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Thread: Hot Noiseless muddy except for bridge PU

  1. #1
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    Hot Noiseless muddy except for bridge PU

    Hi all, I'm new here. Big time Strat lover/player.
    Recently installed a set of the Hot Noiseless pup's and other than the bridge only setting, everything seems pretty muddy, especially compared to my VN set.
    I wired it according to the diagram that came with the set.
    Is it possible I over looked something that would cause this?
    I've also heard differing opinions on what pots should be used, any recommendations?

    Thanks,
    Chris

  2. #2
    Forum Member Joobsauce's Avatar
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    Re: Hot Noiseless muddy except for bridge PU

    how much have you messed with your amp, I find going from one single coil guitar to another it really needs a lot of tweaking to get it to sound decent.
    Quote Originally Posted by sting7777
    tone knobs just get in the way of things like windmills and playing with your teeth upside down anyway

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    Re: Hot Noiseless muddy except for bridge PU

    Quote Originally Posted by Joobsauce View Post
    how much have you messed with your amp, I find going from one single coil guitar to another it really needs a lot of tweaking to get it to sound decent.
    I understand your thinking here, but something is not right.
    I ended up taking it into the shop today where we compared it against a stock Mex Strat. The stock Mex was by far the superior in sound. It was audibly apparent something was amiss.
    I will be interested in seeing what they find and will post a follow-up.

  4. #4
    Forum Member concert410's Avatar
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    Re: Hot Noiseless muddy except for bridge PU

    You sure the pickup heights are right?
    A good, screaming Strat just might be the greatest guitar sound of all..... -Slash

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    Re: Hot Noiseless muddy except for bridge PU

    Quote Originally Posted by concert410 View Post
    You sure the pickup heights are right?
    That thought crossed my mind as well.

    I have the Balmer book that I used as a guide for my setup. It gives recommendations for Tex Specials, Vintage and Humbuckers only so I wasn't necessarily convinced what the right height should be.
    Do you have a spec on this?
    Thanks-Chris

  6. #6
    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: Hot Noiseless muddy except for bridge PU

    adjust them by ear. i start with the bridge pup, cause that seems the hardest to dial in, and then set the others to match it. i'm sure if you search the fender site they'll give you measurements. there is nothing wrong with going that route. but i've found that it's only a place to start. tweak to taste and rock on!
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

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    Re: Hot Noiseless muddy except for bridge PU

    Quote Originally Posted by chuckocaster View Post
    adjust them by ear. i start with the bridge pup, cause that seems the hardest to dial in, and then set the others to match it. i'm sure if you search the fender site they'll give you measurements. there is nothing wrong with going that route. but i've found that it's only a place to start. tweak to taste and rock on!
    Thanks Chuckocaster,
    I've been searching the Fender site and haven't had much luck.
    I was checking out the wiring diagram for the Strat deluxe which uses the noiseless pup's. I see in the parts list 1 meg tone pots, that seems a bit overkill to me?

  8. #8
    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: Hot Noiseless muddy except for bridge PU

    the 1 meg pot is what will give the "zing" or top end to the pickups, beings that it won't load them down with as much resistance as say a 250k pot (pretty standard fender part).

    i hope you don't think my repsonse was a contrived one. but what i've learned is that "factory specs" will get you close, real close, but you'll need to tweak from there to get everything to work for you. the factory figures out a baseline set up for guitars so that they can pretty much ship them anywhere, check the set up, and have some schmoe pull it off the wall and be able to play it and have it sound good. that's why i say to tweak on. everyone plays a little different so a guitar should be set up accordingly.

    you might want to search for a basic set up on mr gearhead, or search google for some dan erlewine articles.
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

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    Re: Hot Noiseless muddy except for bridge PU

    Well,
    I finally got to the bottom of this and thought I'd post a follow-up in hopes that the info may be useful to someone else down the road.

    It turns out when I was wiring this up that I never even noticed on the wiring schematic that a jumper was needed between 2 and 3 on the switch which in turn caused the pickups to play out of phase.

    Easy to fix and easily overlooked as well
    (by rookies like me anyway)

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