New HSS pickups for ash guitar

J

jonsick

New member
Humbucker and two single positions (HSS).

I need to get this right first time as the pickups need to fit into single coil routes routed for single coils which means a special order most likely.

Guitar is ash construction with a floyd rose, maple neck and rosewood board. The guitar itself is very vibrant, nicely balanced and sounds really nice acoustically.

The current pickups are an EMG 81/SA/SA but due to the output inbalance between the bridge and neck positions, I'm just looking for a new set now. Plus I haven't really experimented much with HSS setups, so looking for a complete new set of ideas.

Tones are obviously metal. I'm not into super-zeddy sounding everything exact and can hear every string independently sort of tones, more into nice rounder tones with nice helping of mids. Think Dokken, Skid Row, nice high output but still singing sort of tones. I solo mainly on the neck so really I need that to have a decent amount of output too.
 
Re: New HSS pickups for ash guitar

You might like a Dokkenbucker with the YJM Fury for the neck and middle. The Dokkenbucker is essentially a less compressed Distortion and the YJM's are pretty high output. I'll explain a bit more about them later, but I have to do something else at the moment.
 
Re: New HSS pickups for ash guitar

gregory said:
???

Not according to the Duncan website, nor people here who have used them.
Click to expand...

Oh my bad, I forgot I have mine through a Blackout Preamp, disregard. But other than that the only high output single coil I remember actually liking is the Quarter Pound. There is also the Strabro 90, but that is more P90 in nature. It's not definitely not vintage correct in terms of Strat tone, but it rocks pretty well.

I update my original suggestion: Quarter Pound neck and middle, Dokkenbucker bridge.

Edit: A Dokkenbucker is pretty much a ~16.4k wound Distortion. That's about .2k less than a standard Distortion. The benefit is that it has less compression and sounds more open, at the sacrifice of a *tad less output. It comes with a single thick ceramic, which makes it almost a JB+. It has more grind than a JB and better harmonics and high end than a Distortion.
You can get pretty close by putting either single thick ceramic in either a Distortion or JB.
 
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Re: New HSS pickups for ash guitar

Having a look around, I'm not sure the Dokkenbucker exists though I'm sure the CS could wind me one.

That said, I'm interested in the Screamin Demon. I have one currently inhabiting the neck slot on one of my guitars but never tried it in the bridge. Wondering about that for the bridge of this one, but no idea what to pair it with.
 
Re: New HSS pickups for ash guitar

The Demon is a good choice...so is a regular Custom. For the singles, do you want hum-cancelling? Do you want them to sound like single coils or a humbucker? Is volume balance with the humbucker (and the trade-offs it comes with) important to you?
 
Re: New HSS pickups for ash guitar

Yep, volume balances is important.

I'm not entirely fussed whether they sound like a humbucker or a single coil. I suppose I like warm neck pickup sounds (e.g. I like the 59 bridge in the neck, also the PAF Pro, Full Shred Neck (actual neck humbucker) and the Jazz). So I suppose humbuckery type tones. But I'm not adverse to single coil tones too. I have a Fender Fat 50s that I really like in the strat.

What are the trade offs with balancing volumes?
 
Re: New HSS pickups for ash guitar

Cleans begin to get either darker or fatter, if not both. An excess amount of bass can be an issue as well depending on how you derive your gain.
 
Re: New HSS pickups for ash guitar

gregory said:
Cleans begin to get either darker or fatter, if not both. An excess amount of bass can be an issue as well depending on how you derive your gain.
Click to expand...

Yup..as you increase the volume and power to the singles, they get darker, and sound less spanky and stratish. This is usually the one compromise if you go for a 'jack of all trades' HSS guitar. So, you have to balance the sace in favor of the humbucker or single coils- either use a less powerful humbucker or more powerful single coils, but the tone will change wither way.
 
Re: New HSS pickups for ash guitar

I don't recall ever seeing you comment on a Screamin' Demon. For a balanced HSS it is extremely hard to beat. Seeing that one of my favorite HH setups is a Screamin' Demon and Full Shred Neck, I don't even see it as a compromise for the bridge spot in the HSS.

Then there's this guy, Andy Timmons, who does amazing things with an HSS setup.
 
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Re: New HSS pickups for ash guitar

Mincer said:
Yup..as you increase the volume and power to the singles, they get darker, and sound less spanky and stratish. This is usually the one compromise if you go for a 'jack of all trades' HSS guitar. So, you have to balance the sace in favor of the humbucker or single coils- either use a less powerful humbucker or more powerful single coils, but the tone will change wither way.
Click to expand...

It's not a compromise if you have your settings right. When I'm using an HSS I like for the humbucker to have a bit more output than the singles. If you keep it within a reasonable level, it's actually quite useful.

All of the HSS guitars I've had over the years I've designed to be used around moderate levels of gain. The one I have right now is a SSL-5/SSL-1/Screamin Demon. The neck alone is nice and thick (not too thick, but it's got quite a bit of heat on it. Good for soloing), the 2 and 4 positions are nice and quacky, the middle position is excellent for cleans. Usually I can set the single coils so that they all play nice together and if I adjust my attack they can drive the amp into a nice bluesy distortion. Then I flip into the bridge pickup and it enters classic rock territory. I might switch it out for a Brobucker though, I just got one in decent condition for $50 that's asking to be put in.

Anything above moderate gain and I just keep it in the bridge position anyway, so no compromise there.
 
Re: New HSS pickups for ash guitar

jonsick said:
Humbucker and two single positions (HSS).

The current pickups are an EMG 81/SA/SA but due to the output inbalance between the bridge and neck positions, I'm just looking for a new set now. Plus I haven't really experimented much with HSS setups, so looking for a complete new set of ideas.
Click to expand...

Stop expecting HSS to sound and feel like twin hummer and you'd be on to a good start/strat.
 
Re: New HSS pickups for ash guitar

Chistopher said:
SSL-5/SSL-1/Screamin Demon
Click to expand...
Not my first choice but YES!

SSL-6/SSL-2/Perpetual Burn
SSL-6/SSL-2/SH-6n
SSL-6/SSL-2/JB

Among many many other combinations, these all work too.

Chistopher said:
Anything above moderate gain and I just keep it in the bridge position anyway, so no compromise there.
Click to expand...
If you don't mind the hum the SSL-6 can work just fine above moderate gain. Dare I say better than an SSL-5??

...don't get me started on string balance in the neck position of modern instruments.
 
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Re: New HSS pickups for ash guitar

vinta9e said:
Stop expecting HSS to sound and feel like twin hummer and you'd be on to a good start/strat.
Click to expand...
If you want a Strat then get a Strat or copy a Strat.

I relish the opportunity to put a side-by-side humbucker in the neck position, personally. In many ways I prefer it over a full-sized humbucker in an HH or HSH.
 
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Re: New HSS pickups for ash guitar

gregory said:
If you don't mind the hum the SSL-6 can work just fine above moderate gain. Dare I say better than an SSL-5??
.
Click to expand...

I use to to SSL-6/SSL-5/Demon, but I found the output matched a bit too well. It lacked the pleasant boost I like on the bridge. But I must agree, the SSL-6 does handle higher gain better, but I don't use a distorted neck single coil nearly as much as I thought I would, so I switched it oit.
 
Re: New HSS pickups for ash guitar

FWIW, my SSL-6 was actually an SSL-6T. ;)

The middle was an SSL-2. Sometimes I wonder how I would have felt about the nuanced difference by using an SSL-1 instead.
 
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