Need help finding quiet passive humbuckers

[wagz]

Alnico's are noisier, because of the eddie currents.
That's why ceramics are quieter. Less eddie currents.
Covers can help a humbucker with noise.
I've buuilt stacked pickups, never cared for them.
Top coil is usually louder, & more efficient that the bottom coil.
My experience, they are super bright, unless overwound with small wire.
Also, I've found insulated shielded pair to be quieter than push back braided single.
Make some pickups if you want to? Can be fun, but not necessarily a money saver!
T

Could be a noisy electrical area you are in. Also, a good quality shielded guitar cable does help.

<snark>
For less than you've payed for a boutique pickup, you could buy the Squire, keep the HB, and throw out the guitar.
Then, if the pickup is noisy in your Strat, you'll know you have a wiring/shielding problem.
</snark>

True. I've actually thought of doing that. This particular Squier plays decently (I put this one out on the floor after I sold an exceptional one) and is one of the lightest electric guitars in our shop. That includes thinline hollowbodies, too.

I don't think that I have a wiring shielding problem, though. At least, not in my Strat with the Zexcoil configuration. It's dead-quiet in most positions. It easily does more than twenty sounds, too. I can re-solder that whole pickguard back on in minutes.

Also, I don't really want to own the pickup or the guitar. I just want to know why and how it is so quiet when, usually, only the stack pups are this quiet and that Jackson guitar, IME. It would be cool to build something this quiet, but with a better tone.

[big_teee]

I've rewired a lot of guitars & Basses.
Rewired some that were noisy, for guitar shops.
It is usually the total package, that get's them quiet.
Combo of shielded wire, shielding foil, and proper grounding.
And, quiet pickups.
On strats, I start with a full one piece aluminum foil glued to the pickguard.
Mount the components to that.
Shielded wire from jack to the volume pot.
Run ample grounds to bridge & tremelo, etc.
GL,
T