Dimarzio FS-1 vs Duncan SSL-5
- Thread starter CarlosG
- Start date
I'd think the DiMarzio is a tiny bit louder, which means it sounds less like a regular Strat pickup, but balances better with the other 2. Both are pretty high output for a traditional Strat sound no matter what you do with them (unless you order a tapped SSL-5), so your 2nd & 4th position will be thicker than a traditional Strat.
When I said SSL 5, I meant the flat version, I didn't know it was SSL6
I have stk-s7 at the moment and I don't like it. To much middle, doesn't sound like strat.
It sounds best when splitting only the humbuckers, when splitting the stk too it sounds too thin and loses power, so with only the humbucker split I don't have noise canceling (2 and 4 position)
The ssl-5/6 is cut in the middle and it often recommend for stronger humbuckers. The FS-1 is also a classic, often found in superstrats (Ibanez PGM).
freefrog
Well-known member
The thing is that such single coils owe their output to a higher inductance. So they're louder but also darker voiced than regular Strat SC's, because of a way lower pitched resonant peak. Reason why they won't deliver the typical 2d or 4th positions tone: they will sound thicker.
It's not necessarily a bad thing: the Strat copy that I've used for my first big concert, more than four decades ago, had 3 beefy single coils, closer to P90's than to Strat single coils: I've recently brougth them back from the grave and measured them @ 6.07 to 6.17H (it's 3 times the inductance of a CS69, for the record; a typical P90 clocks between 6 and 7H). Their sound was... "muscular". It just lacked that Strat sparkle....
Later I've mounted a SSL5 (measured inductance: 6.19H) in my first home made Strat. Still too middy to my ears. Finally traded it for a dead Kahler trem that I've repaired...
It's possible to obtain more brightness from such beefy SC's, by putting a LR filter (resistor in series with an inductor) in parallel with them. But it will lower their output.... Now, it's this solution that I'd probably use for realistic 2d or 4th positions with strong PU's: I'd mount a super switch enabling a custom voiced LR filter in parallel with pickups in positions 2 and 4 only.
It's conversely possible to obtain the voicing of a SSL5 from a regular Strat PU, by putting it in parallel with a 1nF cap to ground. But it won't have the same output, of course...
FWIW: more tedious rambling from an old fart.
Happy new year, fellow members!
It's not necessarily a bad thing: the Strat copy that I've used for my first big concert, more than four decades ago, had 3 beefy single coils, closer to P90's than to Strat single coils: I've recently brougth them back from the grave and measured them @ 6.07 to 6.17H (it's 3 times the inductance of a CS69, for the record; a typical P90 clocks between 6 and 7H). Their sound was... "muscular". It just lacked that Strat sparkle....
Later I've mounted a SSL5 (measured inductance: 6.19H) in my first home made Strat. Still too middy to my ears. Finally traded it for a dead Kahler trem that I've repaired...
It's possible to obtain more brightness from such beefy SC's, by putting a LR filter (resistor in series with an inductor) in parallel with them. But it will lower their output.... Now, it's this solution that I'd probably use for realistic 2d or 4th positions with strong PU's: I'd mount a super switch enabling a custom voiced LR filter in parallel with pickups in positions 2 and 4 only.
It's conversely possible to obtain the voicing of a SSL5 from a regular Strat PU, by putting it in parallel with a 1nF cap to ground. But it won't have the same output, of course...
FWIW: more tedious rambling from an old fart.
Happy new year, fellow members!
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG7hcLgnJjo&list=WL&index=5&t=160s
I know the comparison is poor quality in this video, but the FS-1 seems to ring more and sound more like a strat than the SSL-5. So if it's louder and sounds more like a strat, I'll go with the FS-1.
Yes, that's right. However, in comparison, the FS-1 rings more than the SSL-5
