Nice SSL-1 Comment from John Frusciante

[Evan Skopp]

In the April 2009 edition of Vintage Guitar (page. 122) John (Red Hot Chile Peppers) is asked:

Have you kept the original pickups in your Strats?

Here's his reply:

I would like to, but they do eventually need to be changed. On my '55, I bought it with an expert who insisted we open it up to see if the pickups were original. He and the people at the store all thought that they were original. Then years later, we found out that they were Seymour Duncan Vintage Strat pickups. They are so similar to the original that it's hard to tell the difference in sound. I had my '62, which has the original pickups, and then I had the '55 with the Duncans, and the sound was very similar. The differences had more to do with the guitars than the pickups. Eventually, I had to get Duncans in the '62 as well.

:thanks:

 

[theodie]

Re: Nice SSL-1 Comment from John Frusciante

I hear great things about the SSL-1's. I have yet to play a set somehow.

 

[Mpcoluv]

Re: Nice SSL-1 Comment from John Frusciante

Unfortunately for me, the only time I have played SSL-1 were in a dead stick of wood.
I had a G&L Legacy that was just a terrible piece of wood. No pickups I tried made it a great guitar.
No pickups will fix a dead piece of wood.

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Nice SSL-1 Comment from John Frusciante

I have played SSL-1s in MANY a guitar (although never one of my own as I always end up with sth more elaborate like the StraBro90s) and I can honestly say that these are what FIRST comes to mind when I think "typical vintage Strat quack" (and I do mean this in the BEST possible way).

To me, they're simply the pickups that all other SCs are compared against

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Nice SSL-1 Comment from John Frusciante

I love my SSL-1's! I think they're an underrated pickup, or at least an under considered pickup. John is one of my favorite players, and they get as close to his tome as anything for me.

 

[scottish]

Re: Nice SSL-1 Comment from John Frusciante

I hear great things about the SSL-1's. I have yet to play a set somehow.

dude, you sold me the set of SSL1 SSL1 SSL5 that i still am using, lol. you mean to tell me you had them and never tried them?

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: Nice SSL-1 Comment from John Frusciante

yeah I miss em a lot, they were the only good thing about the MIM strat I had

all the talk about unpotted stuff lately has made me wonder about unpotted ssl-1's, it'd either be the most articulate pickup ever made or a wall of feedback; no middle ground on this one

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Nice SSL-1 Comment from John Frusciante

I knew John's 55 had Duncans but I didn't know that the 62 later got them! Very cool!

 

[raistlin]

Re: Nice SSL-1 Comment from John Frusciante

Hmm.. I'm tempted to swap my Fender 57/62's for SSL-1s..

Which era do the SSL-1s sound most like? 50s, early 60s, or late 60s?

 

[Diocletian]

Re: Nice SSL-1 Comment from John Frusciante

Yeah I just put one in between a JB bridge and Hot Rails neck in my Jackson SL3. I LOVE the SSL-1, it's a brilliant contrast to the two high gain pups.
Makes the guitar much more versatile and sounds fantastic in every position.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Nice SSL-1 Comment from John Frusciante

Hmm.. I'm tempted to swap my Fender 57/62's for SSL-1s..

Which era do the SSL-1s sound most like? 50s, early 60s, or late 60s?

it would be close to a '58, '60 or '63. after '65 they started using different wire and less turns

 

[soultostrings]

Re: Nice SSL-1 Comment from John Frusciante

Great to see posts about the SSL & APS series, very vintage & very toneful. I didn't realize Frusciante was using them either, rock on!

Brad

 

[raistlin]

Re: Nice SSL-1 Comment from John Frusciante

it would be close to a '58, '60 or '63. after '65 they started using different wire and less turns

Thanks jeremy, so I take it that APS-1 would sound like '54 or '55 Strat pups, given the more "mellow" character of the pups? The problem with my Fenders is that the the bass on the neck pup is quite woofy when my amp starts overdriving.

For what's worth, I'm using a Vox AD30 with the Plexi emulation, so it could just be the amp, and not the pickups. I have not tried other single coils, to be fair.

 

[jmh151]

Re: Nice SSL-1 Comment from John Frusciante

I had an Ibanez RG that I installed a Jazz, SSL-1 and JB in. I was shocked to get a vintage Strat sound from a basswood body Floyd equipped guitar (when I played the SSL-1)

 

[jeremy]

Re: Nice SSL-1 Comment from John Frusciante

when you turn up the volume, you usually need to turn down the bass.

the aps are very sweet sounding pups, i have a pair of aps2 with a twangbanger in the bridge that is a wonderful set of pups. fender didnt really ever use alnico II pups as far as i know. in '54 they may have used alnico III on the strats but by '55 it was all alnico V. the mid 50's strat pups typically had a few less turns than the early 60's but there was lots of variation. after the mid 60's cbs started using different wire and less turns to save money.

the aps is still a very vintage sounding pup but with a little smoother high end, more robust mids and softer bottom end. still a bright single coil sound but a little different tone, warmer and a little less glassy than the ssl1

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Nice SSL-1 Comment from John Frusciante

APS has a wonderful "bloom" to the notes, where the SSL is a bit more immediate. As much as I love the SSL's, I really want another Strat to put the APS's in! (Maybe with a Texas Hot Bridge this time)

 

[The Usual]

Re: Nice SSL-1 Comment from John Frusciante

APS are my favorite strat pups so far, I also love one in the neck of my tele. AP2 is my other fav Seymour pup. Go figure.

 

[ganzosrevenge]

Re: Nice SSL-1 Comment from John Frusciante

I have SSL-1s in the neck and middle positions on my stratocaster. They are absolutely amazing in a mahogany body... they give a small amount of P-90 bark when in a mahogany strat, just enough to get some hair, not enough to be distasteful... They may have been Seymour's first strat model, but they're also IMHO seymour's best non-cs single coil.

 

[BigJoe77]

Re: Nice SSL-1 Comment from John Frusciante

From Mr. Frusciante that is high praise indeed. Congrats SD Team.

 

[Baltar]

Re: Nice SSL-1 Comment from John Frusciante

i love the ssl-1. it works fantastic in strats with rosewood fretboard