'92 American Standard Strat and a Spare SSL-2 RP

[gregory]

I have my Strat torn apart using a spare pickguard as a test bed for some experimentation and decided to have a look at the stock pickups while I was at it. They have non-staggered A5 rods and a weaker wind than the pre-CBS models.

I never cared for the bridge pickup, but the DCR @6k suggests it's possibly a bit hotter than the neck and middle @5.7k. As many of you probably already know, the bridge and neck of this era are reverse polarity compared to most Duncans.

I thought it might make sense to move the bridge pickup to the neck and the neck pickup to the middle and put my SSL-2 reverse polarity in the bridge, giving me 6.5k/5.7k/6k (B/M/N).

I also have an SSL-6T standard polarity lying around which I could put in the bridge and buy an SSL-2 standard polarity and put the SSL-2 reverse polarity in the middle. However, I want to get skanky quack in position 2 instead of the thicker duller quack produced by the combination of an SSL-6 and an SSL-2. I thought about using the SSL-6's tap but it really thins out the pickup, making it sound nothing like an SSL-2.

Now maybe the tapped SSL-6 would work better with the 6k Fender pickup in the middle instead of the SSL-2. With any luck it would provide the nice position 2 quack that's similar to what I'm used to hearing with the stock pickups? With a 5WSS I could automatically tap the SSL-6 in position 2 and leave it full in position 1. I'd still probably want to buy a standard polarity SSL-2 for the neck to better compliment the SSL-6. Combining the weaker middle with an SSL-2 in the neck should provide really good position 4 quack, perhaps better than a pair of SSL-2s, and it would likely better match the quality and lever of the quack in position 2 using the tapped SSL-6.

...or I can dump all true singles and continue in the direction I've been going which has so far been extremely successful. The thing is this is the only American Strat I have and part of me wants to keep it a bit more vintage even if I'm copping great vintage-style tones with my more modern and versatile approach.

Your thoughts?

 

[AlexR]

Re: '92 American Standard Strat and a Spare SSL-2 RP

Zhangbucker certainly goes for a lower DCR middle - in his case he knows it will be weaker due to wind count rather than guessing via DCR alone. But his reasoning is that the notch tones to his ear are better when the middle is slightly weaker.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: '92 American Standard Strat and a Spare SSL-2 RP

Schemes are more fun to me. I have a set of assorted ant single coils and a set of ssl1s and I don't really use them. I'm trying to get my lady friend to let me put the pups in a strat mini for her but she's being bad. I say go for your scheme rather than the tradish sc set up.

 

[Teleplayer]

Re: '92 American Standard Strat and a Spare SSL-2 RP

Another option:
Bridge - SSL6T
Middle - Fender 5.7k from neck
Neck - Fender 5.7k from middle.

I see some benefits: a) retains hum cancelling in both pos 2 and 4. b) the 5.7k pickup in the middle will give more snap in pos 2, since it is likely to have lower inductance than the SSL2 RP. c) IMO having a matching stagger pattern between neck and middle pickups is desirable to get consistent tone across the strings in pos 4.

Apart from that, the most basic swap it to put the SSL2 RP in the bridge with the factory stock neck and middle. Personally, i would probably choose this.

 

[gregory]

Re: '92 American Standard Strat and a Spare SSL-2 RP

Thanks for the replies so far.

I like a little more oomph from the neck and bridge, which was why I was considering the stock bridge p'up with an SSL-2 in the bridge or an SSL-2 in the neck with an SSL-6 in the bridge.

The usual complaint about Duncan not making a straight-forward A5 single that sits between an SSL-2 and an SSL-6 applies. Maybe a partial shunt over a full tap on the SSL-6T would work.

As far as boutique or custom shop pickups, I'm not interested in spending more than $50 on top of what I already have on something in the bridge that still hums.

 

[gregory]

Re: '92 American Standard Strat and a Spare SSL-2 RP

Regarding guesswork with DCR there's simply no way the stock Fenders aren't underwound compared to the SSL-2. Otherwise the wire would have to be thicker than 42AWG. Judging by the tone and looking at how full the bobbin is tells the tale.

However, guesswok does apply in the assumption that the 6k bridge is hotter than the 5.7k neck and middle. I don't think an extra 300 ohms worth of winds will make up for the output difference due to location and it doesn't seem to. If true and with fingers crossed, that little extra wire combined with it being in the neck position just might be noticeable.

Bah! Who am I kidding? A height adjustment will make a larger difference.

Regardless, I really need to get a DMM that measures inductance.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: '92 American Standard Strat and a Spare SSL-2 RP

Zhangbucker certainly goes for a lower DCR middle - in his case he knows it will be weaker due to wind count rather than guessing via DCR alone. But his reasoning is that the notch tones to his ear are better when the middle is slightly weaker.

Sometimes when a LOT weaker. For my own #1 Strat I wound a 5.6k middle and an 11.2k bridge -- that's 42 gauge on the bridge, NOT 43 -- and the bridge/middle quack is divine to these ears...

 

[gregory]

Re: '92 American Standard Strat and a Spare SSL-2 RP

I guess I should try my SSL-6 with the stock Fender.

Where would that sit compared to your bridge and middle, presuming that at 5.7k it's similar to your middle?

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: '92 American Standard Strat and a Spare SSL-2 RP

The SSL-6 is 13.3k/43 gauge, roughly in the ballpark of my 11.2k/42 beast (which is, by the way, a 5/2 mag mix while the SSL-6 is all-A5). Give it a try together with the Fender and report back to us...

 

[gregory]

Re: '92 American Standard Strat and a Spare SSL-2 RP

I shall, but it won't be for a while.

Thanks!