I tested a ‘58 Quiet Coil set - 5.8kΩ neck and middle pickups with a 6.2kΩ bridge unit - mounted on a Mojotone pre-assembled pickguard, using the recommended 500kΩ volume pot (don’t be tempted to try to make do with your existing 250kΩ pot: 500kΩ does seem to be necessary to get the proper voicing of the pickup). Some people may balk at this being purely cosmetic inclusion with no actual function at all but I must admit, I rather like it Strats somehow don’t look ‘right’ without conventional pole pieces to me. The visible ‘pole pieces’, complete with ‘high-G’ vintage magnet stagger, actually don’t do anything at all they are purely to maintain a conventional appearance.
![mojotone studio one mojotone studio one](https://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-000615491893-vegyyp-t500x500.jpg)
#MOJOTONE STUDIO ONE SERIES#
A series connection between the coils restores the combined DC resistance to typical single-coil values (5.8kΩ in the ‘58 model and 5.6kΩ in the ‘67 model), while a reversed winding and reversed magnetic polarity in one of the coils creates the hum-cancelling effect. Of course, single-coil-sized side-by-side humbuckers have existed for years without anyone claiming that they sounded all that much like a true single-coil pickup, so what’s different here? Quiet Coil designer David Shepherd has taken the very simple approach of using the same 42-gauge Heavy Formvar wire and Alnico magnets as a real vintage Strat pickup and configuring them as two tall, narrow coils, each with half the normal DC resistance. Unlike the majority of noiseless single-coil designs, these utilise side-by-side coils, rather than the commonly favoured stacked-coil configuration - effectively, they are a conventional humbucking design. Mojotone’s Quiet Coil design enters the noiseless ‘single-coil’ market with two models, the ‘58, offering the tonality of a late ’50s Fender Strat pickup, and the ’67, replicating the tone of the Strat pickups of the late ‘60s.
![mojotone studio one mojotone studio one](https://i0.wp.com/wiki.diyrecordingequipment.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/5550022.jpg)
For players who need to keep induced noise (hum) at bay whilst still using Fender-style single-coil pickup sounds, many of the current products are now far more than just the ‘acceptable compromise’ that they used to be. Noiseless passive single-coil-sized pickup designs have progressed enormously, from the earliest ‘stack’ models to the more complex current designs from the likes of Kinman, DiMarzio and Fender.
![mojotone studio one mojotone studio one](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fJp_Qm--ik4/maxresdefault.jpg)
Unlike the majority of noiseless single-coil designs, Quet Coil utilises side-by-side coils, rather than the commonly favoured stacked-coil configuration.