40 pm    
Reply with quote

Humdebugger works great for me! It changes the eq a bit, so you may have to twist the tone dials on your amp a bit. The first time I used a single coil steel on a gig , the hum was louder than the notes I was playing . Made for a rough night.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Earnest Bovine


From:
Los Angeles CA USA
Post  Posted 2 May 2017 9:49 pm    
Reply with quote

Lane Gray wrote:
Have you tried changing the orientation of the guitar?


I was able to get rid of 99% of single coil pickup hum by lying on my back in the middle of the room with the Sho-Bud resting across my abdomen.
View user's profile Send private message


All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Jump to:  

Our Online Catalog
Strings, CDs, instruction,
steel guitars & accessories

www.SteelGuitarShopper.com

Please review our Forum Rules and Policies

Steel Guitar Forum LLC
PO Box 237
Mount Horeb, WI 53572 USA


Click Here to Send a Donation

Email admin@steelguitarforum.com for technical support.


BIAB Styles
Ray Price Shuffles for
Band-in-a-Box

by Jim Baron
HTTP