Massive amounts of 60 cycle hum with my new EJ Strat; is this common?

[GAS Man]

Originally posted by RothnRoll I don't have any hum on mine. Gas Man.. EM Shorts will give you one for 1,350. Get one from them or get Musicians Friend to price match EMSHORTS. I did the latter (pricematch) and never looked back. The EJ is a GREAT... GREAT Guitar

 

 

Thanks for the tip.

 

I got mine from Music 123, but I'll look into price matching with them against EM Shorts.

[GAS Man]

Originally posted by Burningleaves I have had many single coil guitars. Some of them (the electronics) can get "hummy" pretty easy. Others not so much, but there is always some hum( the reg hum associated with singles). You might want to take your guitar to other places (out of your house) and see what the scoop is.

 

 

I'm going home in a few hours and will be trying it again.

 

I spent a little time today surfing reviews on the guitar at Musician's Friend and I don't notice much bitching about hum on this guitar.

 

I'm thinking I must have a lemon. But on the otherhand, they are such a simple guitar, what could be wrong??

 

I mean, I've checked the grounds and they seem fine.

 

I've played the EJ and heard it buzzing and then grabbed a $99 Squier '51 and have it sound damn near dead silent in comparison.

 

It is a puzzle.

 

Plus this time of year with winter storms blowing through, you hate to be leaving guitars outside your door for Fed Ex pickup and waiting to have another delivered.

 

Oh well.

 

But tonight, I will A/B this guitar against my Squier Tele Custom II (P-90). If the EJ out buzzes that Squier, it's going back fer sher.

[dk123123dk]

send it back. go play your other guitars that dont hum. no way should a guitar that expensive not live up to your standards.

also you should try the amp on a different outlet. pref somewhere away from your house. Maybe a power conditioner would help? sometimes the hum is comming from the power source. maybe because this guitar has "vintage style" pickups it just hums more than your other guitars.

but if you dont like it, send it back. play your '51.

dk

[DonK]

Originally posted by GAS Man Yeah, it gets really noisy when I remove my hands from the metal on the guitar. But there's still some audible hum when you're touching the strings too. It seems to make noise in all 5 positions, just a little different sounding. I'm at work right now on the lunch hour, but when I get home, I'll try another room in the house. I've only had this critter on my lap for about an hour althogether now, I got it just before we traveled off for Turkey-Day, and I played it again last night. I later played my Squier '51 in the same position, same amp and it was dead quiet in comparison (even just using the neck single coil).

 

 

I don't have any of this on my EJ, but did have it on my Strat Plus. I resoldered the various connections and got rid of it. I'd send the EJ back and get another. It's not common and you shouldn't have to deal with it. 60 cycle hum is an inherent single-coil PIA, but it shouldn't be extreme, and that's especially true of an EJ.

[Vibroluxman]

I've played 3 or 4 of them, and have never had a problem with hum. Might just be a lemon. I want to get one, partly because it has my initials (EJ) and is just about everything I look for in a strat.

[buddastrat]

The EJ's I had were very quiet. I don't know why some are some ain't. But I do read a lot about noise issues on these. Everything is grounded and all, and they still do it. Are the pickups just made wrong?


The noisest guitars I've ever heard were Highway one strats. Man those pickups love to hum.

[Richard Guy]

Is there a TV close to where you are playing that is on?

[GAS Man]

Originally posted by Richard Guy Is there a TV close to where you are playing that is on?

No I tried a couple different locations.

But I did play it again yesterday and found a lot of the hum had diminished.

We've had some radical weather lately and I don't know if that might have caused grounding issues in the house or excessive static build-up, but it was better.

I A/B'd the guitar next to a SRV last night and found that the EJ was now at about the same hum level or just a tad bit louder. The EJ had hum in positions 2 and 4 whereas the SRV had none audible in those positions. That made me wonder if the EJ was missing a reverse wound middle coil that is found on the SRV and many of strats.

So I still need to do some more checking before I'm sure whether it's the guitar or something within my house.

[Mighty Coogna!]

Something is odd about that guitar. Maybe you got a return where somebody switched out the pups? Do the solder joins look fresh and only melted/blobbed once?

[jjpistols]

Originally posted by Frets99 I didn't think a $1600 strat should be noisier than an $150 strat... unless the noise is a sign of quality.... :confused:

for that kind of money Anderson or Suhr can give you boutique quality 60 cycle hum

[GAS Man]

I was comparing the EJ again last night against my SRV. The SRV is definitely much quieter in positions 2 and 4.

Any one know if the EJ is lacking a reverse wound center pup??

But I also compared the EJ against my Squier Custom Tele II, a guitar that's known for a being a bit of a buzzy guitar. The EJ has a louder hum.

I'm still confused as to what to do.

I think I'll be taking a day off from work to travel south in search of a retail store that might have these in stock. I'm hoping I can bring my own guitar in and compare it against one in a store without getting thrown out on my ear.

Oh, the perils of mail order.

I'm beginning to wonder if the morale of this story is to stick with cheap guitars. Lower expectations = less disappointment. But it's weirding me out that although the tone is superior on the EJ, I've compared it against two cheapo single coil pup Squiers that had better noise reduction.

I could just send it back, but what if the next one is exactly the same? :eek:

[EdMan63]

Sorry to hear about your turmoil Gas Man. I have been gassing for an EJ myself and your story doesn't comfort me. I've heard some guys complaing on other websites about buzzing with their EJ's and other's have no complaints at all or they accept the 60 cycle as part of the Strat allure. But nothing extreme as in your case. It would be great if you can A/B against another in person. I hope it works out because I can imagine how you feel and your apprehension to order another with the same concern. Good Luck.