NOISELESS GUITAR PICKUP TECHNOLOGY

The concept of the ‘noiseless’ single coil is shrouded in much confusion owing to the fact that this definition is used both for what are really normal humbucker stacks and for a family of pickups that makes use of a new type of technology to nullify the humming.

Kinman New Gen-2 Zero-Hum S-Style Pickups.

Unlike stack humbuckers, which are actually normal humbucker pickups with identical coils put on top, to obtain a ‘noiseless’ sound, this new type of pickup uses a technology that Chris Kinman, one of its main users, calls DCT (Dissimilar Coil Technology).

This solution guarantees a hum-cancelling sound, based on the coupling of two non-identical but different coils. This happens thanks also to the use of some additional steel poles and a special shielding that guarantees almost perfect noise cancellation, whilst still maintaining the magnetic field and thus the sound of a standard single coil.

Dimarzio and Fender are other manufacturers that use this technology for the crafting of some models of their pickups.

Galeazzo Frudua

As a luthier and guitar making and repair teacher, since 1988 he has built making more than 350 boutique guitars and basses priced from 2,900 to 5,600 Euros and repaired and customized thousands of stringed instruments. His instruments and amplifiers are used by flagship artists, such as Chick Corea, Peter Gabriel, Ennio Morricone, Carl Verheyen. He owns two YouTube channels—where he teaches music—that count over 40 million views and about 200,000 subscribers and almost 200.000 subscribers.

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