Fender Noiseless vs Single Coil Pickups - Do Noiseless Pickups Totally Suck?

[@93greenstrat]

To me, the benefits of noiseless single coils (i.e.; humbuckers in drag) outweigh any supposed loss of high end sparkle or other minor (IMO) compromise in tone. Now if you just want all that single coil goodness, then do your thing. But the ability to capture better than 90% of the classic single coil tone without noise is worth it.

[@InteliLEX]

I dont know - Whilst I certainly do agree with your statement with regard to 90% of “Noiseless” Pick-Ups - I have to say my Stratocaster Plus with Gold Lace Sensors Sounds DEAD quite in comparison to the Fender “Noiseless” Pick-Up’s demonstrated here & they have an absolutely brilliantly sublime “chime” I have found almost impossible to duplicate on any pick-up noiseless or not

[@Dannys.channel]

Noiseless hides your crappy technique. I like it but at the same time I don’t because there are things in the tone of a strat I don’t want it to hide. I wish you could turn the feature off on top of an a switch

[@InteliLEX]

@@Dannys.channel What’s wonderful particularly about the “Lace Sensor” PIck-Ups is that they are not designed anything at all like “Noiseless” or any other Single-Coil - Noise Reducing PUP - They are VERY uniquely designed- Check Out their website

[@johndolores315]

@@Dannys.channel Hide our crappy technique? More like hide an annoying noise for the sake of the audience.

[@regularjack2]

@@InteliLEX yea but I’m gonna be honest, I think that stacked single coils sound better than regular single coils. Their tone is nice and bright but also fat with plenty of body. Got a dimarzio in the bridge of my Tele and I’m switching the neck out soon. Had the beige for years and I’ve never been tempted to put the original back in.

[@scke3717]

Own both: noiseless are more compressed and more forgiving of dynamic shortcomings (thus less expressive), more "even" sounding. If you play gigs with terrible electrical issues or have bad home wiring go for the noiseless, otherwise you know, wearing a thin condom is almost like not having a condom except that it isnt :)

[@DGoetz26]

I was listening with my eyes closed, and every time I’d hear a note or run that I thought particularly sounded great I’d open my eyes and it was the white guitar each time. But I think they both sounded pretty good.

[@888jimm]

That's why 66% of my guitars are white 😂🤣

[@SergeiVlassov]

@@888jimm 😁😁😁

[@lagoonrd4173]

Wayne’s world guitar is also white 😂

[@sublyme2157]

Both sound fantastic, maybe it has something to do with the guitarist :) I chose the Ultra because I use it in a band context. Any sound differences between noiseless and traditional pickups are completely lost in the mix, and no audience on earth will ever know (or care) about a difference. It either sounds good or it doesn't, and these Ultras sound very, very good! For live playing I get all the great strat tones and none of the hiss.

[@regularjack2]

Yep, I’ve had a stacked dimarzio in the bridge of my Tele for years never tempted to put the original back in. Gonna switch the neck soon too. Playing with distortion already hums enough even with buckers there’s nothing worse than stopping playing for a sec and having this annoying ass hum

[@armandom28]

EQ pedal may fix the missing sparkle

[@fiddlix]

I actually prefer the noiseless over the single coils. Great review as always. 👍🎸

[@EgorKlenov]

Non-noiseless pick-ups sound better to my liking, but I'd think twice before choosing them over the noiseless ones -- is it worth the buzz?

[@enonknives5449]

I think there is too much unconscious bias in this type of shootout. The tests need to be blind. I'd also like to see the output on a spectrum analyzer to see if the differences are real or imagined. Even assuming that there is a slight noticeable difference, that doesn't make either better or worse. They are both great.

[@SergeiVlassov]

I was reading comments while listening and I thought he was playing all the time the same guitar in the jam, so I did not notice a difference in blind test. But in the second part I noticed slight loss in high frequencies for one of the guitars.

[@fen79strat]

🤪 The tone was close. I think most will miss the noise i.e. response of single coils. I have guitars with both noiseless and standard. In clubs with bad electric noiseless can save a lot of grief. Not enough difference for most to tell in a gigging situation.

[@bobbob-wv7ho]

dam bro, came here for a comparison but ended up just loving your playing. that is some good shit homie

[@craigthomson3621]

Playing next to a popcorn machine, under fluorescent lights, in a venue with dodgy wiring - then Noiseless. Otherwise a set of Abigail Ybarra or Josefina Campos pickups cannot be beat (you can always turn the volume down between numbers if noise is a real issue). That said the noiseless pickups on the Ultra are the best iteration of the concept yet.

[@Andyanddiana467]

Heh, that first sentence literally describes half of the places I play in...so, noiseless is a necessity.

[@aidantod33]

I have noiseless in my Strat. Perfect. They don’t suck at all. Great to be free of the noise.

[@jojojojojojojojojojojojob]

noiseless usually suck. its the execution that matters and somehow fender does it right. i have the ultra vintage and gen4 noiseless.. both are phenomenal.

[@lionelb.1482]

unbelievable: 40 years of strats playing, and i think I prefer the noiseless pickups! Didn't see that one coming.😋

[@jamalabdul2009]

Both guitars sound amazing and have that classic Stratocaster single coil tone. The Ultra noiseless pickups are slightly less clear and bright than the 50s Original but it's a small difference. Man I want that Ultra!!!

[@gabrielzachary5804]

Everyone bagging noiseless pups need to understand this, if you start with a very clean almost sterile base tone you can always alter it via accessories ( pedals, amps, ect ) Remember these are not classical guitars where internal bracing designs and woods affect the actual tone, these are solid blocks of wood being electronically amplified !!!!! LOL PS - This is also why the Strat is the most versatile electrical guitar ever made, you can play fusion, jazz, funk , contemporary rock , then configure with pedals / amps to play heavy rock / metal can you create a clean, refined tone from a humbucker ?????????? Nope.

[@nekkon1989]

Here's the deal. If I want to play clean, I use single coil pickups. If I want distortion, I use humbuckers. What is the need for noiseless pickups?

[@voiceofexperience]

My '72 Tele Custom says Hi!

[@DaveyMulholland]

Cool story bro. Yawn.

[@stephenkennedy7347]

It's good to have the option - standard single coil Strat pickups sound a lot better to me as they have more top end sparkle. Noiseless pickups also sound a little nasally and compressed - not quite as open. That being said I would still use the Noiseless pickups without hesitation if I had a guitar with them.

[@InteliLEX]

Really, depends on the PUPs - The Fender “Noiseless” however sound precisely as you described

[@evilpicklebluesband]

I was just wondering what number noiseless pickups you were using 3's or 4's? Both straps souned great either way to me different sounds make different creations.

[@voiceofexperience]

The noise-cancelling pups sound very nice, just not as "Straty" as the ol' buzzers.

[@steveburrows101]

I prefer the noiseless for most of my playing (yes, I have a set). They are a little rounder, slightly less toppy, and that suits me.

[@DMSProduktions]

A bee's DICK between them! Given a choice, I'd take noiseless any day! Maybe some less subtlety in the trebles, but that COULD be compensated for BY 1 dialling in a bit more treble on your amp, OR 2, raising the pick ups each a few mm closer to the bottom of the strings, that will make them sound a bit brighter as well! 6 o' 1, half a dozen of the other! YMMV! Good comp Shane! \m/ BOTH sounded like STRATS to me mate!

[@DMSProduktions]

@@EarthSouthside Yes maybe, but your original premise does not stand up!

[@Aniki82]

Maybe 500K pot or even 1M would change that too?

[@DMSProduktions]

@@Aniki82 GOOD suggestion! A bit more loading would get more trebles out of them!

[@DMSProduktions]

@@EarthSouthside Danke!

[@monstroguitars4550]

The reason they don't sound similar at all is because the noiseless is not a single coil pick up. Its a stacked humbucker wound in a single coil bobbin. A noiseless single coil will always have characteristics of a humbucker. Just my opinion.

[@stephenfeldman8104]

Thought experiment. Imagine that when the Stratocaster (and Telecaster) was first produced the pickups were hum free but then years (decades) later someone came up with an identical looking pickup boasting that they sounded superior BUT. . . they buzzed, would anyone prefer them? I doubt anyone would want them.

[@DaveyMulholland]

Very good point indeed

[@OssianEMills]

The Noiseless is a Strat with with a bow tie- tamed, refined. The regular pickups are a Strat in the raw- wild, hairy, and ready to get dirty.

[@egg43002]

lol Shane you forgot to edit out your bad takes in the final thoughts.

[@rpntfrndisnr1879]

The noiseless P/U's, are not as bright sounding as the regular ones. And I own a Strat with vintage noiseless P/U's.

[@7387470]

What ever happened to the Lace Censor pickups that Fender used in the 90s

[@noeticflatulence]

Yeah, the noiseless pickups suck. Players like the calibre of Eric Clapton or Jeff Beck would never use noiseless.... oh wait a minute....what?

[@intheblues]

Those Jeff Beck Hot noiseless pickups are great I had a set in an old Strat. :)

[@FendergodGaming]

There's no doubt the single coil sounds better than tge noisless in my opinion 😅🙌

[@simon_patterson]

They all sound fine to me. The quality of the player far outweighs any tiny differences between them. Thankfully the quality of playing on this channel is always top notch! So of course they all sound great.

[@indigos290]

I got both types. I don't regret my vintage noiseless. I love their tone.

[@j.a.s.1416]

My Vintage Noiseless came with 1Meg Pots. I think that's the secret sauce.

[@danielbuhr4260]

I really love both sounds, but this is just further proof that it hardly matters at all. Both sound so good and hardly different. Cleaner sounds from the noiseless but that's not a bad thing, just preference. Obvious positive being that they don't hum lol

[@Adrian-xn3ss]

I think the Ultra noiseless pickups are the best Fender have ever made. Some of the previous generations like the SCN and N3 I really didn't like at all. The Ultras genuinely sound great even if they don't sound exactly like single coils.

[@FabioMagnoni]

I have a Fender Deluxe with N3, they suck! I'm looking to change for a brighter pickup

[@Lancoreh]

Vine por una comparación de cápsulas, no a que me enamoraran. Jajajjaa. Tremendo feeling.

[@PaulCooksStuff]

Even on a lowly phone speaker there's a subtle difference, on the clean head to head at least. The white had a smidge more top end sparkle and initial bite. The texas was like listening outside an open door. If the ultra was all you'd ever had, I think you'd be happy. They've improved a lot. But there's still just that last few percent of the original character thats not quite there (yet), if you want to be a slave to tradition.

[@RonSiwicki]

Fishman Fluence pick ups sound the best

[@GraniteSoundtrack]

Your Strat looks better. It sounds more Fendery, I mean the good jangled wirey Fenderiness that the guitars are known for. The high end is more defined. But the ultra sounds pretty good too. Wouldn't be disappointed to have strat that sounded like that, but next to great true single coils I'd notice a bit of difference. Tiny bit.

[@GraniteSoundtrack]

@@EarthSouthside yup

[@intheblues]

Noiseless or Original Single Coils? Please let me know in the comments which one and why. 😎

[@quiksilver78]

Seymour Duncan STK-S4 👍

[@adamski101]

Room for both I think. The Ultra would be a great live guitar. If only owning one then I would probably keep things traditional.

[@Shawn-Whitfield]

Side question: what overdrive are you using? Sounds killer! 😎

[@intheblues]

@@Shawn-Whitfield VS Audio Royal Flush Dual Overdrive pedal

[@TheWelhaven]

I have the HSS Ultra, it’s the perfect strat for me.

[@dustinglass]

The pickups in the HSS are hotter than the ones in the SSS, so curious if they would noticeably different than the ones in this demo.

[@johnsmith-ug5tp]

Single coil👍

[@nostro1001]

Great comparison Shane. 👍 I'm thinking that whatever tonal differences there were it was marginal. So much so, unless there are some sort of drawbacks to the noiseless you didn't mention, then noiseless for me if the option was there from the outset. Conversely, I'm not gonna go out and switch out my single coils for noiseless. Cheers. 😎✌️

[@lostreb]

Still not a fan of Noiseless Pickups. I most definitely will "NOT" pay "Extra" for noiseless. Noiseless pickups do "Nothing" for me!!! I'm one of the camp that things that Fender wants to make me pay more for a color I want "just because" it has noiseless pickups!?!?!?!? Not gonna happen. I'm staying with my American Professional II's with zero problems!!!! Why should I pay more for something I do "NOT" like. (Guess what...The same goes for the Player Plus Line. I'm not about to pay more for something I do "not" want, much less "like." I know you didn't go down that road, but, it was there. I had to make the comment!!! I'm also 100% positive Fender will pay zero attention to my displeasure, but, I had to say it!!!)

[@CraigFlowersMusic]

They get better and better, but even still noiseless pickups just haven't yet figured out how to get that snap on the attack right. Something about how they're made must inherently give them humbucker-like compression. Not to mention the sparkle is all but gone.

[@julioguerrero8849]

In my experience, these gen-5 Ultra Vintage pickups are very bright, chimey and even abrasive if you crank them up, that's why I prefer to turn tone and volume knobs down between 6 and 8 on mines most of the times. Especially when setting overdriven and dirty tones. Clean tones are beautiful and sparkly. On my Bassbreaker 007 amp, using the S1 switch to engage the additional pickup combos is like summoning some of Buddy Guy's vintage clean tones.

[@michaelk7035]

I tested both when i was looking for a new Strat. The noiseless surprised me as they sounded so good but in the end i bought the American Pro II with the Single Coils. I still preferred these slightly although the noiseless have come a long way!

[@andrewg1016]

Both sounded really great. I have a Fender Original 50s Strat, and had to swap out the original pick-ups out of necessity, as the guy who set up my strat damaged one of them. I had a new set of custom 69s lying around (unused), and was really surprised on how much better they sound to my ears than the original 59 single coils, with a stronger mid range.

[@888jimm]

I have a set as well and they are just right.....

[@tonedriverss8629]

The noiseless sound fine . Much better than what the old ones sounded like . I like the plastic coverings . Maybe thats the trick to their great sound ? lol : ) Seriously fine sounding . Better than the Lace sensors I had tried back in the 90's . Cool topic .

[@joybuzzer]

I've got an American Ultra Telecaster. I quite like the pickups. Not only do I think they not suck, I bought Ultra Noiseless pickups for my Strat. As I always say, if it sounds good it is good.

[@paulfitz61]

A lot of great comments I guess at the end of the day it's down to our own personal choice I have an Eric Clapton with vintage noiseless pickups and a 1955 dual mag 1 alder 1 ash body each guitar has its own persona but both sound fantastic

[@eastbaystreet1242]

same. love both.

[@peskypesky]

Ugh. I still prefer the single-coils. More sparkle. More bite. More character. To my ears at least. But I think it's a good idea to have one Strat with noiseless pickups if you're gigging a lot.

[@Dreamdancer11]

If the strat is your weapon of choice you owe it to yourself to put a set of kinmans in there(pretty much any set) and you have the best of every world.....stratiness without statitis....excellent cleans but also all the gain stages you ll ever need while being quieter than an actual humbucker....i have the blues set, the woodstock plus set and the old hank marvin set....the guitars may or may not go at some point..those pickup sets ll stay.

[@romzen]

Noiseless pickups lack dynamic range, twang, smacking, liveliness and soul. They sound almost as compressed as humbuckers. Living in Europe I have not much of a problem with humming. At the same time even a mild noisegate is perfectly capable of dealing with the noise. If I wanted a superstrat I would go for Schecter, Kramer, Ibanez and likely opt for Fishman Fluence or something with comparable definition.

[@xb5883]

Those noiseless sound great but the single coils definitely sound different.

[@aaronp6426]

I think the ultra sounds pretty awesome. Single coils are still my favorite but I've got a 50s vintera with v3 noiseless with an s1 switch in the volume knob (just so ya know which I mean) and it absolutely kills. Great job as usual

[@WhitewaterDrummer]

Doing sound in bars for years now, I can attest that once the guitar's run through your pedals, amp, mic, and venue PA, it's more about the general character of your tone than the nitty gritty, and the Noiseless still sound like a proper strat. I've seen poignant moments in music ruined many times by bad buzz, I've never seen a moment ruined by a pickup sounding 5-10% different.

[@stevewinnall3631]

I have wanted a real Strat all my life and finally purchased an Elite with N4 pups. I could not get the real Strat tone I was hoping for and I play mainly clean. However I love all the modern appointments of the Elite. Compound neck and fingerboard, cut away heel, locking tuners, great look in general. So I removed the whole pickguard and made a new one up using Custom 69s. Now it sounds fantastic and has all those other goodies to boot. I even put stainless steel frets in as Shane has often commented on and they are smooth as. Now very happy with my one and only Strat.

[@57ebartley]

The regular single coils had more definition and the noiseless compressed easier. My favorite thing about Strats is the quack and the noiseless definitely had less. Of course I have 3 Strats and they all sound different too. But I have been at certain gigs where my Strat was just making an horrible noise. In those situations I would have gladly used the Noiseless pups.

[@xoxb2]

I've tried old noiseless pickups, so maybe I'm still scarred by that, but they still sound more like a generic loud single coilish thing than they do a strat. It's particularly noticeable in the mixed positions.

[@KUM0]

I can't stand clean noiseless tones, 0 sparkle, dull, boring. Maybe for higher gain, but I tend to record with humbucker guitars for that purpose.

[@MuddahFukkah]

I would say the noiseless pickups are better. The common single coil sounds more "traditionally" but the hum is often detectable and I did not like it very much. It degrades the sound quality tremendously. The noiseless pickups are very clean and the sound feels almost the same as the traditional single coil. If I were to choose between those two, I would probably pick the noiseless pickups. Fender did an amazing job with them imho. I would pick the standard single coil only if I was focusing blindly on retro sound/feel. P.S. A little bit of advice: if you are reviewing some new pickups, it would be a good idea to remove the foil that covers them. The difference is almost negligible but I would remove the foil anyway.

[@mangelgc8963]

Buena comparación! Aunque coincido con que debería ser un blind test! Btw, Cómo se llama la música que comienza a sonar en el min 7:59?

[@kimmolingonheimo]

I like my Yamaha Pacifica 112vs pups, prefer Dumblish rounded jazzy tones anywhoo, and with too much hum, I just stomp on my EHX HumDEbugger, a wonderful tool!😎

[@rockhead11]

It VERY MUCH DEPENDS on which Noiseless pickups are in the guitar. Vintage noiseless are Alnico ll which maintain a lot of the Strat sound while Hot noiseless are ceramic - which were in my Strat. They are dull and lifeless. The most boring pickups I’ve had in 50 years of electric guitars.

[@DennisAlvarezMusic]

Hi Shane, To be honest, the noiseless pickups faired much better then I expected. I'm thinking that with just a slight tweak in the treble frequencies, you might be able to get them to sound virtually identical. I would be very interested in a video with you doing that. Merry Christmas 🎄 Shane. :-)

[@BrewReview]

On my Elite, a quick little boost with a clean EQ is all it really needs to shine just like non-noiseless pickups. However I do find the N4’s to be pretty dark overall in most positions for some reason.

[@jimmy5634]

That’s true, you can make them sound very similar. You can bring the regular pickups down to the voicing of the noiseless, but you can’t raise the noiseless to the clarity of the regular ones. It’s the laws of physics. IMO, you either like the regular pickups for what they are or you don’t.

[@spider5001]

What the heck! I just noticed I wasn’t subscribed anymore. Well I resubscribed lol. Anyone else have that happen to them?

[@nazmoking3171]

The noiseless pickups sound darker to me - lose some of that chime and sparkle. The whole idea of the strat is to get that classic strat tone - shows you still need the single coils to get that. I DO hear the improvement Fender has made in the noiseless pickups when gain is applied.

[@thejoshbtv]

I'll deal with the buzz. Noiseless still has this lifeless feel to them.

[@dangeorge809]

There are much better noiseless/zero-60-cycle-hum pickups out there than Fender's. Kinman just to name one. I've got a 2010 Deluxe Stratocaster with their Noiseless pickups, and my '96 Mexican Strat is fitted with a set of Kinman Blues pickups. It's night and day to me, really. One of these days I'll get around to replacing the Fender Noiseless pickups with a set of Kinman's Magnum Opus pickups. Hugely expensive yes, but from what I've heard of them, the tone is insanely good.

[@arielcorrea842]

Compre unos hot noiseles usados corrobore son originales y hacen igual de ruidos que los demás, pero me podrían decir si puede ser problema del los micrófonos o han conectado mal algo?

[@tonycross2449]

No buzz with the noiseless. But the single coil white guitar has much more attack. I have an Ultra and other single coil American Strats. So I kinda already knew. But good video comparison.

[@mikaelakkus]

Hello (and others);)) I have a question for you. I have a korean squire strat 1997. I am thinkin abt buying a noisless 4 th gen (or your suggestion?) fender pickup set or buying a mexican strat (with usal pickups on it). What would u suggest chnging pu or buyin usual mexican, ı am new on electr guitar. Thnx

[@somebodyelseuk]

I commented on yer Ultra Strat video about the noiseless pickups. The problem is that Fender wires them in as if they're single coils. They're not. They're 9k(ish) humbuckers. They should have 500k pots and maybe even a 0.047 cap.

[@PerryCodes]

The ones that were on my American Deluxe I bought in '99 totally sucked. I had no idea they were actually stacked humbuckers. Sounded like... well... not like a Strat, for sure.

[@ROLEPLAYA64]

I listened with eyes closed, and every time I preferred the sound I opened my eyes. It was about 90% the white strat. Just more sparkle and dynamic range.

[@leoself9858]

Never really been a ‘strat person.’ (Tele) Nice comparison, I was wondering what noiseless pick ups were like? I love that Texas Tea colour, but the white one sounded better. Deal with the hum. 👍🏻

[@lespoy445]

I think I would Eq some sparkles back into the neck noiseless PU. Not toning the bridge standard down makes them noisy, and thinner than the noiseless. And not brightening the noiseless neck makes it sound flatter than the standard. So I think trying to achieve the best tone from either would have the player make some eq adjustments to compensate for the pros and cons and somehow it would be useful to hear that in a comparison one day. It might be similar to comparing humbuckers and single coils with the same sound settings which would be unfair to both clean and saturated. And I thought the neck/middle setting for the noiseless coils would be a lost cause, but liked them more. And the standard bridge/middle setting beat the noiseless coils at the same setting hands down. I imagine Noiseless Coil lovers begging for some more bright at the neck position, and Standard Coil lovers begging to tone the bridge down a bit. That said, you did set an excellent middle ground for the comparison. So the middle setting PUs were a little different, yet both middle coils sounded nice. But my vote will go to the Noiseless coils because there might be more potential when we allow for adjustments.. Thanks.

[@joejones4237]

Rather have better hihn end and use the ISP hum extractor + decimator G .i have in my studio ISP hum extractor + decimator G . best $600 you'll spend . I use live also . Takes out that awful coil buzz and helps on other double hum pickups aswell

[@maraviyoso8473]

Why do noiseless single coils "suck?" No one has told me a single solitary reason they. . . suck. Just because they sound different??? Oh, what a sin!!!!!

[@gregmock6808]

I have a frankentele that I put a gold bridge lace sensor in the middle pickup slot and I love it....it gives me lots of sparkle...more than the normal middle position lace sensor would....I'd probably put the bridge lace sensors in all three single coil slots...my guitar has a Dimarzio neck humbucker....a middle gold lace sensor and a standard fender bridge humbucker ....it's a tone monster although I'll probably swap the bridge with a Seymour Duncan JB bridge pickup I've got .....

[@brCharlieNagy]

unfortunately because of the music no noise can be heard , so we still don't know ...

[@shanewalton8888]

Go for the true singles and just use a noise gate if needed.

[@Aniki82]

NG have like nothing in common with noiseless pickup Oo

[@JayTheLane]

Noise Gates just choke your dynamic response unless set up very carefully even then seem to suck out the dynamic response.

[@shanewalton8888]

@@Aniki82 Well, I would say they have something in common if the goal is to eliminate 60 cycle hum. Turn it on when you need it, turn it off when you don't.

[@shanewalton8888]

@@JayTheLane I can see your point, but not all noise gates are created equal. There are those where you can do quite a bit of fine tuning to your sound.

[@zebfox011]

Why? You Can't tell a noisless fom a reg single coll while listening to a song anyways! If it sounds good then use it!

[@ronaldgoebel2174]

You all are looking at this the wrong way for sure! The guy that said he didn't look and could not tell the difference wins the new strat with noiseless and classic pups. Look, I have been a guitar tech all my life, I am 68 now and still fix and play. Noiseless pups were made for playing in live situations where you have neon lights, fluorescent lighting, bad grounded buildings and the like. If you ever played a bar with a wall of neon signs behind you in the good old days before noiseless pups and noise gates it was a nightmare. Hence the need for noiseless pups. Although a good noise gate will do the trick as well. Like some said, you can EQ the differences out. If you put 20 guitar players on a stage and you were blindfolded, could you really tell which ones had single coils, humbuckers, noiseless, vintage, strat, tele, les paul, ibanez, or even care as long as it sounded good like Shane? No way you could tell but when you are watching a video like this, your brain leans towards what you have already programmed it to hear. JUST PLAY AND NOT WORRY! Back in the day we bought a guitar and we didn't have parts to upgrade or replace. That's the way it was and you dealt with it. You all are spoiled completely rotten today. Just play and quit chasing tone. It will drive you to an early grave!

[@Mikelennon78]

Can't come to terms with my original 50s Mary Kaye. The neck is just too hefty, for my hands. Have just ordered an original 60s and will sell the 50s.

[@keithrigden7597]

Excellent demo. Things like set-up Pup height, blah blah blah can change things, not to mention pots and caps. Wanting to get my '80 USA strat to stop yelling at me, but I love the tones she gives. Gonne have to do some hard thinking on this.

[@barbmelle3136]

From Leo: GREAT riffs man, I enjoyed your work so much, it did not matter what you were playing

[@gokhanalagoz16]

i tried both. ultra sounded artificial and the paint was too thick. I chose the original 50s😎. because its a real blues soul. Also, the channel is very enjoyable, thank you.💯

[@7387470]

I'm putting a set of these pickups in my MIM Telecasters and the Eric Johnson pickups into my Stratocaster.

[@silviolutti1522]

The white vintage American sounds much better. But it's not just a matter of pick ups. The 6-screw bridge gives more Sustain, more mids and lower. In the black one the sound is almost mids scooped. The two-pivot bridge, the micro tilt neck and the bi-flex pull rod greatly enhance the highs and give a less natural and more metallic sound to the detriment of the medium-low frequencies.

[@csl4159]

Hey Shane I found your channel from the "This needs to STOP" video regarding paid promotions and youtube content creaators. Why have you removed comments? Annihilating open discussion on the topic seems rather cowardly and makes me belive you don't have the argument to stand behind the things you say aside from rhetoric. Makes me feel like you only made that video because you knew that putting creators on blast would gain you attention. Slimy. Great playing by the way.

[@jettav88]

I know it is a tough question and there are multiple factors but as a lefty I need your help fast please, I would like to upgrade from my PRS entry level SE to maybe a Fender Pro II or Fender Ultra or Gibson Les Paul or SG. What is the best upgrade out of these. Want to buy once instead of multiple guitars. Not going to gig with it just for my own music at home. Thank You!!

[@tomenglish6408]

I'll stick with the single coils in my '88 American Standard. I'm old and i like the scratches and pops in my vinyl! What's the name of the jam track? It's killing me that i can't remember.

[@ricmel8008]

@ Intheblues, I think you should have clarified which Fender noiseless you are describing. I own more than one Fender noiseless. Your description says "new" there are many new noiseless pickups. There are the Vintage new, Hot new, Ultra noiseless. The guitar you are using is a Fender Ultra, so I am assuming you did not swap the stock pickup, that means you are using the new Ultra Noiseless. All the different noiseless pickups have different tones. Your description is kind of vague for guitarist who are not as knowledgeable as you are.

[@chadlong1109]

Why fix what isn’t broken? That Strat single coil sound is responsible for like 40% of rock and roll. If you really need a humbucker, just put it in one of the in between positions.

[@stephan4985]

I prefer the traditional. It makes me wrinkle my nose listening or playing… Your playing is phenomenal in this video. Could you make a tutorial for old love? Would appreciate it a lot!

[@studuke1952]

No right or wrong…personal preference…….no better or worse……..I didn’t like the noiseless in my Clapton so swapped them for Bareknuckle single coils….someone else might do the exact opposite 😉

[@grateberk6435]

I dont really get the point. Are the noiseless more feedback controllable? I like Gretsch pickups, i also like simple cheap and cheerful Telecaster pickups. I think the white guitar sounds more fun. (ps i am a lefty too!)

[@BParker55]

Absolutely nothing can beat fat 50s imo. Man they're just so juicy

[@davep1808]

I got the noisless on a player plus strat and once i got used to the tone tap, jeeze through my twin reverb? It was like thy were made for it. If i need some sparkle, i just switch to G&L, a real sounding strat with Leo's mfd picker uppers.

[@jamesmoffatt6435]

Top 'o' the mornin', Shane....Jimbo here from the Great (snowy) State of Washington. Happy Holidays to You & Your's!! Another great demo, as usual! I totally agree with Your final thoughts on these 2...not much difference, sonically...the noiseless pickups just lack that full Top end sparkle of the single coils. A little trick I learned from another video was to install a short piece of surgical tubing inside each, or 1 or 2, of the tremelo springs, which also seems cut the hum/buzzing native to the single coils. Works pretty good for pennies cost. Merry Christmas....!!

[@andybown68]

I have the same noiseless in my Ultra Luxe and, personally, I wouldn’t dream of swapping them out for regular single coils. There are definitely things the single coils do slightly better but, overall, I think the noiseless are more versatile.

[@Aniki82]

yeah.... Also what's good with noiseless pickup is that you remember that you have a "premium" feature every time you plug in For example I've antiquity surfer 2 on my main strat I like them very much, but I'm still wondering 7 years later if maybe the Texas would have been better? ?? Or maybe this or that and etc etc While when you have a premium noiseless, you do have tangible feature to compare when playing As long as they have good High end spectrum ofc

[@ricmel8008]

I agree. I have a Fender with Vintage Noiseless. And I have a 2018 Squier Bullet. My Squier bullet blows it out the water in comparison to tone.

[@quiksilver78]

I've used those noiseless pickups recently. The Seymour Duncan stacked STK4S pickups sound much much better and a hell of a lot closer to the true single coils - I guess for obvious reasons

[@andybown68]

Like I said, ‘personally’. I have CS Texas Specials in my other strat and they are better for certain sounds but overall I prefer the noiseless. As for others, make your own choices.

[@NoUploadJustComment]

Don't think of them as single coils. Think of them as verticle humbuckers.