![Schema kytaryzt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Schema_kytaryzt.jpg)
The Fender Noiseless™ series is a line of
electric guitar pickups made by the
Fender Musical Instruments Corporation
The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC, or simply Fender) is an American manufacturer of instruments and amplifiers. Fender produces acoustic guitars, bass amplifiers and public address equipment, however it is best known for its ...
designed to cancel
60 cycle (Hz) hum noise while retaining the characteristic sound of
single coil
A single coil pickup is a type of magnetic transducer, or pickup, for the electric guitar and the electric bass. It electromagnetically converts the vibration of the strings to an electric signal. Single coil pickups are one of the two most po ...
pickups. Introduced in 1998, these pickups consists of a pair of single coils stacked one on top of the other, compacted so as to match the shape and width space as a traditional Fender single coil guitar pickup, while being only slightly taller. The upper coil is actually the sound source, while the lower coil is responsible for the 60-cycle hum attenuation.
Alnico
Alnico is a family of iron alloys which in addition to iron are composed primarily of aluminium (Al), nickel (Ni), and cobalt (Co), hence the acronym ''al-ni-co''. They also include copper, and sometimes titanium. Alnico alloys are ferromagnetic, ...
V magnetic bars span from one coil to the other, crossing a soft ferrous steel spacer plate that isolates them, without touching it. The spacer plate has mainly two functions: to isolate the lower coil from the vibrations of the string, making sure that the sound is picked up only from the upper one, and to increase the
magnetic flux
In physics, specifically electromagnetism, the magnetic flux through a surface is the surface integral of the normal component of the magnetic field B over that surface. It is usually denoted or . The SI unit of magnetic flux is the weber ( ...
that passed through both coils, increasing the output of the pickup. This is to be contrasted with the original noise canceling pickup, the
humbucker
A humbucking pickup, humbucker, or double coil, is a type of guitar pickup that uses two wire coils to cancel out the noisy interference picked up by coil pickups. In addition to electric guitar pickups, humbucking coils are sometimes used in d ...
, which is a double-wide, horizontally adjacent pair of single coil pickups with opposing phase.
The series includes models for electric guitars and bass guitars.
Pre-Fender Noiseless
![Fender Strat Ultra pickguard (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Fender_Strat_Ultra_pickguard_%28cropped%29.jpg)
From 1987 to 1998 Fender used
Lace Sensor
The Lace Sensor is a guitar pickup designed by Don Lace and manufactured by AGI (Actodyne General International) since 1985. Lace Sensors are true single coil pickups; however, internally they are different from classic single coils. The chief di ...
pickups on its
Strat Plus
The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously ...
model Stratocaster. Lace Sensors are an innovative design of pickups using a unique radiant field barrier system that surrounds both the coil and magnets, eliminating annoying 60 cycle hum. The patented Lace Micro Matrix Combs replace traditional
bobbins, yielding a wider tonal range and better string balance than traditional pickups. Lace Sensors were also configured on some Fender models as
Dually Dually may refer to:
*Dualla, County Tipperary, a village in Ireland
*A pickup truck with dual wheels on the rear axle
* DUALLy, s platform for architectural languages interoperability
* Dual-processor
See also
* Dual (disambiguation)
Dual or ...
pickups (two adjacent single coils operating as a quasi-humbucking pickup). Lace Sensor pickups are still available from Lace Music Products with many more variations than offered on Fender guitars. The pickups installed on Strat Plus guitars display “Fender Lace Sensor” on the cover. Later “post-Fender” versions sold by the Lace Music Co. have "Lace Sensor" embossed on the cover. The Gold Lace Sensor model was the pickup of choice for years by
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He rose to prominence with the Yardbirds and after fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to a mainly instrumental style, with a focus ...
,
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...
, and
Buddy Guy
George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray V ...
on their Signature Series Stratocasters. The Strat Plus Standard uses three Gold Lace pickups, but other varieties of Lace Sensor pickups were use by Fender on different models of the Strat Plus.
Vintage Noiseless
![Stpickups](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Stpickups.JPG)
The Noiseless pickups now referred to as Vintage Noiseless™
were original equipment on the
Fender American Deluxe Series
The Fender American Deluxe Series was a line of electric guitars and basses introduced by Fender in 1995 and discontinued in 2016. It was upgraded in 2004 and 2010 before being replaced by the American Elite series in 2016.
The American Deluxe ...
Stratocasters made between 1998 and 2003. They are now widely used on many Fender guitars made in their
Ensenada, Mexico
Ensenada is a city in Ensenada Municipality, Baja California, situated on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. Located on the Bahía de Todos Santos, the city had a population of 279,765 in 2018, making it the third-largest city in Baja California. The ...
facility (so-called "Made in Mexico", or "MIM" guitars) and
Fender Custom Shop
The Fender Custom Shop is a division of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, housed within their headquarters complex in Corona, Riverside County, California. The Fender Custom Shop produces special-order guitars for customers through a Custo ...
guitars, and have been the stock pickups on the
Eric Clapton Stratocaster
The Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster is the signature model electric guitar of English guitarist Eric Clapton. It was the first signature model guitar released by Fender.
Background
Eric Clapton played a range of different Fender and Gibson mod ...
signature model since 2001. Vintage Noiseless pickups and are still sold by Fender. Vintage Noiseless pickups use
Alnico
Alnico is a family of iron alloys which in addition to iron are composed primarily of aluminium (Al), nickel (Ni), and cobalt (Co), hence the acronym ''al-ni-co''. They also include copper, and sometimes titanium. Alnico alloys are ferromagnetic, ...
II magnets. These pickups were the result of three years of research aimed at combining the advantages of single coils with those of humbuckers: the characteristic sound of the former and the silence of the latter. Fender's intent was to develop a pickup that could evoke the vintage Stratocaster sound and the silence of
Lace Sensor
The Lace Sensor is a guitar pickup designed by Don Lace and manufactured by AGI (Actodyne General International) since 1985. Lace Sensors are true single coil pickups; however, internally they are different from classic single coils. The chief di ...
pickups.
The Stratocaster version is identified by the word "Noiseless" in gold cursive on the aged white or black pickup covers and the use of staggered pole pieces. The Stratocaster set of Vintage Noiseless pickups comes packaged with two 1MΩ
potentiometers ("pots") and a .022µF
capacitor
A capacitor is a device that stores electrical energy in an electric field by virtue of accumulating electric charges on two close surfaces insulated from each other. It is a passive electronic component with two terminals.
The effect of ...
for tone controls, one 500kΩ pot for volume control, a 680pF
capacitor
A capacitor is a device that stores electrical energy in an electric field by virtue of accumulating electric charges on two close surfaces insulated from each other. It is a passive electronic component with two terminals.
The effect of ...
and a 220kΩ
resistor
A resistor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that implements electrical resistance as a circuit element. In electronic circuits, resistors are used to reduce current flow, adjust signal levels, to divide voltages, bias active el ...
for a treble bleed circuit, and a wiring diagram. Vintage Noiseless pickup sets are also available for the
Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful Les Paul had built a prototype solid bod ...
and
Jazz Bass.
Features include:
*PolySol-coated magnet wire
*Staggered, hand-beveled pole pieces
*
Alnico
Alnico is a family of iron alloys which in addition to iron are composed primarily of aluminium (Al), nickel (Ni), and cobalt (Co), hence the acronym ''al-ni-co''. They also include copper, and sometimes titanium. Alnico alloys are ferromagnetic, ...
II magnets
* Fiber bobbin
* Vinyl-coated output wire
* Neck/Middle/Bridge output: 9.8kΩ
* Neck/Middle/Bridge Inductance: 3.0 Henries
Samarium Cobalt Noiseless (SCN)
The Samarium Cobalt Noiseless (SCN) series was a subsequent line of stacked electric guitar and bass pickups; these were designed by
Bill Lawrence with the goal of further reducing noise while improving the "single coil" tone of the pickup and were fine tuned by Fender. Introduced in 2004, they were similar to the
Vintage Noiseless The Fender Noiseless™ series is a line of electric guitar pickups made by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation designed to cancel 60 cycle (Hz) hum noise while retaining the characteristic sound of single coil pickups. Introduced in 1998, ...
pickups, but Lawrence's research into controlling magnetic
eddy current
Eddy currents (also called Foucault's currents) are loops of electrical current induced within conductors by a changing magnetic field in the conductor according to Faraday's law of induction or by the relative motion of a conductor in a mag ...
s led him to employ miniaturized
samarium cobalt alloy magnets instead of
Alnico
Alnico is a family of iron alloys which in addition to iron are composed primarily of aluminium (Al), nickel (Ni), and cobalt (Co), hence the acronym ''al-ni-co''. They also include copper, and sometimes titanium. Alnico alloys are ferromagnetic, ...
V. Samarium cobalt is a rare earth magnet that is more powerful than the Alnico V magnets traditionally used in pickup design. The SCN pickups were a standard equipment feature on the
American Deluxe series
Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously ...
from 2004 to 2010, and were available for the
Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful Les Paul had built a prototype solid bod ...
and
Jazz Bass, but are no longer manufactured by Fender. The earliest Stratocaster SCN pickups had no external marking; later models had the SCN logo lightly stamped on the bottom right corner of the pickup covers, but the letters were not colored, making them hard to discern. The covers were available in white, black, aged white and parchment, but the Tele sets were offered in black and chrome only.
SCN features include:
*Noise-free design
*Traditional and samarium cobalt magnetic material
*Wider, softer magnetic field
*Neck -
L: 2.4
H, DC resistance: 6.5k
Ω
*Middle - L: 2.4
H, DC resistance: 6.5kΩ
*Bridge - L: 3.8
H, DC resistance: 11.5kΩ
Hot SCN
Hot SCN pickups were used only on the HSS (Humbucker/Single/Single)
American Deluxe Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously ...
from 2004 to 2010. Hot SCN pickups claim a hotter output than a standard SCN Strat pickup and were designed for proper balance with a hot humbucker in the bridge position. The American Deluxe Series HSS Strat was designed with one single coil SCN pickup in the neck position, one single coil Hot SCN pickup in the middle, and one DH-1 ("Atomic") humbucking pickup at the bridge.
Hot Noiseless (Ceramic Noiseless)
![Fender Hot Noiseless](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Fender_Hot_Noiseless.jpg)
The Fender Hot Noiseless™ (Ceramic Noiseless) Strat Pickups
are an overwound version of the original Fender Noiseless pickups with ceramic magnets.
Ceramic magnets
A ferrite is a ceramic material made by mixing and firing large proportions of iron(III) oxide (Fe2O3, rust) blended with small proportions of one or more additional metallic elements, such as strontium, barium, manganese, nickel, and zinc. Th ...
are quite strong and as such are normally hotter. The hotter (higher DC resistance) a pickup is the more it is going to push an amp and typically the more it is going to overdrive/distort. They produce pronounced mids and a quick bass response. The strong magnets allows the pickup to retain articulation and clarity, even when introduced to extreme gain. These pickups are identified by the word "Noiseless" in silver cursive on the aged white pickup cover, just like the Vintage Noiseless. However, they can be distinguished by the fact that all pole pieces are flat (non-staggered). Hot Noiseless Strat pickups have been standard on the
Jeff Beck signature model since 2001, but were never available on the
American Deluxe. They are still available from the
Fender Custom Shop
The Fender Custom Shop is a division of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, housed within their headquarters complex in Corona, Riverside County, California. The Fender Custom Shop produces special-order guitars for customers through a Custo ...
.
Features include:
*Ceramic magnets
*Polysol-coated magnet wire
*Flush-mount pole pieces for every string
*Vinyl-coated output wire and plastic bobbin
*DC resistance: 10.4k
Ω (Neck/Middle/Bridge)
*Inductance 3.0
Henrys (Neck/Middle/Bridge)
N3 Noiseless
![Fender N3 Noiseless pickups](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Fender_N3_Noiseless_pickups.jpg)
N3 Noiseless™ pickups were available on
American Deluxe Stratocasters from 2010 until 2016, at which time the American Deluxe was superseded by the
Elite Series Stratocaster. The N3 Noiseless set was designed with different types of magnets at the three pickup positions: Alnico III at the neck for a rounder sound, Alnico II at the middle for a sweeter sound, and Alnico V at the bridge for a hotter sound.
N3 Noiseless pickups were manufactured by Fender for the Stratocaster,
Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful Les Paul had built a prototype solid bod ...
, and
Jazz Bass but are no longer available from Fender. They are identified by the cursive Fender logo and "N3" in silver cursive on the white pickup cover.
N3 features included:
*DC resistance: 6.8k
Ω
*Three types of magnets:
**Neck:
Alnico
Alnico is a family of iron alloys which in addition to iron are composed primarily of aluminium (Al), nickel (Ni), and cobalt (Co), hence the acronym ''al-ni-co''. They also include copper, and sometimes titanium. Alnico alloys are ferromagnetic, ...
III
**Middle: Alnico II
**Bridge: Alnico V
* Mildly staggered and beveled pole pieces
*
Formvar magnet wire
*Vinyl-coated output wire
*Solder-less printed circuit board bobbin
Gen 4 Noiseless
Gen 4 Noiseless™ pickups were installed on the
Fender Elite Stratocaster The Fender Elite Stratocaster is an electric solid body guitar that was manufactured by Fender in 1983 and 1984. The name was revived from 2016 to 2019 with the Fender American Elite Stratocaster Series.
History
The Elite Stratocaster was introduc ...
from 2016 to 2019. They are identified by the cursive Fender logo and the word "NOISELESS" in silver, upper case, block letters on the aged white or black pickup covers, the underside of the pickups have "N4 MVT" printed on them. Gen 4 Noiseless pickups for the Stratocaster,
Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful Les Paul had built a prototype solid bod ...
, and
Jazz Bass are still available from Fender.
N4 features include:
*Noise-free, vintage-style tone
*
Shielded wire for even more noise reduction
*
Alnico
Alnico is a family of iron alloys which in addition to iron are composed primarily of aluminium (Al), nickel (Ni), and cobalt (Co), hence the acronym ''al-ni-co''. They also include copper, and sometimes titanium. Alnico alloys are ferromagnetic, ...
V magnets
*Mildly staggered pole pieces
*DC Resistance:
**Bridge: 10.3K
**Middle: 10.3K
**Neck: 10.3K
*Inductance
**Neck/Middle: 3.2 Henries
**Bridge: 3.6 Henries
*Lead wire color identifies neck/middle/bridge
Ultra Noiseless
Ultra Noiseless™ pickups were introduced on the Fender Ultra Stratocaster, Ultra Jazzmaster, Ultra Telecaster, and Ultra Precision Bass in 2019. The Ultra Noiseless pickups are a complete redesign over the Gen 4 Noiseless pickups, including different magnets and staggered, unbeveled pole pieces. Ultra Noiseless pickups come in two versions. The Ultra Noiseless Vintage pickups come standard on the Ultra Telecaster and Ultra Stratocaster SSS, and are said to deliver "authentic Fender single coil sound without hum." Two Ultra Noiseless Hot pickups are standard on the Ultra Stratocaster HSS, and are said to offer modern performance and classic tone so the user can launch their amp into overdrive. They are paired with a Shawbucker Double Tap
humbucking pickup
A humbucking pickup, humbucker, or double coil, is a type of guitar pickup that uses two wire coils to cancel out the noisy interference picked up by coil pickups. In addition to electric guitar pickups, humbucking coils are sometimes used in ...
in the bridge position, which can be used either as a single coil or as a full humbucker. Visually, they are identical to Gen 4 Noiseless, with the cursive Fender logo and the word "NOISELESS" in silver upper case block letters on the aged white or black pickup covers. The hot version uses gold lettering. The underside of the vintage pickups are inscribed "ULTRA STRAT VINTAGE", while the hot version pickups bottoms are blue with the inscription "ULTRA STRAT MODERN". Each pickup has three leads. All black and green wires are grounds; the “hot” leads are red (bridge), blue (middle), white (neck). Both versions are currently sold by Fender as retail packages.
Ultra Noiseless Hot pickup set features include:
*Polysol coated magnet wire
*Staggered non-beveled polepieces
*Alnico V magnets
*Vinyl lead wire
*Installation hardware
*DC Resistance
**SSS Ultra Stratocaster
***Neck: 7.9-8.7kΩ
***Middle: 7.9-8.7kΩ
***Bridge: 21.6-22.2kΩ
**HSS Ultra Stratocaster
***Neck: 12.3-12.9kΩ
***Middle: 12.3-12.9kΩ
***Bridge: 14.21kΩ Shawbucker Double Tap
*Inductance
**Neck: 3.75
Henrys
**Middle: 3.75 Henrys
**Bridge: 6.6 Henrys
Player Plus Noiseless
Player Plus Noiseless pickups were introduced on the Fender Player Plus Stratocaster and the Player Plus Telecaster
in 2021. Some consider these pickups to be a modern version of the original
Vintage Noiseless The Fender Noiseless™ series is a line of electric guitar pickups made by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation designed to cancel 60 cycle (Hz) hum noise while retaining the characteristic sound of single coil pickups. Introduced in 1998, ...
pickups. They are identified by the word "''Noiseless''" in gold cursive on the aged white pickup cover, similar to the Vintage Noiseless. The Player Plus noiseless pickups use Alnico V magnets and are hotter than the Vintage Noiseless Alnico II pickups. Fender installs them with 1MΩ pots for both tone and volume controls in the Player Plus guitars. Technical details for these pickups:
*Flush-mount pole pieces
*DC resistance
**Neck: 10.2-10.4 KΩ
**Middle: 10.2-10.4 KΩ
**Bridge 10.7-10.9 KΩ
Fender Guitar Models Configured with Fender Noiseless Pickups
![Jeff Beck EnmoreTheatre](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Jeff_Beck_EnmoreTheatre.jpg)
*
Jeff Beck Signature Stratocaster
*
Eric Clapton Signature Stratocaster
*
American Deluxe Stratocaster
*Deluxe Roadhouse Stratocaster
*Elite Stratocaster
*Ultra Stratocaster
*Ultra Luxe Stratocaster
*Player Plus Stratocaster
* H.E.R. Signature Stratocaster
* Tom Morello Stratocaster
* Deluxe Player (Super Stratocaster)
* Player Plus Telecaster
* Ultra Telecaster
* Ultra Luxe Telecaster
* American Ultra
Jazzmaster
The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar designed as a more expensive sibling of the Fender Stratocaster. First introduced at the 1958 NAMM Show, it was initially marketed to jazz guitarists, but found favor among surf rock guitarists in th ...
References
{{Fender
Guitar pickups