Does Duncan distribute pickups without labels on purpose? (SSL-1)

[drocker]

I'm doing a strat Warmoth build. I ordered a loaded pickguard. I configured the pickguard as 1 SSL-5 in the bridge position and 2 SSL-1's for middle and neck.

The pickguard came wired and with packaging from the parts which included pots and a switch from Fender and one package from Seymour Duncan for the SSL-5. Looking at the bridge pickup, there is a sticker which clearly says "SSL-5". However, there is no visual indication at all that the other two are SSL-1's or even duncans at all. They lack any kind of identification (even pulled the neck pickup off the pickguard to inspect) and I did not receive any kind of packaging for the middle and neck pickups. Here is a shot of the back of the pickups.. The neck and middle pickup have the braided wire as official pictures show.

I e-mailed the seller an inquired about this. He said the tech forgot to include the packaging in my shipment and that he had to break a set of California 50s to get the SSL-1's. Has anybody purchased this set before? Do the pickups for some reason in this set come without labels on the back of the pickups.

I tested the pickups with an ohm meter. They check out @ ~6.66 ~6.46: http://www.seymourduncan.com/pickup/vintage-staggered-strat
Should this be enough?

 

[dotsdad]

Re: Does Duncan distribute pickups without labels on purpose? (SSL-1)

My ssl1s have labels just like the one on your ssl5.

 

[drocker]

Re: Does Duncan distribute pickups without labels on purpose? (SSL-1)

My ssl1s have labels just like the one on your ssl5.

Thanks for the reply. Did you get them out of a California 50s set?

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Does Duncan distribute pickups without labels on purpose? (SSL-1)

I bought a set of california 50s. It was just three ssl-1s in three ssl1 boxes. They all had an identifying sticker on their bottom side letting you know what they are and what their polarity is. It might be different if they all came in the same box tho. Still...you'd think they would at least have rwrp on one of them.

 

[GilmourD]

Re: Does Duncan distribute pickups without labels on purpose? (SSL-1)

Something's hinky there.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Does Duncan distribute pickups without labels on purpose? (SSL-1)

I had to look up "hinky".

Those DCR meter readings are within tolerance.

 

[Hecubus]

Re: Does Duncan distribute pickups without labels on purpose? (SSL-1)

I have purchased 4 SSL-1s. The single pickup had no sticker but had SD 2 04 pressed in the plate. The California set had a sticker with the number 1 on the neck pickup and no other markings. These were all purchased 2006-2008 if that makes a difference.

 

[drocker]

Re: Does Duncan distribute pickups without labels on purpose? (SSL-1)

Something's hinky there.

I agree. Quite hinky indeed.

I had to look up "hinky".

Those DCR meter readings are within tolerance.

They are which is the only part that is keeping me from sending them back and asking for a refund. I wish I knew how common is a ~6K ohm single coil pickup with black/white braided wires?

FWIW, the company is Twilight Guitars (twilightguitars.com) - not sure if anybody else here has had a similar experience. Here is a link to the pickguard I purchased. Does anybody else feel like $179 for a loaded pickgaurd with these pups is kind of cheap?

This place seems to have good reviews:
http://www.strat-talk.com/threads/twilightguitar-com.307519/

But it also looks like other people are questioning the authenticity of their pickups from this place:
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/just-pic...itars-fender-loaded-pickguards-real-deal.html

 

[drocker]

Re: Does Duncan distribute pickups without labels on purpose? (SSL-1)

Something's hinky there.

I agree. Quite hinky indeed.

I had to look up "hinky".

Those DCR meter readings are within tolerance.

They are which is the only part that is keeping me from sending them back and asking for a refund. I wish I knew how common is a ~6K ohm single coil pickup with black/white braided wires?

FWIW, the company is Twilight Guitars (twilightguitars.com) - not sure if anybody else here has had a similar experience. Here is a link to the pickguard I purchased. Does anybody else feel like $179 for a loaded pickgaurd with these pups is kind of cheap?

This place seems to have good reviews:
http://www.strat-talk.com/threads/twilightguitar-com.307519/

But it also looks like other people are questioning the authenticity of their pickups from this place:
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/just-pic...itars-fender-loaded-pickguards-real-deal.html

 

[Mincer]

Re: Does Duncan distribute pickups without labels on purpose? (SSL-1)

I cant tell from the pic, but that is is at least $100 less than what SD sells loaded pickguards for. Someone with a better eye than I have might be able to tell. But every SSL-1 I've seen has always had some sort of sticker on them.

 

[drocker]

Re: Does Duncan distribute pickups without labels on purpose? (SSL-1)

I cant tell from the pic, but that is is at least $100 less than what SD sells loaded pickguards for. Someone with a better eye than I have might be able to tell. But every SSL-1 I've seen has always had some sort of sticker on them.

Where did you come up with $100 less? I haven't posted how much the pickguard costs (I tried to but for some reason it isn't coming up)

 

[drocker]

Re: Does Duncan distribute pickups without labels on purpose? (SSL-1)

Something's hinky there.

I agree. Quite hinky indeed.

I had to look up "hinky".

Those DCR meter readings are within tolerance.

They are which is the only part that is keeping me from sending them back and asking for a refund. I wish I knew how common is a ~6K ohm single coil pickup with black/white braided wires?

 

[drocker]

Re: Does Duncan distribute pickups without labels on purpose? (SSL-1)

FWIW, the company is Twilight Guitars (twilightguitars.com) - not sure if anybody else here has had a similar experience. Here is a link to the pickguard I purchased. Does anybody else feel like $179 for a loaded pickgaurd with these pups is kind of cheap?

This place seems to have good reviews:
http://www.strat-talk.com/threads/twilightguitar-com.307519/

But it also looks like other people are questioning the authenticity of their pickups from this place:
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/just-pic...itars-fender-loaded-pickguards-real-deal.html

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Does Duncan distribute pickups without labels on purpose? (SSL-1)

Where did you come up with $100 less? I haven't posted how much the pickguard costs (I tried to but for some reason it isn't coming up)

Mods are probably editing it since it's so much cheaper than what SD sells them for.

This is one of the major problems with buying from outside sources - the price may be great, but are you really getting what you're paying for?

 

[GilmourD]

Re: Does Duncan distribute pickups without labels on purpose? (SSL-1)

Mods are probably editing it since it's so much cheaper than what SD sells them for.

This is one of the major problems with buying from outside sources - the price may be great, but are you really getting what you're paying for?

Even when we edit a post it appends a "Last edited by..." subtext. The software doesn't let us get away with shenanigans like that.

My fear is that they're pickups that are similarly spec'd to the SSL-1 but not actually an SSL-1.

 

[drocker]

Re: Does Duncan distribute pickups without labels on purpose? (SSL-1)

A couple more things. I finally heard back from Duncan, they said "...Usually they have stickers on them, but not always (they fall off sometimes).". I'm not convinced that both stickers falling off of the two pickups I did not get packaging for is probable. I also noticed when using the ohm meter that my SSL-5 was reading @ 12.14. According to Duncan it should be @ 13.3. Not sure what to think of this either. I've e-mailed the seller and asked for return instructions. We'll see how this goes.

 

[GilmourD]

Re: Does Duncan distribute pickups without labels on purpose? (SSL-1)

A couple more things. I finally heard back from Duncan, they said "...Usually they have stickers on them, but not always (they fall off sometimes).". I'm not convinced that both stickers falling off of the two pickups I did not get packaging for is probable. I also noticed when using the ohm meter that my SSL-5 was reading @ 12.14. According to Duncan it should be @ 13.3. Not sure what to think of this either. I've e-mailed the seller and asked for return instructions. We'll see how this goes.

As far as the SSL-5 temperature will change the resistance reading. If it's cooler it will be lower and thus higher when hotter, beyond the fact that there's a certain tolerance percentage.

 

[drocker]

Re: Does Duncan distribute pickups without labels on purpose? (SSL-1)

As far as the SSL-5 temperature will change the resistance reading. If it's cooler it will be lower and thus higher when hotter, beyond the fact that there's a certain tolerance percentage.

That's interesting. Then maybe that implies the SSL-1's are actually higher (around 7.5) given that I measured all 3 pickups at the room temperature in my house. As a side note I wonder what a statistically significant +- is on something like this. 1K seems excessive at first thought but could be wrong of course.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Does Duncan distribute pickups without labels on purpose? (SSL-1)

Looking at the underside of pickguard assembly photograph, the neck and middle pickups certainly look more like SD than, say, Fender Custom Shop Fat Fifties, '54s or the ol' AVRI 57/62 model. (The solder blobs are a dead giveaway.)

I can vouch for the fact that the self-adhesive labels on Antiquity model pickups are notorious for dropping off. They are often discovered, lurking at the bottom of the routed cavities. Sometimes, they never even get beyond the confines of the little cloth bag.

 

[drocker]

Re: Does Duncan distribute pickups without labels on purpose? (SSL-1)

Looking at the underside of pickguard assembly photograph, the neck and middle pickups certainly look more like SD than, say, Fender Custom Shop Fat Fifties, '54s or the ol' AVRI 57/62 model. (The solder blobs are a dead giveaway.)

I can vouch for the fact that the self-adhesive labels on Antiquity model pickups are notorious for dropping off. They are often discovered, lurking at the bottom of the routed cavities. Sometimes, they never even get beyond the confines of the little cloth bag.

I hear that and that makes a great deal of sense. Thanks for your input. If I had received the packaging for the pups I would be more inclined to keep them and give the seller the benefit of the doubt. But the no stickers with no packaging just seems to suspicious to me.