Direct Drive noise questions

[David Barber]

Mr. Barber,

Thanks for responding to my question. (Especially considering I'm not technically a customer.)

The noise goes away when the volume knob goes down. The amp is set to the clean channel and the tone is completely clean. I realize my single coils and room and electricity and amp all probably contribute to the problem, but I A/B'd it again today with a third pedal, a high gain distortion, and my dd still came out the loudest when idling.

Thanks again for taking time out to respond to this.

Here is the simple rule, noise that is quelled when the guitar's volume is reduced, is pickup noise. Gain from pedals or preamps will make make this noise much more overt (they multiply it!), but you have to spray water at the base of a fire, never at the flames.

[pvictory]

As I said in an earlier post, based on all reports, Mr. Barber you had become a sort of folk hero around my household. (Even my wife who hates to hear about pedals, knows your name and reputation and recommends I buy all Barber pedals.) Considering your personal help with my problem, you've clearly lived up to this status. All this is to say I really appreciate your time.

As for the pedal, I love the sound of it and will have to try it in different locations and see if that makes a difference. I figure my DD has the most tone and genuine guitar sound of any of the pedals, so it must also give the most accurate room sound too. Probably at gig volume it will make no difference. I was just surprised I could hear the hum over a relatively loud household volume. If anyone has any suggestions on how to "spray water at the base of the fire" I'd love to hear them. I'm in the process of building a pedal board from the floor up (DD is my leadoff hitter) and before I buy the next one (looking at Dirty Bomb and LTD--I realize they're very different, but I'm not sure which way I want to go next) I'd like to feel like my noise is going to be tolerable to my bandmates.

Anyone interested in checking out our sound and making pedal suggestions, my band is at myspace.com/pyrrhicvictory.

I'm loving this forum so far. Thanks to everyone. Especially you, Mr. Barber.

(Haven't figured out the signature setup thing yet.) My rig is as follows (for now): Mia Strat > DD > 87 redknob The Twin

[Ronni]

Mr. Barber,

Thanks for responding to my question. (Especially considering I'm not technically a customer.)

The noise goes away when the volume knob goes down. The amp is set to the clean channel and the tone is completely clean. I realize my single coils and room and electricity and amp all probably contribute to the problem, but I A/B'd it again today with a third pedal, a high gain distortion, and my dd still came out the loudest when idling.

Thanks again for taking time out to respond to this.

Well... Doesn't sound like it's probably contributing. Sounds like it is the problem. If you turn the gtr volume off and the noise goes with it.. Then it's the gtr not the pedals.

[David Barber]

As I said in an earlier post, based on all reports, Mr. Barber you had become a sort of folk hero around my household. (Even my wife who hates to hear about pedals, knows your name and reputation and recommends I buy all Barber pedals.) Considering your personal help with my problem, you've clearly lived up to this status. All this is to say I really appreciate your time.

As for the pedal, I love the sound of it and will have to try it in different locations and see if that makes a difference. I figure my DD has the most tone and genuine guitar sound of any of the pedals, so it must also give the most accurate room sound too. Probably at gig volume it will make no difference. I was just surprised I could hear the hum over a relatively loud household volume. If anyone has any suggestions on how to "spray water at the base of the fire" I'd love to hear them. I'm in the process of building a pedal board from the floor up (DD is my leadoff hitter) and before I buy the next one (looking at Dirty Bomb and LTD--I realize they're very different, but I'm not sure which way I want to go next) I'd like to feel like my noise is going to be tolerable to my bandmates.

Anyone interested in checking out our sound and making pedal suggestions, my band is at myspace.com/pyrrhicvictory.

I'm loving this forum so far. Thanks to everyone. Especially you, Mr. Barber.

(Haven't figured out the signature setup thing yet.) My rig is as follows (for now): Mia Strat > DD > 87 redknob The Twin

I hate to recommend spending a little money, but that is the answer. It is time for noise canceling pickups like Kinmans, Dimarzio virtual vintage, or Fender noiseless. Suhr has a noiseless attachment that keeps your pickups stock if that appeals to you. The "base of the fire" is the noise that comes from single coil pickups, fortunately there are great options that keep the tone, but reduce the noise greatly.

[mjcyates]

If you end up going down that path you may want to consider Bill Lawrence pickups. They are a very nice lower cost alternative to those that David mentioned.

[pvictory]

David, Ronni, MJ,

Thanks so much for your help with this issue. I guess my question is how can I confirm what pickups are already in my strat. I was under the impression that my stock American Strat (91) already came with noiseless pickups (Lace Sensors). Obviously, though, its been lot of years since I bought it and they don't say anything right on there. It makes sense that they might not be. I guess I just never considered it before.
Thanks.

[David Barber]

David, Ronni, MJ,

Thanks so much for your help with this issue. I guess my question is how can I confirm what pickups are already in my strat. I was under the impression that my stock American Strat (91) already came with noiseless pickups (Lace Sensors). Obviously, though, its been lot of years since I bought it and they don't say anything right on there. It makes sense that they might not be. I guess I just never considered it before.
Thanks.

Post a pic and we can all take a stab at it... while we are at it, could you please add your equipment to your signature as per the rules of participation here...it really helps!

A link to a sound file would be the icing on the cake, but I usually give members a few weeks before I nuke their account for non-compliance...what can I say? I am exceedingly lenient!

[pvictory]

Alright, I figured out the signature thing, and there I am.

As to the sound clip, I've got a link to my band's music on there, but are you looking for a clip of the noise? I don't have access to any home recording gear as of yet, though I'm working on getting something set up so I could post clips, that may be a few months away though. I will get a picture up here soon. Looking at my owner's manual, however, I see that a lot of the 91 strats did have Lace Sensors, but it doesn't look like mine did. They don't say it for one thing, which may not mean much, but also most of the other models that had LS's came with that roller nut or locking tuners or other high end Fender accoutrements. In any case, I will post a picture soon (when I'm not at work). Hopefully your exceedingly kind leniency won't run out between now and then. As always, I appreciate all the help.

[CalebT]

pvictory:

Lace Sensors will look like this on a guitar i.e. no polepieces

You might want to try a different guitar (like a Les Paul) with your rig and see if it makes a difference. If so, do consider the noiseless single coil options that we have suggested.

Cheers

[pvictory]

Caleb:

Thanks for that post. It clearly signals that I do not seem to know what I'm talking about, which is not atypical. I obviously don't have Lace Sensors. Mine clearly have the more vintage style with the polepieces showing. They are almost certainly the stock pups, but I didn't buy the guitar new, so can't be sure.

Also, does anyone have thoughts about humbuckers in a single coil shell, such as hot rails and the like. I really like the tone of my strat, but my band plays music that ranges from fairly clean to pretty heavy. I like the fact that my single coils provide clarity on ringing chords with 7ths and open notes, etc, but sometimes on plain old power chords it takes a whole lot of gain to get the crunch I'd like (also on the faster and longer sustaining sections of solos). I realilze these are questions which have plagued guitarists since the discovery of lighter fluid, and you all probably have more pressing things to think about than my tone and gear issues, but as always help is greatly appreciated.

Last question (for now): Is there a "David Barber" of pickups? Now that I'm committed to replacing mine, I want to find the best for my buck--especially if they can be made by somebody in USA instead of mass produced in China or some other giant low-labor-cost nation. If not, cool, but I just wondered. I never knew about Barber (ingoramus that I was) until I started asking questions about pedals, so I have to ask.