Period correct single coils for 80's HSS

[sammy777]

There's a lot of info online about the history of replacement humbuckers, but I'm having a harder time finding the history of single coils. Unfortunately the Duncan product history website seems to be broken: https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/s...uncan-products

What single coils were typically paired with JB's and Super Distortions for 80's HSS guitars? I can gather at least SSL-1, SSL-5, SDS-1, and of course stock Fender pickups were available.

An example of a sound I'd like to reproduce is here for the tapping in the Top Gun Anthem, at ~3:15 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCTJmXrgsFg

This was recorded in 1985 with a Charvel with no middle pickup, a JB and an "SSL type" neck pickup. Is it possible to hear through all those effects if it is likely an SSL-1 or SSL-5? Thanks for the help!

[hamerfan]

Re: Period correct single coils for 80's HSS

You see a Hamer Steve Stephens 2 in this vid, but thats not the guitar used in the soundtrack. SS only used his beloved Glow Charvel for recording.

https://www.hamerfanclub.com/forums/topic/56835-something-i-did-not-know-about-steve-stevens/

[sammy777]

Re: Period correct single coils for 80's HSS

You see a Hamer Steve Stephens 2 in this vid, but thats not the guitar used in the soundtrack. SS only used his beloved Glow Charvel for recording.
https://www.hamerfanclub.com/forums/...steve-stevens/

Yes, that Charvel! From that thread: “Also the original pickups were provided by Seymour Duncan, a SSL type in the neck and a JB in the bridge.”

Any idea what the “SSL type” would have been if you were Steve Stevens in 1985?

[Mincer]

Re: Period correct single coils for 80's HSS

My guess is an SSL-1. While that would make for a versatile instrument, it would be obliterated volume-wise by a JB. Many people back then didn't care, as it was when the first HSS guitars appeared.

[Lewguitar]

Re: Period correct single coils for 80's HSS

So just a neck pickup and not a middle? That'll cut the amount of string pull almost in half, so the notes will sustain better and sound more in tune when playing up high.

What SSL Strat pickups did SD Pickups have available in the 80's?

The SSL-2 would be the flat poled version of the SSL-1.

The SSL-3 would be the Hot Strat.

SSL-4 would be Quarter Pounders.

SSL-5 would be the Duncan Custom.

[Snake Aces]

Re: Period correct single coils for 80's HSS

I am a huge fan of the SSL-1. I am also a fan of Steve Stevens. Anyway, the SSL-1 is very interesting. I am not currently using one in the neck position, but I also love that SSL-1. I am using a middle position SSL-1 on an HSH. For many years the volume difference actually did bother me. I eventually settled in with a Jazz neck and a Jazz bridge trembucker surrounding the SSL-1. So, my solution was lower output humbuckers. I gave up trying to balance the volume on the HSH, but it sure as hell is a player's guitar.

In the 80s, the volume balancing thing was rarely much more than an afterthought when combining single coils with humbuckers on the same guitar. I would not be surprised if the pickup used was an SSL-1.

[jeremy]

Re: Period correct single coils for 80's HSS

if you are using 500k controls, the ssl6 would be a good match for the jb in the bridge

[TVFV]

Re: Period correct single coils for 80's HSS

I am a huge fan of the SSL-1. I am also a fan of Steve Stevens. Anyway, the SSL-1 is very interesting. I am not currently using one in the neck position, but I also love that SSL-1. I am using a middle position SSL-1 on an HSH. For many years the volume difference actually did bother me. I eventually settled in with a Jazz neck and a Jazz bridge trembucker surrounding the SSL-1. So, my solution was lower output humbuckers. I gave up trying to balance the volume on the HSH, but it sure as hell is a player's guitar.

In the 80s, the volume balancing thing was rarely much more than an afterthought when combining single coils with humbuckers on the same guitar. I would not be surprised if the pickup used was an SSL-1.

I'm considering a Jazz Neck and Jazz Bridge for an HSH setup. How did you like it sound wise?

Sent from my SM-A205U using Tapatalk

[Snake Aces]

Re: Period correct single coils for 80's HSS

I'm considering a Jazz Neck and Jazz Bridge for an HSH setup. How did you like it sound wise?

Sent from my SM-A205U using Tapatalk

First of all, my apologies to the OP, I will try to keep this response brief as it really is not going to help you achieve Top Gun status.

As far as the SSL-1 in an HSH goes, Meet Jade, she's been with me since 2007/2008:




This was my first Warmoth guitar and I still have it today. She has traveled and played shows with me all over the world. I started by ordering this neck from Warmoth to use with a beautiful MIM satin purple strat. Well, I am not really a strat guy, so that did not last long. I used it with the strat for a few months in 2007 before deciding to order this body from Warmoth. The neck is a 59 roundback profile, wenge wood, ziricote fretboard. Gold frets, 24 3/4" scale. The body is a chambered black korina LP (pre-lawsuit) with the obvious HSH routing and Wilk two point trem.

In an effort to avoid sounding like the Old Testament lineage records, I will not explain how the roots of this guitar go all the way back to my first Epiphone Les Paul. As far as the finish goes, I really thought I could handle finishing a guitar. I had two friends who were in school studying to be luthiers (they both eventually graduated as well) at the time, so I was feeling confident in my ability to give it a whirl. I was broke as a joke back then, so I went to my local hardware store to browse the Minwax selection. The rest is history, but hey, at least the guitar has a ton of character.

The odd thing is, no matter where I am, when I bust Jade out of her case, people look at me like WTF is that? Then they hear it unplugged and their jaws drop. This is a very special and resonant guitar. When they plug it in, it usually becomes their favorite guitar in my collection.

What do I think about it? Well, I am too biased to give you an objective opinion. This is literally the guitar that taught me how to really play. I owned many others before it, including a beloved Gibson Les Paul, but this is the one, that for whatever reason, stayed in my hands for years and years. For example, when I built this guitar, I was all about rock and roll. Full saturation. Playing clean? that nonsense was not for me. Exhibit A:

The band I was in back in 2007 and 2008 was a rock group. We jammed every Friday night in the heart of the stomping grounds where we all went to high school. Somehow, word spread quickly where we practiced and people would just show up. Our practices would turn into mini-shows, almost like those old Budweiser pop-up, short-notice shows a decade ago. At this particular practice, about 60 to 80 people show up, piling in through the front door of my buddy's parent's house while they flocked to the basement, cramming themselves into this tiny space to hear us play. Muggy summer nights, empty rum bottles and Swisher Sweets filled with schwag... I can still smell the atmosphere when I close my eyes. Anyway, here is the SSL-1, in action with effects, back in 2007 during a very surprise show (that should have been a normal rehearsal without people watching). I am a terrible singer to this day, but I was even worse back then... but I tried to invoke the spirit of the lyrics into my guitar solo.

As I kept playing that guitar, I eventually realized that I no longer liked the 59 neck humbucker or the JB bridge trembucker surrounding the SSL-1. The JB was too loud compared to the SSL and the 59 was too boomy in this particular guitar. In 2012, I decided to go with the Jazz set surrounding the SSL-1. Best decision I ever made. First of all, the Jazz neck humbucker is probably my favorite neck humbucker ever. Incredible. Kudos to Seymour Duncan, he is the man, but Seymour never has to buy a beer, shot or roll a joint when he is in my town. I love his work as a pickup winder! Long live the Jazz neck!

Secondly, the Jazz bridge is a way better pickup than people think. I love it. I think the Jazz set is the perfect set to wrap around an SSL-1 in an HSH guitar, and if you have the proper pickup mounting hardware and enough clearance for your picking motion, adjusting the pickup heights to find a balanced volume range should be achievable in theory. My volume balance is a little off because of how I mounted the SSL-1 directly to the body instead of using a single coil pickup mounting ring. However, this also gives my picking motion a little more space to work with... it is all about compromises with HSH guitars.

Here is Jade in action at an outdoor art show in Greece back in 2015, I rarely show it because all the Greek mothers would pinch my clavicle and tell me, in Greek, that I did not have enough meat on my bones. They did this as they were looking me in the eye and using their other hand to pour literally half a liter of olive oil into whatever I was eating to give it "some flavor". As a result, my weight increased by about 40 pounds while I was in Greece. So, I rarely show this clip, but this is the Jazz set in action through a crappy cell phone mic back in June of 2015. I do not use the SSL-1 in that clip, but as you can hear, I do play some clean guitar in my older age. Haha. Both the bridge and neck are featured in that clip.

I will be recording new clips of all my guitars in 2021, but for now, all I have is old stuff. Bottom line, I love the Jazz set with the SSL-1 in an HSH.