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Thread: Noiseless singles: yay or nay?

  1. #1
    Forum Member Tonebender's Avatar
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    Noiseless singles: yay or nay?

    I know there are plenty of people that swear by their noiseless Kinman, Lawrence,Barden, etc. pups. But there are also others who say that noiseless pups don't deliver the same tone as regular singles.......

    What is the difference detected between these two types of pups? Is it a good or bad difference?

  2. #2
    Forum Member Marcondo's Avatar
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    There isnt a noiseless pickup made that sounds exactly like the single coils. But the Kinmans are about as close as you can get and still be noiseless.

    Before you try the noiseless ones completly shield your guitar and add a shielding plate to the underside of the pickguard this will reduce most of the hum. If you record on a computer and sit close to the monitor noiseless is almost a must have for a clean sound.

    On a live gig the band and crowd noise will cover up alot of the 60 cycle hum and other weird noises. Only time you really hear it is when everything is silent.

    Keep this in mind also all the Classic songs you listen to on a Strat were probably stock Fender single coil pickups.

    Hendrix used all stock Fender pickups his amps were modified but his guitars were stock Fenders. SRV used 59 Fender pickups rewound by old man Van Zandt on his #1.

    The Kinmans are the only noiseless ones that retain the character of the single coils all the other brands I have heard and tried sounded too hi-fi or just too clean and took the Strat sound away made a Strat sound like something completly differnet.

  3. #3
    Forum Member jokerjkny's Avatar
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    i'm not a noiseless fan,

    but i was pa'ing downtown for a friend's studio. he had to do some overdubs using a regular mic setup, and direct into a Palmer PDI-09. producer wanted to use a cool beat to crap '63 strat, but the noise thru the direct tone was ridiculous.

    so, next day, my bud brings his Melancon with Kinmans AVN Blues, and WOAH, the difference was dramatic to say the least. admittedly, the kinman's arent as bright nor chimey as my Lindy Vintage Hots, but it still had the feel and overall tone. i was very impressed at how it killed the noise but still had that stratty love.

    for any session dood, IMHO, Kinmans are a "must have".
    Last edited by jokerjkny; 08-18-2002 at 11:55 PM.

  4. #4
    Forum Member Tonebender's Avatar
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    So I guess you guys like Kinmans? They are on top of my list for pups I want to put in my USA Custom Strat.

    I figure AVN Blues aren't meant to be as chimey as vintage hots.....Maybe the Classics would have been a better comparison...I'm going nuts trying to fiigure out which Kinman set would best suit me......

  5. #5
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    Tonebender, shoot me an email and we can discuss your options. I'm sure we can help.

  6. #6
    Forum Member Scott P's Avatar
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    I'll vouch for the Kinmans.

    I have a set of Chris' AVn Blues + that I have compared against Fralins, Van Zandts, Suhrs, Fender CS and Voodoos and the Kinmans hold their own and exceed most of those other brands.

    They are quieter than standard humbuckers and have a very sweet full sound. They have a strong bass response but they can easily be dialed in to any tone you want by just adjusting their height. In fact, they sound good enough to buy just for their own distinctive tone. Being noiseless is just a bonus.

    I think the only area where they miss the mark as far as vintage single coil tone is concerned is with the high E and B strings. I think these two strings sound slightly more humbuckerish than single coilish. From what I understand though, Chris has made some improvements to his most recent models to make these strings sound more like single coils.

    Compared to other noiseless designs I have heard, Kinmans are easily the best and they even exceed several vintage designs.

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