Hum coming through on humbuckers

[Tom E Baer]

I purchased an SE 24 Custom this summer, I am very happy with it. However when I switch tap from single-coil to humbucker, the 60 cycle hum I can still hear hum. The hum gets a little quieter, but when playing high-gain the hum can be quite pronounced. By contrast, on my strat, when I switch to a between position (bridge or neck + middle), the hum is almost completely gone. Is this to be expected - are the PRS humbuckers on my guitar not true humbuckers? Or could this be a shielding problem?

 

[Bowtiefanatc]

Check the grounds.

 

[Andrew Paul]

Bad guitar cable?

 

[CandidPicker]

Tom,

Bring the guitar to an experienced guitar tech who can check the wiring grounds. Reason I say this is because I just had a similar issue with a S2 SC. Be sure the solder points are smooth and not beaded (read: otherwise what you get is a cold solder point and a bad electrical contact).

 

[Tom E Baer]

@CandidPicker I'll do that. So it sounds like it's likely not normal for an SE 24 to have more hum in humbucker mode than a strat with two pickups selected. True? I'm new to humbuckers and have wondered if I should still expect some hum. Regardless I'll take it to a tech.

 

[László]

@CandidPicker I'll do that. So it sounds like it's likely not normal for an SE 24 to have more hum in humbucker mode than a strat with two pickups selected. True? I'm new to humbuckers and have wondered if I should still expect some hum. Regardless I'll take it to a tech.

A few things to keep in mind: Yes, humbuckers can hum if they’re around sufficient magnetic fields, but remember, they’re higher output pickups. So if they pick up hum, it’ll be louder than Strat type single coils, in much the same was a P-90’s hum is louder because the pickup has more output.

My humbucker guitars will pick up hum near a dimmer, a fuse box, an amplifier transformer, etc. With their higher output, it can be louder than a single.

However, one thing to check into is whether you have a ground loop somewhere in your rig that has nothing to do with the guitar, such as a grounding problem in a pedalboard, or even a bad cable as someone else suggested.

As others have also suggested, have someone look at the guitar to make sure it’s properly wired and grounded.