Both versions use our Engineered Smart Noise Reduction Coil™ hand-wound to reduce single-coil hum without getting in the way of your tone. The difference is in how each model is built.

The Custom Series uses vintage-authentic materials: hand-assembled vulcanized fibre flatwork, steel rods, and cloth pullback wiring. It’s the version preferred by custom builders, restorers, and players who want traditional construction inside their instrument.

The Players Series delivers the same buzz-reducing purpose in a modern, streamlined build. It uses a precision-formed one-piece PETG bobbin and durable rubber-jacket wiring for consistency, ruggedness, and a lower price point.

See Comparison Chart

In short: Custom Series = boutique, vintage-style construction.
Players Series = modern materials with the same buzz-reducing, tone-preserving pedigree.

BzzzzKill virtually eliminates the 60-cycle hum (50Hz in UK/EU) that's common to single-coil pickups. In nearly all playing situations and gain levels, you'll experience a dramatic reduction in noise while preserving the authentic single-coil tone that made the Stratocaster® legendary.

Tone (Timber / Sound Quality / Voice / Color / Characteristic):

When we talk about preserving your tone we are talking about the Timber, Sound Quality, Voice, Color and Characteristic of your pickups. BzzzzKill is almost transparent in its application and preserves the original, natural, voice of your pickups.

Frequency Response: Essentially measures how consistently a device processes various frequencies, revealing whether it emphasizes or de-emphasizes certain frequencies.

BzzzzKill was designed to smooth out harsher frequencies between 4K-6K allowing for louder amplification without the piercing high end (that your sound man and audience hate).

If you require the full high end response for clean passages, you can employ a 250K DPDT Push-Push pot switch in your tone position to bypass the system entirely. (See related FAQ.)

BzzzzKill is optimized for use with a standard Strat-style guitar with 250K potentiometers for the volume and tone controls employing a 0.047mF capacitor.

Yes, if you require the full high end response for clean passages, you can employ a 250K DPDT Push-Push pot switch in your tone position to bypass the system entirely.

Wiring diagrams to employ a 250K Push-Push Pot switch for both the Single Layer BzzzzKill and the Dual Layer BzzzzKill are available on our Installation Guide Page.

You do not have to permanently modify your Strat if you use a 250K Push-Push pot or a 250K Push-Pull pot in the tone position. Other DPDT switches such as a Slider or a Toggle can be used as long as they are the On-On configuration.

We recommend a DPDT 250K Push-Push pot that mounts into the pickguard, with installation by a professional due to the more complex soldering.

BzzzzKill is optimized for use with a standard Strat-style guitar with 250K potentiometers for the volume and tone controls employing a 0.047mF capacitor.

Absolutely not. BzzzzKill installs inside your guitar's control cavity with no drilling or permanent modifications. Your guitar's value and collectibility remain intact, and you can easily move it to a new S-style guitar if you sell your current one.

Yes! If you're comfortable removing your guitar's pickguard or control plate and already own a soldering gun, you can install BzzzzKill yourself in about 30 minutes. We provide detailed step-by-step instructions and video guides. If you prefer, any guitar tech can perform the installation for you. (We do NOT recommend installation if you’ve never soldered a connection before. A tech can do it inexpensively, at no risk to your Strat®.)

If you have a Stratocaster® style guitar with three standard single-coil pickups, choose the Single Layer BzzzzKill. 

If your guitar has a reverse-wound middle pickup (RWRP) (about 90% of S-style guitars and all newer Stratocasters®), choose the Dual Layer BzzzzKill. 

On your 5-way pickup selector switch, if you have buzz on positions 1,3,5 and no buzz on positions 2 and 4, you have a RWRP middle pickup → Choose Dual Layer BzzzzKill.

If every position on your 5-way pickup selector switch buzzes → Choose Single Layer BzzzzKill.

If you have any trouble, reach out to us. Selecting the right version is the only choice you have to make, but it's an important one!

Yes! BzzzzKill is fully transferable. If you sell your guitar or want to move it to another instrument, you can easily remove it without a trace, and re-install it as easily as the first time.

Yes, unlike some solutions that only work in specific positions, BzzzzKill eliminates hum in all pickup switch positions while preserving the full functionality of your guitar.

No. BzzzzKill is a completely passive device with no batteries or power requirements. Install it once and forget it's there — except the beautiful absence of hum!

Currently, BzzzzKill is designed specifically for Fender Stratocaster® and S-style guitars with 3 single-coil (SSS) pickups, including reverse-wound or RWRP middle pickups.

While both BzzzzKill and dummy coils aim to reduce single-coil hum, they are fundamentally different solutions with vastly different results.

Works with RWRP. The most obvious difference is that BzzzzKill works in guitars with reverse-wound middle pickups. (Most Strat-Style guitars.) Dummy coils do not.

Traditional dummy coils are typically repurposed guitar pickups that guitarists have attempted to use for hum cancellation. However, this DIY approach works with only a small percentage of Strat-style guitars and comes with several other significant problems:

• Poor fit: Dummy coils aren't designed to fit inside your guitar's control cavity, so they rattle around loose
• Potential damage: The loose components can cause scratches, noise, and other internal damage
• Tone alteration: Dummy coils tend to change your Stratocaster's authentic sound
• Limited compatibility: There's no dummy coil solution that works with reverse-wound middle pickup (RWRP) configurations, i.e. most Strat-style guitars

BzzzzKill is engineered specifically for Stratocaster-style guitars from the ground up, and perfected by our founder through over 200 prototypes, with:

• Perfect fit: Designed to nest perfectly between your guitar's internal components and stay securely in place
• Optimized winding: Hand-wound uniquely for the purpose of optimizing your guitar's performance
• Tone preservation: Maintains your Stratocaster's authentic single-coil sound without alteration. Most players say they don't hear any difference
• Professional quality: Hand-built in Canada from quality materials designed to outlast your guitar

While dummy coils are a risky makeshift workaround, BzzzzKill is a purpose-built, pro solution engineered to solve the 70-year-old hum problem without compromise. They are two very different approaches to the same problem — and BzzzzKill is truly much better.

We ship to most countries worldwide. Shipping to Canada and the contiguous is free, and shipping to other regions is calculated at checkout.