The bzzzzkill does exactly what it claims to. It was fun to install also. I don’t usually write reviews, but my strat bzzzz has effectively been killll’d!
I can’t say enough about how great these are. I have one in both telecasters now, one in my Stratocaster.
After a couple weeks of using the new P90 single, it's been nothing short of a game changer. The tone change is minimal and to my ears the difference is similar to using a cheap long cable. The tone and dynamics are all retained, and most importantly, it's quiet! My Les Paul special has always sounded great but was often unusable in many situations and now I can't put it down. The installation was simple and I can't recommend it enough.
Killer accessory for single coil lovers.
Kills the buzz, preserves the tone…
I bought the BZZZZKILL PLAYERS SERIES P90 Single for my all-original 2002 Gibson Melody maker that has the single original stock Gibson P90. It wasn't the easiest installation as I had to modify the Melody Maker in a couple ways (which I'll explain) in order to accommodate the BZZZZKILL. First, I had to bore out some of the body wood in the control cavity as the BZZZZKILL was simply too wide and deep to fit (length wasn't an issue). Secondly I had to replace the Melody Maker's full-size volume and tone pots with mini pots, again due to the depth of the BZZZZKILL. Modifying the stock Gibson P90 was also a bit hairy (due to no fault of BZZZZKILL) because the stock P90 used waxed vintage style braided wire (which would not push back per the P90 modifying instructions) versus a more modern push-back style of braided cable. So I ended up needing to buy extra mini pots and push-back wire to complete the BZZZZKILL installation. Also, while I had all of the electronics removed from the guitar I went ahead and fully shielded the pickup cavity and the control cavity (and the small drill hole passageway that connected the two cavities for the wiring) with copper shielding tape. So were all of these modifications to the Melody Maker worth it to get the BZZZZKILL installed? Oh yes!!! I've always loved the tone and feel of my Melody Maker but I have often been unable to use it for certain things due to the pickup hum. The BZZZZKILL fixed the hum and now everything is so much quieter yet the Gibson P90 still has the same tone and feel as before. Did it change the tone in any way? If we're "splitting hairs" then (maybe???) perhaps an ever so slight difference in the high frequencies (again we're definitely splitting hairs here), but I wouldn't swear on that because if there are any tonal differences then it is so negligible and moot. My main go-to amp is an older Swart AST and I use tons of Boost, OD, Fuzz and Distortion pedals (many of them well-respected boutique pedals) as needed. The newly modded Melody Maker sounds amazing (as usual) with everything that I've played it through, albeit without the stupid P90 hum. As far as single-coil equipped guitars in my collection, I also own a stock Fender Highway One Tele (with singles) and an American Standard Strat (also with the stock singles) and I hope to install BZZZZKILL's in both of them soon. As for the Melody Maker, the BZZZZKILL is going to totally open up doors as far as what I can use it for in upcoming sessions. Totally 100% worth it!
I had the bzzkill installed in my Fender Strat with Texas Specials pick ups, It works very well no more 60 cycle hum! I did have to slightly bore the body to make a little more room! Other than that excellent product, reasonably priced with options👍👍😎
I put a BZZZZKILL P90 Dual in an archtop jazz guitar (16” lower bout) with two p90s. The instructions were very good. Since I needed to modify the pickups, for the BZZZKILL installation, and the pickups in the guitar already sounded good I modified those pickups (which were not high priced pickups). I mounted the BZZZKILL in between the 2 pickups with a vintage style pickup wiring. The result was amazing. Considerably less 60Hz hum and a guitar that I can be comfortable with for recording and live performance and not overly concerned about the noise. I used the instructions to make the 2 wire shielded cable, but you can purchase these at AmplifiedParts.com if you want to save some time. I’m planning on putting a BZZZKILL in my Epiphone Casino next.
This is an incredible product at a very fair price. I installed it into a guitar that was already extremely well shielded guitar and the difference was still dramatic. It is nearly perfect, however, I do believe it does change the sound of the guitar, even if by 0.5%. This is due to physics and no fault of the company. I am going to install a toggle switch to take the unit out of the circuit for tones that require the maximum clean chime and brightness from the guitar. I often use extremely clean, bright tones. If you are playing with any amount of gain, compression, or saturation, you would want to leave it on. I will likely be buying another one!
I am a believer!!! I abandoned traditional single coils; but the Bzzzzkill reunited us once again! It actually works, with minimal change in tone. I live in an area with lots of interference. Traditional single coils dont usually sound good in my house, the Bzzzzkill removed that irritating hum/buzz. I am so happy!
I was pleasantly surprised. Works better than I expected. My Practice room has extreme buzz from fluorescence and now my strat is quieter than my humbucker equipped guitars and still sounds like a strat. Not like many other options I've tried.
Works as advertised. My initial install was incorrect then reviewed the video and saw where I made a mistake. Now I enjoy my 1,3 and 5 positions.
After installing the BzzzKill, the difference was immediate. The hum and interference that plagued my signal chain are completely gone — the noise floor dropped noticeably without affecting tone or dynamics in any way.
Installation was straightforward. I wired it with a bypass switch — if I ever need the original unfiltered tone, I simply switch it off and that's it. Clean and practical.
One thing worth mentioning: playing with high gain and no hum in the bridge or neck position was genuinely surprising. A few times I actually thought I had a noise gate engaged — that's how effective it is. You get used to it quickly, and once you do, there's no going back.
I did notice a subtle roll-off in the high frequencies, but for me this is a non-issue. The core Strat character remains intact, and since I typically end up rolling off some of those highs anyway — either with the tone knob or an EQ in the chain — it actually fits right into my workflow.
Build quality feels solid! I'm already planning to grab another one for a second Strat and possibly a Telecaster. For anyone dealing with single-coil hum, this is a clean and reliable fix. Highly recommended.
I have had the Bzzzzkill installed in my Sandberg California, and my ‘64 Jazz Bass. Both are equipped single coil reverse wound jazz bass pickups. I previously had Seymour Duncan Apollo linear jazz bass pick ups installed in both basses which are noiseless pickups. They eliminated the buzz problem, but they also took away some high-end articulation and some of the character that is present in the raw single coils. That was the trade-off for having more tonal flexibility with a jazz bass while soloing or blending the pickups until I discovered the dual coil BzzzzKill for the Jazz Bass. Works better than advertised. Now I have the full sonic natural articulation of single coils without the buzz and I’m able to blend my pick ups in any combination, which gives me a greater scope of total possibilities without the buzz. Well done!
Once again, Bzzzzkill nailed it with the “Players Series”! I’m totally happy with its performance, and I’m already spreading the word to everyone I know just how important this is to have for any one who owns a Stratocaster or a Stratocaster type single coil guitar! The only regret they’ll have is not purchasing this sooner! Thanks again to all the gentlemen of Bzzzzkill for making the single coil world a much better place to live!
Tom Hemby
Brentwood (Nashville) Tn
"I recently had the Jazz Bass version of the BzzzzKills installed on my two precious Jazz'z....the buzz is GONE....!!!! Hallelujah...!
I love to play using either the bridge or neck pickup without blending the 2 together, which is something that I NEEDED to do to stop the buzz.
I'm using Brantley Geddy Lee pickups though my rig also using the Tech21 GED2112 Geddy preamp, which significantly increases the hi-gain buzzing, and the Bzzzzkills knock it down to almost nothing while conserving the tone from these amazing pickups. Soooooo stoked about this."
Does precisely what they say it will do. Finally a quite strat with no difference to sound. I will say that there is still a bit of noise in the single positions, but it’s very little and doesn’t bother me at all! They only claim to kill, not hide the evidence!
The BZZZZ Kill is a huge win. I love it. After carefully reviewing some online video reviews and installation instructions, I upgraded my Strat with a set of 525k CTS pots and a .015 Emerson “Bumblebee” tone capacitor for my pure vintage pickups to restore the high frequencies that would be slightly affected by the BZZZZ Kill coil, and to my ear it works perfectly, with no effect at all in tone or frequency range - except there’s now almost no 60-cycle buzz whatsoever, even through a distortion pedal on high gain. It is a very satisfying experience to say the least. It’s easy to install - watch the maker’s instruction video, because even with my experience the hookup was counter-intuitive, so it helped a lot to get it right the first time.
It works really well and it was easy to install. Just follow a YouTube video. Make sure you get the right wires.
Wow! I was able to finely hot to use my single coil strat on a gig and hear all the sonic qualities of those airy sc’s without the tone sucking gate pedal. Btw, easy install!
Thanks Bzzzzkill guys!
Thanks for the awesome review, Charles! Great to know you can kiss the gate pedal goodbye and enjoy your Strat the way it was meant to sound. Enjoy those airy single coils! We appreciate your input, and are happy you found the installation to be straightforward! Thank you for being our customer, and for taking the time to share your experience.