Possible reasons for noisy single coils

[mick]

Like it says , I don't mean from an interference point of view I mean from the pickup itself , bad winding techniques/ shorts? anthing to really watch for with regards to making sure it's not excessive? or is it more to do with the guitar/shielding/wiring etc

Mick

[Joe Gwinn]

Like it says , I don't mean from an interference point of view I mean from the pickup itself, bad winding techniques/ shorts? Anything to really watch for with regards to making sure it's not excessive? Or is it more to do with the guitar/shielding/wiring etc.

Make sure that the magnets and strings et al are grounded (everything metal), so when the musician touches them, no hum is heard.

[mick]

What about strat pickups? are the mags on these supposed to be grounded too?

Mick

[Possum]

magnets

yes they are when you use the coil start as the ground side of the coil, these get connected to the back of your pots which are the ground.....

[David Schwab]

What about strat pickups? are the mags on these supposed to be grounded too?

They should be grounded. But they usually aren't. Besides humming when you touch them, they act as antennas.

Stick some copper tape on the bottom touching the magnets and ground it.

[mick]

Thanks , it was a curiosity thing more than anything and I'm not sure I understand how you can earth the mags on a strat without having a short? I mean if one didn't do like David suggested....

Mick

[David Schwab]

yes they are when you use the coil start as the ground side of the coil, these get connected to the back of your pots which are the ground.....

Assuming you have shorted to the magnets? It is better to have the ground potential near the magnets... so even if you tape them, it's good to have the ground on the inside of the coil, assuming you have grounded your magnets.

[Zhangliqun]

The magnets of Tele pickups often touch the baseplate so they are grounded via the mount screws touching both plate and bridge, and the bridge is grounded. So I don't see how grounding the mags would be a problem.