Unwanted noise

[Riptide]

My LP has P-90s in it and whenever I try to use a somewhat aggressive distortion with it it hums like crap when I'm not playing so I'm thinking of getting a noise suppressor but any tips on keeping quiet until then??

[krock]

My LP has P-90s in it and whenever I try to use a somewhat aggressive distortion with it it hums like crap when I'm not playing so I'm thinking of getting a noise suppressor but any tips on keeping quiet until then??

 

I find that if I keep my fingers just resting on the strings then that grounds it and stops the humming. you could change pickups, but i dont think you'd want to do that since you want a supressor. can i just recommend the decimator, its really good. Tbh, untill you get a pedal to sort it out, there really isnt that much that can be done apart from using a volume pedal or resting your fingers on the strings

[Twiz]

+1 on resting your hand on the strings, or bridge when you're not playing. Also, maybe turn your gain down a little. They're single coil's, so they're going to hum anyway, and more gain/distortion will only amplify that.

[Riptide]

I've been using the resting the hands on the strings trick for a while. And I do have a volume pedal which helps. There's no way I'm switching from P-90s. I guess I'll just have to suck it up until I get a suppressor.

[Twiz]

If it was me, I really wouldn't worry about it. That hum probably didn't bother Leslie West, or Neil Young, and they got some awesome sounds. Hopefully the noise suppressor helps you tho.

[ShredAstaire]

Boss NS-2...i just got one and i am happy with it thus far!

[DAS44]

First thing I thought when I saw this thread was "Rap?"

 

I'm adding one to the rest your hands on the strings.

[EVOL!]

This thread's title is an oxymoron.

 

There is no such thing as unwanted noise when talking about guitar.

 

My religion teaches Let thy sonic pallet be broad!

 

That is all.

[stein]

glad somone notices. p-90s hum loud. fenders hum, but when i person brings the p-90 to the table then we get a dose of what real hum is all about. sometimes, it can get real annoying, and you get complaints. at the same time, it seems like a lot of options kill the desire to have p-90s because the sacrifice is too much.

 

i have tried a few different grounding schemes, and nothing seems to work. in some cases, the guitar became less noisy to other noise and louder in the 60 cycle hum. that seems to be a dead end, unless some genious can tell us a new idea. we usually have little control over the environment, like amp placement and outside sources like neon signs or lights and the electricity, because we usually have other concerns like hearing each other and moving around. so, just supposing we are stuck with it.

 

the only solution a have ever come up with is to kill the guitar between tunes when it seems to bother poeple the most. i would use the volume on the guitar or hit the tuning pedal. poeple don't seem to notice as much during a tune, and more so, sometimes hearing the hum come up right before a tune, like when the drummer counts off, maybe seems to give a sense of being ready. it's almost interesting how that works. in some cases the listener gets used to it, and when and where the hum comes in seems to be what causes that effect.

 

so, in leu of a solution, getting in the habit of killing the guitar when that buzz hits is the only real way i know of. having the guitar off when you aren't playing is a good habit to get into anyway.

[G McBride]

I have several guitars with P90s and that is just part of it. Just the disadvantage of a single coil. Hum-buckers were designed to block the hum but you have to give something up to get that.

[krock]

are stacked p90's any good. I think billy joe armstrong has one in his signature model. think its a h90. that way you get the p90 sounds but with no hum

[dbreslauer]

 

My religion teaches Let thy sonic pallet be broad!

 

That is all.

 

 

AMEN!

[Riptide]

Thanks for the replies. Has anyone noticed tone loss with suppressors?

[Andy R]

Thanks for the replies. Has anyone noticed tone loss with suppressors?

 

Yes but a prescription of anti-suppressants will take care of that after a few weeks.

[Andy R]

glad somone notices. p-90s hum loud. fenders hum, but when i person brings the p-90 to the table then we get a dose of what real hum is all about. sometimes, it can get real annoying, and you get complaints. at the same time, it seems like a lot of options kill the desire to have p-90s because the sacrifice is too much.

 

i have tried a few different grounding schemes, and nothing seems to work. in some cases, the guitar became less noisy to other noise and louder in the 60 cycle hum. that seems to be a dead end, unless some genious can tell us a new idea. we usually have little control over the environment, like amp placement and outside sources like neon signs or lights and the electricity, because we usually have other concerns like hearing each other and moving around. so, just supposing we are stuck with it.

 

the only solution a have ever come up with is to kill the guitar between tunes when it seems to bother poeple the most. i would use the volume on the guitar or hit the tuning pedal. poeple don't seem to notice as much during a tune, and more so, sometimes hearing the hum come up right before a tune, like when the drummer counts off, maybe seems to give a sense of being ready. it's almost interesting how that works. in some cases the listener gets used to it, and when and where the hum comes in seems to be what causes that effect.

 

so, in leu of a solution, getting in the habit of killing the guitar when that buzz hits is the only real way i know of. having the guitar off when you aren't playing is a good habit to get into anyway.

 

Stein,

Never really checked out P-90's just wondering since they are single coil are they generally installed with 250K to 300K pots or are people using them with 500K's?

[stein]

Stein,

Never really checked out P-90's just wondering since they are single coil are they generally installed with 250K to 300K pots or are people using them with 500K's?

k..dig..this is the story the best i remember it:

the proper pot is supposed to be the 300k. the way the story goes is that back when the standard pots were 250 and 500k. gibson used one or the other. at some point, only 500k pots were used for everything. somebody got wise and started measuring the value of the pots, and it was discovered that the pots almost always measured closest to a 300k, and so it became the standard value.

 

now, i am not sure how much of this is accurate or remember how i got the stories. i do remember researching it to length because i was getting too many answers. the 300k value is the most accurate, as far as vintage spec is, and most pickup makers use this. new pots i have measured are usually higher, between 310 and 350k, when measuring a 300k pot, and the new pots i would measure in the 500k would almost always measure less than 500k, and the new 250k pots i would measure are almost always right around 250k.

 

short winded answer: 300k

[stein]

are stacked p90's any good. I think billy joe armstrong has one in his signature model. think its a h90. that way you get the p90 sounds but with no hum

the h-90 is mislabled or mistaken as being a humbucker. it is stacked, but it hums as loud as a p-90 using one coil and even louder using both.

 

the p-100 is an odd cookie. problably the most sterle, lifeless, plain sounding pickup you could have, which is exaclty opposite of the benifits of a p-90. they are voiced the same and have similar output and frequency responce, but are constructed in such a way as to kill the harminics. they sound kinda wierd, but yet, boring.

 

the general opinion with stacked humbuckers of any make is that they don't sound nearly as good as thier single coil counterparts.

[stein]

Thanks for the replies. Has anyone noticed tone loss with suppressors?

noise suppressors work not by altering the signal or cutting certain frequencies, so really the effect on tone and sound quality is like having another buffered pedal on bypass. very very slight. they work by cutting the signal completely when you are not playing. the amount is adjustable, so, if you set it at max it may kill the beginning of your note, and cut off the end. set it to little and the hum may be heard to come in and out at the beginning and end of your note.

 

i think guys who play speed metal or death metal find them very good because they get that silence in between cleanly timed chugs. but blues and jazz players who mess with timing find that the noise that comes and goes messes with the timing in unintended ways.

[pete c]

Yes but a prescription of anti-suppressants will take care of that after a few weeks.

[DiamondJig]

These are suppose to be the answer to our dreams http://www.kinman.com/guitar-pickups/p90/hx90.htm maube if I hit the lottery I'll give them a try

[Riptide]

I'll have to try out a suppressor then.

[Andy R]

k..dig..this is the story the best i remember it:

the proper pot is supposed to be the 300k. the way the story goes is that back when the standard pots were 250 and 500k. gibson used one or the other. at some point, only 500k pots were used for everything. somebody got wise and started measuring the value of the pots, and it was discovered that the pots almost always measured closest to a 300k, and so it became the standard value.

 

now, i am not sure how much of this is accurate or remember how i got the stories. i do remember researching it to length because i was getting too many answers. the 300k value is the most accurate, as far as vintage spec is, and most pickup makers use this. new pots i have measured are usually higher, between 310 and 350k, when measuring a 300k pot, and the new pots i would measure in the 500k would almost always measure less than 500k, and the new 250k pots i would measure are almost always right around 250k.

 

short winded answer: 300k

 

Hmm Good info. I noticed that the pots in both of my Explorer E2's were 300K but thought that might have been to compensate for the original Dirty Fingers pickups...