two with no hum

[watersxx]

evening all, just wondering why the 3rd (middle) pickup is needed on a strat to cancell the hum of the mains frequency, but you don't need the middle pickup on a tele?
i want to rig up a scratchplate for a strat with just a neck and bridge pickup, will i definately get the unwanted hum?

Cheers
Jim.

[mdvineng]

Middle pup was never a noise canceller. Just use a shielded guard and shield the cavity too. I've done a few stats for friends that suffered from induced hum from fluorescent lights and dimmer switches etc, shielding, cured them all.