Hum from my 76 Series 1 guitar

[sjhoffma]

So of course its expected of an older Alembic, but im starting to get a little annoyed with some of the excess hum thats coming from my series I. It can't really be heard while I am playing, and often I will forget its there, but sometimes, (especially right when I first plug in) I get this very hot sounding hum.
 
This is all after the hum canceling of course, which sort of sucks because that means whenever i rotate in space, it just gets louder, and is only really tollerable in a single direction.
 
Also I figured I would point out that it is MUCH worse on my super reverb RI, as opposed to my original 66 deluxe reverb. When the bright switch is up on my SR, the hum gets even worse, despite the fact that the tone is much better.  
 
Now... what advise does everyone have to counter this?
 
I am worried about getting any sort of noise gate with the fear of it really sucking away some of the tone I love.
 
I also dread having to get a modern electronics upgrade from the mothership, as thats basically asking me to spend the money to buy another guitar all together.  
 
Can I tweak my amp? Can I tweak my guitar? Am I doomed?
 
The irony is that despite the hum, the sound coming out of this guitar is the absolute BEST, most pure, cleanest, more crisp guitar sound i have ever heard. Its only the hum coming from my pickups when I'm not playing that is questionable.  
 
They are indeed the cleanest electronics i've ever heard, but by no means the quietest, and I would love to be able to say that this guitar has both.  
 
Am I shit out of luck unless I opt for the electronics upgrade, or do I have options here?

[terryc]

I have read that the electronics upgrade does not alter your tone at all it just gets rid of that unwanted noise a leaves everything ultra quiet.
I don't think Alembic would offer and charge you for this service if your guitar was going end up sounding like one of the many lesser guitar makes.  
Just to give you re assurance, the man himself does the upgrade as pictured here using his 'hum inducer from hell' coil(I love this pic!)

[sjhoffma]

Terry, I don't fear what the upgrade will do to the sound of my guitar, but the impact it will have on my wallet haha.
 
As for my fear of losing tone, that was in regard to noise gate pedals

[terryc]

Ah yes the cost but the best does come at a price!

[pace]

In the scheme of things, the upgrade may not be expensive as you think.... If Ron determines the pups themselves to be the culprit, that's less than the cost of adding the HF network to the PF6 card.

[lbpesq]

Have you tried the bass in a different location?  The wiring in my basement causes single coil guitars to hum that don't hum in other places. Also, you might try a Humdebugger.
 
Bill, tgo

[sjhoffma]

Bill, I was thinking location could maybe be the culprit. I've had rigs that were silent on a properly wired stage, but that seemed to hiss a little when plugged into a random outlet in my apartment. I'll have to bring her to the club where I work and see how she sounds in a stage situation.

[mica]

The problem of RF is highly location specific. But the thing that is troubling me the most is that you are referring to hum which is NOT what the upgrade corrects.  
 
So, can you confirm if what you are hearing is 60HZ hum? or is it a higher-frequency buzz?

[sjhoffma]

Mica, I would certainly consider it a higher frequency buzz. (I chose to use the word hum, because I usually associate buzz with the strings buzzing) However, it does have that sort of buzzing sound, and it is at a higher frequency. It is certainly not the standard 60hz hum that I have experienced in the past from my amps in certain locations.

[David Houck]

In case it helps, 60Hz hum is halfway between an A# and a B.

[terryc]

Dave
In the UK it is 50Hz which I read is around G#