Lost Treble in strat with ssl5

Oquedo

Oquedo

New member
Hello. I just made some changes to a strat squire I own. Disregarding the kind advice of previous thread posts, I got an SSl-5L and put it in the neck position. I wanted to get a deeper sound, and the ssl5 did it, but somehow I believe I lost a lot of treble in that position. I also changed the volume pot (stock 500k) for a fender (250k). Tone pots remain 500k.

Where can I posibly make a mistake that lend to treble loss in a single neck position???

Dont get me wrong I love the sound and output of the SSL5 but I believe something is missing.

Thanx in advance for any help :)
 
Re: Lost Treble in strat with ssl5

I doubt you did anything wrong. At 12k thats pretty hot for neck pickup and the hotter you get usually the thicker and fatter you get. You can try lowering it quite a bit but you will probably lose some of that fattness. But that sounds about right to me.
 
Re: Lost Treble in strat with ssl5

The SSL-5 is overwound for a thick rock tone in the BRIDGE of a Strat, in the neck position it is (IMHO) far too hot, thick and dark...
 
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Re: Lost Treble in strat with ssl5

Well, live and learn. I guess Ill just have to wait until the strings go bad.

It is all rock sound. Bet itll kill in the bridge. But im looking for the blues.

Thanx
 
Re: Lost Treble in strat with ssl5

In general the more winds you have on a strat style single coil the darker and more compressed it will be. Fewer winds are brighter, open, transparent and dynamic. The trade off is that pickups with fewer winds often lose definition and don't respond uniformly under high volume or gain.
 
Re: Lost Treble in strat with ssl5

Oquedo said:
Hello. I just made some changes to a strat squire I own. Disregarding the kind advice of previous thread posts, I got an SSl-5L and put it in the neck position. I wanted to get a deeper sound, and the ssl5 did it, but somehow I believe I lost a lot of treble in that position. I also changed the volume pot (stock 500k) for a fender (250k). Tone pots remain 500k.

Where can I posibly make a mistake that lend to treble loss in a single neck position???

Dont get me wrong I love the sound and output of the SSL5 but I believe something is missing.

Thanx in advance for any help :)
Click to expand...

A 12k neck pup will have a lot less treble than an ~6k pup will. On top of that you replaced a 500k vol pot with a 250k pot which will roll off more treble.
 
Re: Lost Treble in strat with ssl5

A SSL-5 with a 500K pot is better and still bright enough. Anything over 8/9K might as well have a 500K pot.
 
Re: Lost Treble in strat with ssl5

I would never use a 500k pot wiht a single coil...ever.

Do this, pull the guitar down, put the SSL-5 in the bridge position and while it's apart put in 3 250k pots and drop a pair of SSL-1's in the neck and middle and you'll have a killer sounding guitar.
 
Re: Lost Treble in strat with ssl5

SSL5 = bridge only in my book. Hated it in the neck and mid.

SSL5 + SSL1 + SSL1 = Perfect. THAT setup right there ended my pickup tone quest in my strat.
 
Re: Lost Treble in strat with ssl5

RockStarNick said:
SSL5 = bridge only in my book. Hated it in the neck and mid.

SSL5 + SSL1 + SSL1 = Perfect. THAT setup right there ended my pickup tone quest in my strat.
Click to expand...

Yeah that was everybody told me before in this same forum. I just wanted to try it on the neck. Dont like it either.

What Im not aware yet is the effect of the different 250k vs 500k pots on the sound. Specifically on the volume. Squire has 500k by default and I wonder if its only because of budget or something else. :scratchch
 
Re: Lost Treble in strat with ssl5

No, 500k pot dampens the resonant peak of you pup less than a 250k. Look on the frequence curve as a steep hill with the peak in the higher frequencies. The more winding on the pup brings the peak more to the mids, the 500k lets the peak be more pronounced and hence the pup be more 'bright'. Hope that helps.
First move the ssl-5 to the bridge and than eventually go back to the 500k. I have a Squier strat with rosewood neck, an SSL-6 (even poled version of the SSL-5) in the bridge and two Fender USA standard pups in middle and neck. I love the 500k in this one.
 
Re: Lost Treble in strat with ssl5

hamerfan said:
No, 500k pot dampens the resonant peak of you pup less than a 250k. Look on the frequence curve as a steep hill with the peak in the higher frequencies. The more winding on the pup brings the peak more to the mids, the 500k lets the peak be more pronounced and hence the pup be more 'bright'. Hope that helps.
First move the ssl-5 to the bridge and than eventually go back to the 500k. I have a Squier strat with rosewood neck, an SSL-6 (even poled version of the SSL-5) in the bridge and two Fender USA standard pups in middle and neck. I love the 500k in this one.
Click to expand...

It helps a lot thank you.
So basically I messed up the tone, lol. But hey its just a squire. Thats why I love her. Anyway Im loving this tone searching.

What Im basically looking for is a warmer tone on the neck pup for deep blues expression, and a bright one on the middle for a good texas like. :cool2:

Any ideas?
 
Re: Lost Treble in strat with ssl5

Get an APS for the neck. Its has A2 magnets and will warm up the neck nicely but wont be as dark and fat as the ssl5 is. Keep something A5 like an ssl1 in the middle.
 
Re: Lost Treble in strat with ssl5

the guy who invented fire said:
I would never use a 500k pot wiht a single coil...ever.

Do this, pull the guitar down, put the SSL-5 in the bridge position and while it's apart put in 3 250k pots and drop a pair of SSL-1's in the neck and middle and you'll have a killer sounding guitar.
Click to expand...

That's the ticket...right there.

Another set I really like is the APS-2, APS-2 RW/RP and Twangbanger set if you want warmth and twang - and a strong bridge pickup.
 
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Re: Lost Treble in strat with ssl5

kjrocks said:
Get an APS for the neck. Its has A2 magnets and will warm up the neck nicely but wont be as dark and fat as the ssl5 is. Keep something A5 like an ssl1 in the middle.
Click to expand...

What he said.

bridge:SSL-5
middle:SSL-1
neck: APS-1
 
Re: Lost Treble in strat with ssl5

Cool Im going to make a little research on the APS and the ssl1 is going in the middle for sure.
 
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