VARIOUS HALF-MEASURES
For many Stratoholics that old familiar
single-coil buzz is just a fact of life, part
of the peculiar charm of this most iconic
of electric guitars. They’re either not
bothered by it, or they play mostly cleanish tones and thus view it as a very minor
inconvenience. If you tend toward this
attitude, but would still like to eliminate as
much hum and buzz as possible, then there
are a few ways to handle the situation. The
aforementioned noise gate pedal might be
the way to go, with the MXR Noise Clamp
and Boss’s classic NS-2 Noise Suppressor
being very popular choices. These are
great for cutting the hum between songs
or during quiet musical interludes. Another
option is shielding the guitar (assuming it
isn’t already shielded) either with foil tape
or conductive paint applied to pickup and
control cavities, including the back plate.
This can make a noticeable difference in
overall hum levels, especially if the guitar
in question was only minimally shielded
before.
36
TONE TALK //
This may sound obvious, but one final
option for reducing hum that a surprising
number of guitarists tend to overlook is to
simply back off the gain levels. The fact is,
a Strat-style guitar outfitted with vintagespec single-coils is a seriously antiquated
instrument. It was not designed for highgain situations of the kind that are so
common in the modern music landscape.
Leo Fender had clean sounds in mind when
he designed the Stratocaster in 1954, and
though it later turned out to be a fine match
for fuzz pedals and cranked tube amps, its
signature sound shines and sparkles most
effectively when it is not compressed and
distorted beyond recognition. So before
you go swapping pickups and buying noise
gates, try dialing back your rig’s gain levels
a couple of notches and then take some
time to listen and reevaluate. Your Strat
will thank you.
Shut Up, Strat: Hushing Your Strat Without Affecting the Tone