Need some help deciding between SSL-1's and SSL-5's and more....

[JohnF05]

Hello guys. I’m trying to decide between pickups/configurations and would like some input from some knowledgeable and helpful members. First off, I’m playing a Classic Player 60’s Strat with a 12” modern radius fretboard.

I’m looking for the glassy/bell-tone Strat sound with some decent output when in the bridge when distorted. From the help of some forum members I’m leaning towards an SSL-5 in the bridge for some more meaty sounds (told by forum members) and either a pair of SSL-1’s or more SSL-5’s in the middle and neck.

My question is, is there much difference between the SSL-1’s and SSL-5’s? They sound very similar in the sound demos on the site.

The other issue I’m having questions about is that my Classic Player comes with staggered pickup poles and was wondering if I should stay with that and what I’m used to sound wise or should I upgrade to the flat pole SSL-2’s? Is that really necessary?

I wrote customer service for S. Duncan two different times and one guy told me the radius wouldn’t make much of a difference and to go with the SSL-1’s. The next customer service guy said he would go with SSL-5’s being “they have a more powerful wind making them fatter” and then when I asked him in a follow up email about the radius, he said he’d, “go with the flat poles to compensate for the radius” So, you can understand my confusion. I’ve heard they’re not as close to that vintage glassy, bell-tone Strat chime that I’m looking for. Any input on those would be helpful as well.

I’m new to buying pickups and know the sound I want, just not sure exactly how to get it.

Here’s a demo of the great Strat sound I’m looking for. FFWD to 52 seconds…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij_GLF8-lAA

Mike McCready’s Strat sound from “Yellow Ledbetter”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eOs_ZIVkTk

Thank you in advance for your patience and help.

Jon

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Need some help deciding between SSL-1's and SSL-5's and more....

yes they are different.
The voice of the ssl5 is much lower and the tone is thicker.
Still, they are unmistakably strat sounding. If you want to really go for a high gain singing tone for the bridge, the ssl5 is better tho. If you want a perfectly clean hank marvin kind of vibe then go for all 3 ssl1s.
They are both ace pickups, but i think your first plan of two ssl1s and an ssl5 for the bridge is a good setup.
ive got a modern strat with a 10 inch radius and i dont notice much difference between staggered and flat pickups. I set them fairly low tho because it allows the strings to vibrate freely without being pulled on by the magnetic field. So you cant go wrong either way with flat or staggered. The main reason for staggering back in the old days was not so much about radius, as it was about balancing the relative outputs of each of the strings back in the era when the G was a wound string.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Need some help deciding between SSL-1's and SSL-5's and more....

I'll be honest and tell you Im not a single coil expert by any means as Ive always been more a humbucker guy, BUT.... I have a couple of guitars now where Im they have singles neck and middle that I want to change and have been asking the same question, AND, I spend WAY too much time on this forum, (haha).. I said all that to say that Gibson175 is a good info source, and what I have heard and found in my search pretty much dead on mimics what he said. SS1 neck and mid for the chime and quack and SS5 in the bridge for the beef. And, as G175 said, the SS5 is alittle lower, but keep in mind that will offset some being in the bridge position.. If you were to put one in the neck, would be alittle less chimey and alittle more wooley. Good luck!!

I LOVE the guitar in Yellow Ledbetter! Great playing and tone in that one..

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Need some help deciding between SSL-1's and SSL-5's and more....

Yellow Ledbetter and that '63 Strat? Gotta go SSL-1 for Neck/Middle. (Or antiquity Surfer)

Are you sure it's a 12" radius? If so, the flats would be better, but if it's 9.5" the staggered have the certain vintage vibe.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Need some help deciding between SSL-1's and SSL-5's and more....

My "Strat" is a 12-16" compound radius and I have it set up SSL-2/SSL-2/SSL-6T with a blend pot & master tone. I couldn't decide between a SSL-6 or another SSL-2 for the bridge, so I sort of have both. At full output the SSL-6 meters at 13.5K and is A LOT thicker than the SSL-2s though still stratty, while the tap is about 6.5K and balances well with the SSL-2s in the neck and middle.

The one real drawback of this setup is that bridge pickup height can be difficult to set. If you set full output to balance well with the neck & mid, the tap will be really weak and bright to the point of being nearly useless. If you balance the tap OTOH, full output is much louder than the neck and mid. I have mine set where the tap is slightly on the quiet/bright side so full output is a noticeable boost, but won't blow me across the room in comparison.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Need some help deciding between SSL-1's and SSL-5's and more....

This customer service guy's suggestion would be for flat SSL-2s in the neck & middle, with the middle being rw/rp. I'd then put an SSL-5 Flat in the bridge. I like the flat for bigger, modern radii.

 

[TattooedCarrot]

Re: Need some help deciding between SSL-1's and SSL-5's and more....

SSL1/SSL1/SSL5 to me is the perfect strat setup. Yes the SSL5 is very different. It's hotter, fatter, and the closest single coil to a humbucker I've ever heard, while still sounding like a strat. Won't be bell like or glassy, but some rockers have used the 5 in the neck matched with a hot humbucker in the bridge and it's pretty cool for distorted rock soloing.

This guy is ripping an SSL5 in the neck of this Charvel.

 

[JohnF05]

Re: Need some help deciding between SSL-1's and SSL-5's and more....

yes they are different.
The voice of the ssl5 is much lower and the tone is thicker.
Still, they are unmistakably strat sounding. If you want to really go for a high gain singing tone for the bridge, the ssl5 is better tho. If you want a perfectly clean hank marvin kind of vibe then go for all 3 ssl1s.
They are both ace pickups, but i think your first plan of two ssl1s and an ssl5 for the bridge is a good setup.
ive got a modern strat with a 10 inch radius and i dont notice much difference between staggered and flat pickups. I set them fairly low tho because it allows the strings to vibrate freely without being pulled on by the magnetic field. So you cant go wrong either way with flat or staggered. The main reason for staggering back in the old days was not so much about radius, as it was about balancing the relative outputs of each of the strings back in the era when the G was a wound string.

Hey, thank you for taking the time to respond. About the flatter radius, I wasn't sure with the SSL-1's and SSL-5 how that would sound being that mine is a 12" over a traditional Strat 7.5 or even 9.5.

 

[JohnF05]

Re: Need some help deciding between SSL-1's and SSL-5's and more....

SSL1/SSL1/SSL5 to me is the perfect strat setup. Yes the SSL5 is very different. It's hotter, fatter, and the closest single coil to a humbucker I've ever heard, while still sounding like a strat. Won't be bell like or glassy, but some rockers have used the 5 in the neck matched with a hot humbucker in the bridge and it's pretty cool for distorted rock soloing.

This guy is ripping an SSL5 in the neck of this Charvel.

Hey, thanks for your input and taking the time to respond. You mentioned your perfect Strat setup, but would that still apply for you even with the 12" radius fretboard? I'm used to the staggered sound of a Strat but my main concern is that the 12" radius would be too flat to get a good sound out of those pickups, being that it's far flatter than the 7.5 or even 9.5.

 

[JohnF05]

Re: Need some help deciding between SSL-1's and SSL-5's and more....

This customer service guy's suggestion would be for flat SSL-2s in the neck & middle, with the middle being rw/rp. I'd then put an SSL-5 Flat in the bridge. I like the flat for bigger, modern radii.

Hey, and thank you for taking the time to respond. I'm just debating being that I've heard that the SSL-2 doesn't have as much of the bell/chime as the SSL-1's and might not sound as good to me.

 

[JohnF05]

Re: Need some help deciding between SSL-1's and SSL-5's and more....

My "Strat" is a 12-16" compound radius and I have it set up SSL-2/SSL-2/SSL-6T with a blend pot & master tone. I couldn't decide between a SSL-6 or another SSL-2 for the bridge, so I sort of have both. At full output the SSL-6 meters at 13.5K and is A LOT thicker than the SSL-2s though still stratty, while the tap is about 6.5K and balances well with the SSL-2s in the neck and middle.

The one real drawback of this setup is that bridge pickup height can be difficult to set. If you set full output to balance well with the neck & mid, the tap will be really weak and bright to the point of being nearly useless. If you balance the tap OTOH, full output is much louder than the neck and mid. I have mine set where the tap is slightly on the quiet/bright side so full output is a noticeable boost, but won't blow me across the room in comparison.

Hey, thank you for taking time to respond and I appreciate your input. How do the SSL-2's sound, though? I've just heard they're not as "bell/chime/glassy" as the SSL-1's and I'm really going after that classic Fender sound.

 

[JohnF05]

Re: Need some help deciding between SSL-1's and SSL-5's and more....

Yellow Ledbetter and that '63 Strat? Gotta go SSL-1 for Neck/Middle. (Or antiquity Surfer)

Are you sure it's a 12" radius? If so, the flats would be better, but if it's 9.5" the staggered have the certain vintage vibe.

Hey. Thanks for the response. Yeah, the Classic Player Strat's are 12" radius with medium jumbo frets. My concern with the flats is their sound. I've just heard/read that they don't have that vintage Strat/glassy/bell-like sound that I'm looking for in a Strat. Do you have any opinion on their sound?

 

[JohnF05]

Re: Need some help deciding between SSL-1's and SSL-5's and more....

I'll be honest and tell you Im not a single coil expert by any means as Ive always been more a humbucker guy, BUT.... I have a couple of guitars now where Im they have singles neck and middle that I want to change and have been asking the same question, AND, I spend WAY too much time on this forum, (haha).. I said all that to say that Gibson175 is a good info source, and what I have heard and found in my search pretty much dead on mimics what he said. SS1 neck and mid for the chime and quack and SS5 in the bridge for the beef. And, as G175 said, the SS5 is alittle lower, but keep in mind that will offset some being in the bridge position.. If you were to put one in the neck, would be alittle less chimey and alittle more wooley. Good luck!!

I LOVE the guitar in Yellow Ledbetter! Great playing and tone in that one..

Thank you for the response. Yeah, I'm looking for some decent output in the bridge position and a little boost. I love the guitar in Yellow Ledbetter as well. Great tone.

 

[TattooedCarrot]

Re: Need some help deciding between SSL-1's and SSL-5's and more....

Hey, thanks for your input and taking the time to respond. You mentioned your perfect Strat setup, but would that still apply for you even with the 12" radius fretboard? I'm used to the staggered sound of a Strat but my main concern is that the 12" radius would be too flat to get a good sound out of those pickups, being that it's far flatter than the 7.5 or even 9.5.

They will still work, but the flat pole version is the same pickups you can also opt for the SSL6/SSL2/SSL2 instead. My Strat also has a 12 inch radius, and I've used both versions.

 

[Charlie Boo]

Re: Need some help deciding between SSL-1's and SSL-5's and more....

Since there are some of you in this thread who seem to have experience with SD single coils, which would you recommend in the neck position as a nice strat complement to a bridge humbucker? I am building a swamp ash body with wedge/Ebony compound neck strat with an EVH/78 in the bridge and just one single coil in the neck. The SD flat pole piece single coil options are basically the vintage flat, APS flat, and custom flat ... I'm confident all 3 would sound good on their own, but thinking more from an output/tone match with the 78. (Sorry to "hijack" your thread, john - ha ha ... just seemed like the right people were here). Thanks!

 

[jeremy]

Re: Need some help deciding between SSL-1's and SSL-5's and more....

assuming you are using a 500k volume pot i would get the ssl6, if you are using a 250k then i would get the ssl2

 

[Mincer]

Re: Need some help deciding between SSL-1's and SSL-5's and more....

Hey, and thank you for taking the time to respond. I'm just debating being that I've heard that the SSL-2 doesn't have as much of the bell/chime as the SSL-1's and might not sound as good to me.

The SSL-2 sounds pretty chimey! For more modern necks, I prefer SSL-2s because of the balance of the strings. It really isn't a tone consideration for me- it is a balance thing.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Need some help deciding between SSL-1's and SSL-5's and more....

Hey, thank you for taking time to respond and I appreciate your input. How do the SSL-2's sound, though? I've just heard they're not as "bell/chime/glassy" as the SSL-1's and I'm really going after that classic Fender sound.

The SSL-2 sounds pretty chimey! For more modern necks, I prefer SSL-2s because of the balance of the strings. It really isn't a tone consideration for me- it is a balance thing.

I've played both and agree with Mincer; the tone is essentially the same, but the SSL-2s have better string balance with a flatter radius.