The HS-2 is very low output despite having a high DC resistance. There are two stacked coils wound in opposite directions around the same rod magnets which makes them humbucking. The design philosophy was to design a pickup with vintage output level that could handle high volume/distortion but still retain good definition. They feel very different than a real single coil and react differently to volume and distortion. The SSL-5 is designed not to clank and sound sludgy with high volume/distortion but it pushes an amp hard with fairly high output. While the HS-2 has low output and doesn't push an amp hard because the amp more than likely is a master volume amp that already has enough distortion and doesn't need to be pushed.
