software

OK, I got the magnet swap finished and played around a bit with the Custom Custom. I have to say this is much better. I really like the full mids, they make a really pleasing, thick distortion with my mesa. Using the sparkle drive and the mesa it is a mid fest! Cutting tone without any Ice pick at all. I love the even tone, and it does great cleans. Smooth and pleasent presence.

I like it alot, but it is still really noisy. I switch to it and it is just about as loud as the single coils in my strat. I do notice that I can get the noise to reduce in volume depending on where I'm standing, but even at its lowest noise levels it's really noticeable. I'm only running my amp at very low levels due to the fact that I live in an apartment, so I'm concerned that when I crank it I'm going to have an extremely loud buzzing/humming noise. I'm pretty sure its nothing in the signal chain because when I select the noise-canceling position 4 (neck and mid single coils) on the guitar it is dead quiet.

So, do you think I could send it to the custom shop and see if they can rewind it? How much do you think it would be? Do you think it would help?

I was looking at musiciansfriend.com and I was thinking about buying a new one (of course I'd like to get this one lined out and get a JB)

Thanks in advance.

Hey, I have a CC and is noisier than my previous duncan designed ceramic pickup. I've heard that is because of the A2 magnet. From what I've heard, Ceramic are the quietest, then A5, then A2. So I don't think that a rewind will help. I've seen that it depends also on your position and orientation in the room.
By the way, when I'm playing I can't hear the hum and I think the CC is one of the best sounding pups, so I can live with that.

maybe you have a cold solder joint, or maybe it is just a noisy pup. Instead of paying to get the pup rewound you should probably invest in a noise reduction pedal. this way your singles wont hum either.

i have one CC that is somewhat noisy, and one that is dead quiet

I'm just wondering if there is a way I can get a rewind that is guaranteed to be dead quiet. I like the pickup, but the noise is way too much.

Under high gain, it is a bit noisy but no more noiser than a JB. High gain = more noise. One way to really cut all noise down from your guitar is to properly shield and ground it. See the quot;Quieting the Beastquot; mod at www.guitarnuts.com.

The type of magnet has nothing to do with it.

Everything is noisy with high gain because the sensitivity is magnified. The way some folks crank up the gain, if somebody sneezes two blocks away, it comes through the amp.


Originally Posted by ZhangliqunThe way some folks crank up the gain, if somebody sneezes two blocks away, it comes through the amp.
That's priceless sig material


Originally Posted by ZhangliqunThe type of magnet has nothing to do with it.

Everything is noisy with high gain because the sensitivity is magnified. The way some folks crank up the gain, if somebody sneezes two blocks away, it comes through the amp.I agree about the gain, but alnico mags are noisier than ceramics; they act almost like an antenna because of their metallic composition.

I don't know whether it has anything to do with the composition of the magnet, but the increased output of ceramic magnets means that they will drive an amp harder at any given setting compared to alnico magnets. As a result, you might actually be backing off the amp and pedal gain/volume settings (and thus reducing the attendant noise) when using a ceramic mag pickup compared to an alnico mag pickup.


Originally Posted by ErikH

That's priceless sig material

Hey, I made it to somebody's sig! Will that get me one of those giant stars?

No? Gotta be 700 posts, no exceptions, huh? Oh well.....


Originally Posted by ZhangliqunHey, I made it to somebody's sig! Will that get me one of those giant stars?

No? Gotta be 700 posts, no exceptions, huh? Oh well....

I find humor in it not only from personal experience with insanely high gain but from the insane amount of questions about high gain and noise that I see.


Originally Posted by ErikHI find humor in it not only from personal experience with insanely high gain but from the insane amount of questions about high gain and noise that I see.

So, let me get this right.

My Humbucker is noisey and my single coils are not and it's about how much gain I'm using? Don't think so.

My JB Jr doesn't have hum but my CC does, under the same settings, so it is apparently something wrong with what I'm doing. Don't agree.

I've had this pickup in and out of several guitars and it's always had a hum with either alnico 5 and alnico 2.

I don't think you guys are reading the origional posts.

Thanks for the help to those offering suggestions. Next time I'm make a note in the first post that I'm not a newbee.

Oddly enough, magnet type actually CAN make a difference in terms of noise. I have seen a few CC's over the years that were noisy, and when the magnet was swapped for ceramic, they were perfectly quiet. Sometimes alnico II is just a bit noisy.


Originally Posted by NapsSo, let me get this right.

My Humbucker is noisey and my single coils are not and it's about how much gain I'm using? Don't think so.

My JB Jr doesn't have hum but my CC does, under the same settings, so it is apparently something wrong with what I'm doing. Don't agree.

I've had this pickup in and out of several guitars and it's always had a hum with either alnico 5 and alnico 2.

I don't think you guys are reading the origional posts.

Thanks for the help to those offering suggestions. Next time I'm make a note in the first post that I'm not a newbee.

I'm not singling out your situation. I have 2 CC's. Both have some noise but with lots of gain. If I have little or no gain (nice acoustic like sound), they are quiet. My JB's are the same way. Granted, I'm not much of a fan of ceramic humbuckers and don't have any but when I did have an original Dirty Fingers, it behaved the same way. I can live with the little that I do get for the tone that comes with it.

Noise can be reduced and almost eliminated by star grounding and good shielding.

Through the same guitar and same rig with the same settings, I've found the CC to be noisier than my other bridge humbuckers. Why? Who knows, but when we asked this question a year ago or so, I believe someone at SD said that the A2 magnet was better at picking up radio interference.