Why are DeArmond pickups so quiet?

[omphalopsychos]

I'm talking about the originals, not the reissues.

And I'm talking about 60 cycle hum, not output.

Compared to any other single coil pickup, my vintage DeArmonds have very little hum. Does anyone know what design elements contribute to this outcome? Is it the metal casing of the control box? Is it the magnets?

[Jimmy Mack]

Please tell us which DeArmond pickups you speak of?

[Cunamara]

It's the metal casing around the pickup and the controls. Best shielded system ever made- everything is in a Faraday cage.

[Steven Herron]

It's the metal casing around the pickup and the controls. Best shielded system ever made- everything is in a Faraday cage.

What a great answer!

I've never heard of a Faraday cage before.

[entresz]

I have HB sized Dynasonics made by Gabojo Labs. They're true to the original DeArmond design other than the HB size case. Hardly any hum at all. I was really surprised by that as I was expecting lots of hum.

[Franz 1997]

Faraday Cage construction, very small, round and high impedance coil, and possibly, even the rubber magnets on the 1100.

[Doctor Jeff]

Did you hear about the lazy cabbie? He only took a faraday. Get it? Faraday??

Ahem.

I learn something new every day: Faraday cage - Wikipedia

I have an RC 1000 reissue, which is supposedly made extremely close to the original design, and it is indeed quiet. My Tele SC's are a little noisier. When I had my Godin Kingpin, the ground hum was horrible, making it virtually unusable in my home without the EHX HumDebugger (which works like a charm, btw).

[vintagelove]

LoOoOoOOoOoOoNg shot here...


Anybody know if a lefty version of this pickup exists?

thanks.

[Mark M.]

So this also explains the shielding on pickup wires. Interesting.

[ThatRhythmMan]

LoOoOoOOoOoOoNg shot here...


Anybody know if a lefty version of this pickup exists?

thanks.

I have seen one, once. I don’t know the story behind it though, so I don’t know if DeArmond actually made it.

[sgosnell]

Faraday cages, and the concept, have been around a long time, since... well, since Mr. Faraday was active. Back when computers were big, and I mean so big they almost filled a room, the US military built Faraday cages around the entire building in which they were housed. The electromagnetic radiation could be detected by the proper equipment at quite a distance, hundreds of feet or more, and it was possible to intercept the information the computers were processing. It still is, but there are more efficient ways of doing the interception now. I had assumed that Faraday cages were common knowledge, but it appears that my assumption may have been wrong, like many of my other assumptions.

[KirkP]

Technically it’s only a Faraday Cage if it’s a wire mesh. A conducting plate would just be called a shield. The Faraday Cage approximates the effect of a metal plate shield using a mesh of wires.
Most traditional electric guitars lack shielded wiring in the controls, so DeArmond’s shielded control box would be a benefit. But I think the metal pickup cover would do little to reduce noise that comes in via the pickup coil. I’d expect it to reduce the signal from the vibrating strings about the same amount as the noise coming in via the same pathway.
If the DeArmond pup rejects noise better than other single coil pickups, I’d suspect it was due to something other than shielding. Perhaps the shape of the magnetic field is better coupled to the strings than on other single coil designs?
I haven’t done the analysis and I’m speculating a fair amount here, but I do have an electromagnetics background.

[neatomic]

dearmonds used a more complicated coil wind..they started wrapping the wire around 4 magnets for a few thousand turns...and then extended it to all six ...so that the e & b magnets had less wraps...(to adjust for plain string volume differences) ...they also used different sized magnets...some clever vintage stuff


cheers

[Cunamara]

Well, this thread has taught me some interesting things I did not know. That's why I enjoy this forum so much!

[bleakanddivine]

I use my original RC1100 not with the original control box but with a new plastic control box and it is dead quiet. I use the reissue pickup with the same plastic control box and I get a lot of static pops. I don't get any hum with either new or reissue.

[pingu]

dearmonds used a more complicated coil wind..they started wrapping the wire around 4 magnets for a few thousand turns...and then extended it to all six ...so that the e & b magnets had less wraps...(to adjust for plain string volume differences) ...they also used different sized magnets...

I read somewhere that the above was true
for the red 1000 pickups only

Ie the RC1100 has conventional winding

I wonder if the reissue 1000's are wound like
the originals ? I doubt it somehow

[KirkP]

I’ve read that the 1100 is a much different design than the 1000. Seems like the article had some details on the differences, but I haven’t been able to locate it.
I’m fairly certain the 1000 isn’t a humbucking design (with reversed magnet poles and reversed winding direction). To accomplish that I think you’d need to have two separate loops, each around three magnets, not 2x4. And reversing magnets between the upper and lower string-sets would be likely to cause a dead spot in the magnetic field between the two halves, making it difficult to get an equal response on all strings. I think pickups that are set up for that method of humbucking must use two separate pickups to minimize field overlap — e.g., the Fender Precision Bass pickups. But I’m speculating.
Here’s a bit of technical info on the 1000 and 1100.
https://gitec-forum.de/wp/wp-content...armond-pus.pdf

[Marty Grass]

The re-issues are very quiet also. Can't explain why.

[neatomic]

THE NEXT question is, "Did DeArmond make its two coils with reverse magnetic and electrical polarity?"

serendipitously, the new guild dearmond branded tone boss soundhole pickup is just that!... 2 three magnet coils wired for humbucking



cheers

[KirkP]

serendipitously, the new guild dearmond branded tone boss soundhole pickup is just that!... 2 three magnet coils wired for humbucking

In that case, I guess I’m wrong in saying the two halves must be separated.

[neatomic]

In that case, I guess I’m wrong in saying the two halves must be separated.

actually, it seems like exactly what you were saying!

it's a coil around three mags humbucked with another coil of three magnets...kinda like an original fender precision bass..leo probably nabbed it from harry d..or vise versa!! hah

cheers

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

actually, it seems like exactly what you were saying!

it's a coil around three mags humbucked with another coil of three magnets...kinda like an original fender precision bass..leo probably nabbed it from harry d..or vise versa!! hah

cheers

Leo stuck with the idea. G&L uses a similar pup they call a "hum-cancelling Z-coil".

[KirkP]

actually, it seems like exactly what you were saying!

it's a coil around three mags humbucked with another coil of three magnets...kinda like an original fender precision bass..leo probably nabbed it from harry d..or vise versa!! hah

But I thought having the two half-pickups jammed close together might create a dead spot between the 3rd & 4th strings. I assumed that was why the Precision Bass and the G&L staggered them. But the DeArmond doesn’t. It would be interesting to hear from someone that’s tried it.