Black SSL-5s?

S

SmokeDaddy

New member
Hey all, I'm at the point where I'm ready to buy the pickups for my new Fender Highway One HSS strat. You guys helped me out immensely in the decision, and for that I say thank you! I'm going with the TB-5 Custom in the bridge, SSL-5 in the neck, and SSL-1 in the middle.

(I haven't been able to find any audio samples of the SSL-5 in the neck position, but I'll take the Seymour Duncan description your guys' word word for it. Neck position ought to give me a good strat tone with a little bit higher output, middle position will give me the vintage strat quack and also parlay that quack into the 2-and-4 notch positions, and the bridge one should give me a cool tone and handle distortion all sweet and sexy-like.)

One problem, though: I want to keep the current color scheme of my guitar. It is matte black, with white pickguard and black pickups. So I start perusing Musiciansfriend and Amazon, and I found the black color option for the SD Custom easily. The SSL-1 also appears to come in black. Wundebah! Then I go to find the SSL-5.

It appears to only come in white (?!) ...Oh ****.

Do they make black colored SSL-5's and if yes, can somebody point me in the right direction?

PS. Also, what is RWRP? They sell RWRP SSL-1's and non-RWRP SSL-1's. I assume I want RWRP for my middle position? And I can only find bridge position and middle position SSL-5's... Do they sell a separate neck position one for SSL-5's or would I be installing the 'middle pickup' version in the neck slot?

Thank you :)
 
Re: Black SSL-5s?

SmokeDaddy said:
One problem, though: I want to keep the current color scheme of my guitar. It is matte black, with white pickguard and black pickups. So I start perusing Musiciansfriend and Amazon, and I found the black color option for the SD Custom easily. The SSL-1 also appears to come in black. Wundebah! Then I go to find the SSL-5.

It appears to only come in white (?!) ...Oh ****.

Do they make black colored SSL-5's and if yes, can somebody point me in the right direction?

PS. Also, what is RWRP? They sell RWRP SSL-1's and non-RWRP SSL-1's. I assume I want RWRP for my middle position? And I can only find bridge position and middle position SSL-5's... Do they sell a separate neck position one for SSL-5's or would I be installing the 'middle pickup' version in the neck slot?

Thank you :)
Click to expand...

Hi,

1. Strat single coil have a plastic cover, this is the color you see. Those covers are availiable in nearly every color you can think of. Including Matte Black or buy a black and do the matteing for yourself.

2. All SSL-1 have the same winding, there is nothing like a neck SSL-1. Same is for SSL-5. The common combo is SSL-5 in the bridge with 2 SSL-1 in neck and middle.

3. RWRP is an option to get less noise when combining a RWRP (Reverse wound, reverse poled) with a normal. Very common is to use the RWRP in the middle slot.

So your combo could be SSL-5 in the Bridge, a SSL-1 RWRP in the middle, a SSL-1 in the neck. If you have a very flat fingerboard radius you could also use SSL-6 in the Bridge, a SSL-2 RWRP in the middle, a SSL-2 in the neck.

Hope that helps.
 
Re: Black SSL-5s?

hamerfan said:
Hi,

1. Strat single coil have a plastic cover, this is the color you see. Those covers are availiable in nearly every color you can think of. Including Matte Black or buy a black and do the matteing for yourself.

...

So your combo could be SSL-5 in the Bridge, a SSL-1 RWRP in the middle, a SSL-1 in the neck. If you have a very flat fingerboard radius you could also use SSL-6 in the Bridge, a SSL-2 RWRP in the middle, a SSL-2 in the neck.

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...

Thanks! So you're saying I could just buy the SSL-5 as is and just put a new pickup cover on it? Not a bad idea, just found em on Guitar Center's site: http://www.guitarcenter.com/Seymour-Duncan-Single-Coil-Pickup-Cover-300071-i1127402.gc Haven't been able to find them in black matte cover, but I think this cover might just fit perfectly well. I'm looking at the pickups that came stock with the guitar and they appear to be the same colour.

Regarding the SSL-5 in the bridge and the SSL-1's in the neck and middle, the guitar in question has a Humbucker bridge, single coil in neck+middle setup. So no single coil bridge! I'm excited to try out the Duncan Custom though, and to complement the hotness in the bridge humbucker, that's where the SSL-5 comes in on the neck, with the SSL-1 RWRP in the middle for good tonal variety and to retain the middle position's lovely "ka-chink" sort of quality to it. I've been reading a lot of people saying they don't even use the middle pickup by itself, which to me is madness-- the middle position has a lovely, percussive quality to it! Very usable and cuts through the mix more than a bridge pickup, yet isn't as "darker" sounding as a neck pickup.

idsnowdog: Thanks for the audio sample! Sounds perfect for my needs... That girl in your avatar picture seems perfect for my needs too. :smash: I would pound it like gavel.

I recently got an Echo Audiofire4 and several mics for recording, so I hope to be putting this guitar onto some upcoming recordings. I will tell you all how the guitar sounds and put up a review once I order these babies and have them put into the guitar!

PS, Anyone else think it's kinda weird how all the Seymour Duncan audio samples show you how the bridge, bridge/middle, neck, and neck/middle pickup settings sound, but not the actual middle pickup sound itself? :drive:
 
Re: Black SSL-5s?

SmokeDaddy said:
PS, Anyone else think it's kinda weird how all the Seymour Duncan audio samples show you how the bridge, bridge/middle, neck, and neck/middle pickup settings sound, but not the actual middle pickup sound itself? :drive:
Click to expand...
It just reflects the bias of a lot of people who think the middle pickup is only useful for OOP 2/4 positions on the switch. A lot of players also opt for a weak/bright center pickup to accentuate the 2/4 positions.
 
Re: Black SSL-5s?

idsnowdog said:
It just reflects the bias of a lot of people who think the middle pickup is only useful for OOP 2/4 positions on the switch. A lot of players also opt for a weak/bright center pickup to accentuate the 2/4 positions.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I personally never use the neck-and-middle notch position... It just ends up sounding like a weaker version of the neck pickup and I can't find much use for it. The bridge-and-middle notch position has a neat, plinky sound though.

If you happen to know of any audio clips of the SSL-5 in the middle position alone (I've searched youtube far and wide and could only find demos in the bridge position), then please do post em!

Honestly I am STILL kind of torn over whether to put an SSL-1 in the middle or another SSL-5 in the middle, but seeing as I haven't been able to find a sample of it, I don't know if the pickup being a bit hotter will affect the 'ka-chinky' sound of that position. So so far I'm thinkin that the SSL-1 in the middle would be a safe bet.
 
Re: Black SSL-5s?

hamerfan said:
Hi,

2. All SSL-1 have the same winding, there is nothing like a neck SSL-1. Same is for SSL-5. The common combo is SSL-5 in the bridge with 2 SSL-1 in neck and middle.
Click to expand...

One more thing: I am looking on Musiciansfriend and the SSL-5's are "Seymour Duncan SSL-5 RW/RP Custom Staggered Single-Coil Middle Pickup" and "Seymour Duncan SSL-5 Custom Staggered Single-Coil Bridge Pickup." Bridge one is $52.95, and middle one is $64.95 and RW/RP. Which one would I buy to put in the neck?

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation?q=ssl-5 (link to the search for reference)
 
Re: Black SSL-5s?

SmokeDaddy said:
One more thing: I am looking on Musiciansfriend and the SSL-5's are "Seymour Duncan SSL-5 RW/RP Custom Staggered Single-Coil Middle Pickup" and "Seymour Duncan SSL-5 Custom Staggered Single-Coil Bridge Pickup." Bridge one is $52.95, and middle one is $64.95 and RW/RP. Which one would I buy to put in the neck?

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation?q=ssl-5 (link to the search for reference)
Click to expand...


There is no neck version of this, just use the bridge version. The mid (rw/rp) is the same output, just reversed wound, to be hum canceling with neck or bridge.
I have a ssl-5 in the neck of my avri 70's strat, with a ssl-1 in the mid, and ssl-3t in the bridge. HOT!

ps: as a side note, I also have a no load tone pot (pos 1) for the neck and mid p/u's, and the 2nd tone (push/pull) for the mid p/u (pulling up on it taps the ssl-3t, while adding it to the neck p/u) very usefull option.
 
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