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Comments
Seconding what @wim said, and adding my own €0.02...
For single coil pickup guitars, first thing I do is attenuate the hum somehow, down to a manageable / less noticeable level. Then add a noise gate after that, again, reducing the noise to a manageble level - I don't like using a gate to clamp stuff all the way down to a zero level / totally silent signal as it sounds unatural to me, unless that's the sound you're going for. This all happens before the guitar signal sees anything like a pedal or amp sim as those things will be adding gain to do their thang as @wim says.
Thanks @wim and @Rob_Jackson_Music, makes sense to me
Can you give me an EILI5 for 50 and 60 Hz? What makes those relevant to guitar signals specifically, and what’s the proper use cases for filtering each?
No probs!
The "hum" noise comes from domestic AC power generating EMI (electro magnetic interference) which single coil guitar pickups are really good at picking up as they act like an antennae. That's also why the level of the noise seems to be directional - it depends on the angular relationship between the EMI field and coil of the pickup.
Aside: The clue is in the name with "humbuckers" as the reverse winding / polarity of the double coils cancels out the hum.
AC (alternating current) power, by definition, switches direction - typically 50 or 60Hz depending on where you are, and these frequencies are in the audible spectrum. The guitar pickup was designed to amplify changes in current created by the string vibrating over a magnet, but it also picks up the EMI.
You also get harmonics due to non-linear loads on the power system (fluorescent lights being a classic example), so these appear as additional noise at even, but typically predominantly odd-order harmonics which is why 150hz (3rd harmonic for 50Hz) tends to be most audible, especially with guitar as it's in the same space as the lower strings.
So what I tend to do with "buzz kill" is mostly focus on attenuating the 3rd, 5th, 7th, and so on harmonics, then tame-down the 2nd, 4th, 6th, etc., a bit less depending on your attenuation setting. And of course, reel in the fundamental 50 or 60Hz.
Not saying that's the correct way to do it, but it's the way I do it. Other approaches will "profile" the noise and create a specific processing algorithm to deal with it.
Hope that makes sense.
@Rob_Jackson_Music Thanks for all the info on noise + hum.. interesting and helpful..