I think I bought the wrong guitar :(

[kilf]

Hi guys

A while back I bought a esp ltd 1000w custom 5 in the bridge and ssl3s in the neck and middle, but they aren't exactly glassy, I know I know that's not what they are supposed to be(I though a single coil was a single coil when I bought it), but is there a way I can ...make the best of what I have, make them more vintage, they are way to dark for my tastes...hope someone can help, I've attached a wiring diagram

To be honest I quite like the humbucker it's far brighter than the single coils [emoji846]

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[freefrog]

Re: I think I bought the wrong guitar

Cheap (and REVERSIBLE) solution below.

Find a pair of single coils with ceramic mags - like those mounted in cheap guitars. Some shops sell them for really low prices.

Pull off the ceramic bar mags under these things and keep only their coils with metal slugs inside. You have now a pair of dummy coils.

Burry these dummy coils in the electronic cavity. Solder each of them in PARALLEL with each SSL3.

It will divide the DCR and inductance of each SSL3. The output level should drop accordingly and the sound get thinner / brighter. If the network is tuned correctly, it should sound close to a SSL1 or any other standard single coil...

If the tonal effect is too drastic, solder a 4,7k or 10k resistor in series with each dummy coil.

Possible additional benefits:

1-if you can find a set of RWRP cheap ceramic single coils and if you use them as dummy coils properly wired, they will be noise cancelling (your SSL3's won't hum no more or a lot less).

2-if you make switchable these parallel dummy coils, you'll keep the freedom to play your SSL3's with their original dark sound.


There's other possible tricks with series capacitors, parallel mini-transformers as inductors and so on. But at least you've already an idea of cheap solution (that I've applied dozens of times).

EDIT -

1) This post was trying to answer to the original question: " is there a way I can ...make the best of what I have, make them more vintage".
But if it's too complicated, there's tons of good and not so expensive SC's on the market, as said below.

2) The solution explained above is "cheap" in cost and reversible. BUT it's not necessarily cheap sounding: while the quality of a pickup is essential when it hears the strings, its properties become a lot less critical if it's used as a dummy inductor. Urban legends even say that SRV had a dummy bass pickup buried in his number one as a noise cancelling device...

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: I think I bought the wrong guitar

See if you can find a pair of SSL-1s or SSL-2s used. There are a lot of them and they can be had for pretty cheap if you wait around for a while.

 

[Jack_TriPpEr]

Re: I think I bought the wrong guitar

Hi guys

A while back I bought a esp ltd 1000w custom 5 in the bridge and ssl3s in the neck and middle, but they aren't exactly glassy, I know I know that's not what they are supposed to be(I though a single coil was a single coil when I bought it), but is there a way I can ...make the best of what I have, make them more vintage, they are way to dark for my tastes...hope someone can help, I've attached a wiring diagram

To be honest I quite like the humbucker it's far brighter than the single coils [emoji846]

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

Those SSL-3 pickups are voiced as hot pickups. Since you said you are looking for more glassy, check out the SSL-2, which is voiced as vintage, and the Seymour Duncan product description mentions "bell" and "chime", which is synonymous with "glassy". I recommended the SSL-2 (non-staggered pole pieces) over the SSL-1 (staggered pole pieces) because your guitar has a flatter neck radius (13.75") vs a typical Strat which ranges from 7.5" - 9.5". You will see in the product description for the SSL-2 that its non-staggered pole pieces were designed specifically for flatter radius guitars like yours. The voicing of the SSL-1 and SSL-2 are the same.

See the product descriptions of all three pickup models via the links below:

SSL-1 (vintage voiced - staggered polepieces):
https://www.seymourduncan.com/single-product/vintage-staggered-strat

SSL-2 (non-staggered pole-piece version of the SSL-1):
https://www.seymourduncan.com/single-product/vintage-flat-strat

SSL-3 (hot output):
https://www.seymourduncan.com/single-product/hot-strat

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: I think I bought the wrong guitar

Ah, I just realized that you're running 500k pots. You might want to consider the SSL-5 or SSL-6 rather than the SSL-1/2s. The 5/6 will be a little darker and middier than the 1/2, and less glassy - which might be a good thing with the 500k pots. The SSL-2 or 1 will be pretty piercing otherwise - I think they sound better with 250k volume and tone.

 

[JWR]

Re: I think I bought the wrong guitar

If it's the electronics that are bothersome, easy enough to change. You didn't mention if you like the instrument. I'd say sell it stock and continue the quest. Honestly, I ended up just assembling my two strats and selecting my favorite components, since I'm going to keep them, no need to worry about resale value or customers.

 

[kilf]

Re: I think I bought the wrong guitar

How does lowering the pickup effect thing, apologies if this is a stupid question but I know nothing about this sort of thing

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[BeKindRewind]

Re: I think I bought the wrong guitar

it tends to lower the output and brighten the sound a bit

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: I think I bought the wrong guitar

it tends to lower the output and brighten the sound a bit

It's also free, so that should always be the first thing you try with pickups.

 

[jeremy]

Re: I think I bought the wrong guitar

the ssl3 will never sound vintage, its a high output middy single coil. great in the bridge though. if you have a soldering iron, you can take the tone control off the neck and middle pups. they will sound a little brighter without the tone control (even if its always on 10) the ssl5/6 is a good suggestion and would be mine as well.

 

[Mincer]

Re: I think I bought the wrong guitar

Yeah, my thought is that other than replacement, you can't make the SSL-3 sound like an SSL-2. You could try 1meg pots, but that will change what the humbucker sounds like, too. The SSL-3 is powerful and thick, and probably would never sound like a vintage pickup does. I don't think you have the wrong guitar, just the wrong single coil pickups.
If you *did* put vintage-type SSL-2 pickups in there, it would change the volume balance between the singles and the humbucker.

 

[Teleplayer]

Re: I think I bought the wrong guitar

Free frog's idea is interesting... I'm not totally convinced it will make it sound like a vintage strat because there will be extra capacitance of two pickup coils. The tone will be like an average between the two coils, and their resonances peaks.

The two options in my mind both involve changing the pickups

1) Add a pair of Alinco 5 vintage strat pickups, such as Duncan SSL-2 in middle and SSL-2 RW/RP in neck. You will need to make some change the the wiring. I'd suggest to wire a 510k load resistor to the other side of the 5-way switch so it changes the total resistive load when the selector is in positions 2, 3, 4, 5. I can provide schematic if you think that is a good option for you. I have used that wiring scheme with a Duncan TB-14 Custom 5 bridge, and a pair of Suhr single coils, which are reasonably similar to the Duncans.

2) Add some hum-cancelling single coil pickups that will work without any additional wiring changes. Duncan's are good, but they are not quite as glassy under gain as real vintage single coil. If you like pickups such as CS69, maybe you would be better off with Dimarzio Area 58 in neck and Area 67 in the middle. Two Area 67 would be the choice for the maximum amount if glass in the neck position, especially combined with 500k controls.