Getting rid of pick up noise?

Are you using an old CRT monitor?  LCD monitors shouldn't cause any hum.

I'm talking about the hum your guitar makes when it's close to the monitor (screen).  If you have an LCD, it shouldn't hum at all unless you put your guitar right up close to it, which would cause a very deep humming sound.  Keeping my guitar 2 or 3 feet away from both of my LCDs gives me silence.
 
Are you using single coil pickups?

Yeah Im using a fender lead II, should try my les paul and see if it is the same. Its not a big issue I can sit 2 metres back and get someone else to hit record etc but I thought there might be an easy fix

Good idea NoKey - but I haven't had much luck with wirless keyboards for one reason or another.

Solution - grab yourself a keyboard extension cable - minimal cost and you can drag it anywhere you want in your studio.

(This is also a good way of learning keyboard shortcuts - I can now select/arm/mute/solo/record tracks remotely without using the mouse)

I do this all the time when I'm recording myself - guitar/vocals etc.

Jamz0r


Are you using an old CRT monitor?  LCD monitors shouldn't cause any hum.

I've seen LCDs cause guitar hum. The only way to know for sure is to turn it off.   I've also had a LCD power supply (lump on a cord type) that injected hum and noise into the AC line. I had to use a 3 to 2 pin AC adapter to get it to stop that.

On a side note the new Fender noiseless pickups are great.

Someone already mentioned shielding the control cavities, which should help with the single coil pups. A noise gate is also useful, but it DOES alter the tone. Do you have any fluorescent lights on your desk? That can contribute to the problem. But you also had a good idea: try out your LP in the same location. If that hums, it's probably not just the pups

Strats are the worst at this. The spray on shielding in the electronics cavities works pretty well. You'll still always have some noise though with single coils. Rather than resort to humbuckers (and every so-called noiseless single coil pickup I've so far seen has consisted of stacked coils even though technically only one of them is active, and I don't care much for them) I just do my best with the recording and hit the track with some NR wherever there isn't enough signal to mask the noise.

Philip


What don't you like about humbuckers; there's no turning back for me? 

Admittedly, perhaps not as moody/screeechy as some purist strat pups?  (Which I can't handle in my cronie state)

But, If you like the recent Les Paul humbucking tone/sound ... its a beautiful thing, no?

For me it depends on how many effects I'm using. Humbuckers sound good with light effects but fail to cut through when you get a lot of effects on the signal.  But really each song just seems to call for one sound or the other.  I trend to pick humbuckers more for rhythm and single coils more the lead for some reason, don't know why.

Admittedly, I've never progressed as well as Ohhey and Mississippi, and most of you, with electric guitar.  Others here use the humbuckers for electric rhythm, too. 

I recorded with them for lead dist guitar ... for the 'siren mellow' tone I've become so addicted to.

(Actually, I have better luck with acoustic guitars)

Some recording tips for killing hum:

1) cardiod (if condensor) mic dampened for 'closeness'
2) mic HPF'd at 80
3) Pull back on pre-amp gain (during direct recording) ... increase levels instead (this may hurt bass and dist tones though)
4) Multiple takes/mics (as per the Op) ... cabinet or amp aimed toward center of room.
5) Mic slightly askew ... not too far from speaker (unless room reverb is helping ... which it usually doesn't help in my 10x20 messy room)
6) Signal EQ (if feasible): Bass (150 Hz) and Treble (20-32kHz) are my personal culprits: I never increase the bass above mid-normal and always reduce the treble hum.  I suppose some rooms can handle treble.  From experience, I leave those extremes alone, period.
7) Single mic only.  No hum is more foul than phasy comb distortions or stereo mic recording of instruments.
8) Record 24 bit depth and 44.1kHz sampling rate ... a happy medium for capturing dynamic variations (with less hum? I don't know).
9) I seem to have luck to record with both naked mic (AKG 414 condensor) and speaker both on the floor-rug (without bass traps) ... where humming fields seem to be absorbed better and early reflections are dampened.  (that may be an abomination to some of you)