Hum cancelling for S-500

[uneumann]

Hum cancelling coils are not new, but I built one into an S-500 and it's quite successful.
I have details and pics on this site, if you're interested in how it's done.
https://sites.google.com/site/stringsan ... sc-pickups

[meowmix]

I am skeptical.

It looks to be a ton of work. Cost of doing it , outweighs the benefits.

The copper shielding won't help because you have 3 big holes where the PU go. In other words, it is not a Faraday cage when you have a metal rod connecting the outside to the inside.

Get 100 people to do this and have them all agree that it works, and I might change my mind.

[louis cyfer]

I am skeptical.

It looks to be a ton of work. Cost of doing it , outweighs the benefits.

The copper shielding won't help because you have 3 big holes where the PU go. In other words, it is not a Faraday cage when you have a metal rod connecting the outside to the inside.

Get 100 people to do this and have them all agree that it works, and I might change my mind.

. copper shielding helps a lot. it is not a complete cage, but it still cuts down by 80-90% of the rfi or emi, which is pretty significant. with shielded pups you do have a complete cage, but this is to combat 60 cycle hum, the copper shielding is to combat the rfi. the hum canceling (different from the emi) of these type of systems is very good, usually better than regular humbuckers. the suhr silent single coil system works, more than 100 people have agreed on it.

btw, the brilliance of this design is that you don't need to get a non rwrp pup for the middle, because with the superswitch it only adds the coil to the non humbucking positions, and flips the wind direction for the middle pup. i am sure the suhr sbpsc system could be modified for this, but stock it requires a pup change.

[uneumann]

I am skeptical.

It looks to be a ton of work. Cost of doing it , outweighs the benefits.

The copper shielding won't help because you have 3 big holes where the PU go. In other words, it is not a Faraday cage when you have a metal rod connecting the outside to the inside.

Get 100 people to do this and have them all agree that it works, and I might change my mind.

Louis made all my response points already, but I'll just add - it's actually not that much work if you've done any guitar wiring before. There is nothing hard about any of this - it's a coil of wire...

I've had that reaction "too much effort" from people who seem not bothered by hum or buzz at all. Their amps buzz, their guitars buzz, and they play on oblivious to it all, and I see no correlation to their musicianship.
I'm not one of those. Hum or buzz distracts me too much to ignore it, so it's worth some reasonable effort to me.

[meowmix]

I have tried the copper foil trick. No difference. snake oil.
That might be because I don't have RFI, EMI, or outer space aliens trying to communicate to me.

The re-wire design and the copper loop is something I have not tried.

[louis cyfer]

I have tried the copper foil trick. No difference. snake oil.
That might be because I don't have RFI, EMI, or outer space aliens trying to communicate to me.

The re-wire design and the copper loop is something I have not tried.

i have put the copper foil in many guitars, huge difference. if you have any transformers anywhere, such as in guitar amps, you have emi. also cfl bulbs are a big offender. of course you have to make sure everything is soldered together and grounded properly. do need the pickguard shielded as well.

[Philby]

I have tried the copper foil trick. No difference. snake oil.

I would have to respectfully disagree. I've used copper foil to almost silence 3 noisy strats, in conjunction with star ground wiring to remove earth loops. I can sit in front of my computer while playing and there's scarcely any hum whatsoever.

The key is to ensure that the foil has electrical continuity to ground. Without that, yes it is like snake oil.

[louis cyfer]

I have tried the copper foil trick. No difference. snake oil.

I would have to respectfully disagree. I've used copper foil to almost silence 3 noisy strats, in conjunction with star ground wiring to remove earth loops. I can sit in front of my computer while playing and there's scarcely any hum whatsoever.

The key is to ensure that the foil has electrical continuity to ground. Without that, yes it is like snake oil.

i have done 6 strats and it has worked great. using the full aluminum pickguard shield improved the results over just putting foil on the pickguard. did that on 3 of them, even better results.

[jakkanen]

I have tried the copper foil trick. No difference. snake oil.

I've gotten good results from copper foil treatment and will recommend it if the level of hum is perceived as a problem. It does not make a guitar dead quiet but it can provide a significant improvement. Star ground modifications to guitar wiring, however, are misguided and don't make any difference.

[louis cyfer]

I have tried the copper foil trick. No difference. snake oil.

I've gotten good results from copper foil treatment and will recommend it if the level of hum is perceived as a problem. It does not make a guitar dead quiet but it can provide a significant improvement. Star ground modifications to guitar wiring, however, are misguided and don't make any difference.

star ground eliminates the possibility of ground loops, and adds the ability to act as a safety device to protect from bad wiring at clubs. does not help with noise unless there was a ground loop present. of course shielding is not for hum reduction, rather for rf/em interference. the device in the op is what is needed to eliminate/reduce hum. a lot of people don't realize the difference between 60 cycle hum and rf interference. they are both noise, but from different sources.

[louis cyfer]

I am skeptical.

It looks to be a ton of work. Cost of doing it , outweighs the benefits.

The copper shielding won't help because you have 3 big holes where the PU go. In other words, it is not a Faraday cage when you have a metal rod connecting the outside to the inside.

Get 100 people to do this and have them all agree that it works, and I might change my mind.

did you read the s500 specific version? not in the immediate link. does not require any routing.

[jakkanen]

star ground eliminates the possibility of ground loops, and adds the ability to act as a safety device to protect from bad wiring at clubs. does not help with noise unless there was a ground loop present. of course shielding is not for hum reduction, rather for rf/em interference. the device in the op is what is needed to eliminate/reduce hum. a lot of people don't realize the difference between 60 cycle hum and rf interference. they are both noise, but from different sources.

Electrical safety obviously is important and I am not going discourage anyone from doing a ground isolation mod if they think it's potentially helpful.

As for star grounding, removing ground loops is only useful if they are causing a problem in the first place. Ground loops within an unshielded guitar can pick up a little RF noise but they don't contribute to hum. Shielding the guitar will block the RF noise and no further work is necessary.