Pickup demo: Little 59, APS-2, SSL-6

[Thomas_Desch]

Hi folks,

Been a while since I posted here. I've actually started a similar thread before, but because I have deleted those particular YouTube clips and the account, I thought I'd post again.

The first clip is a systematic demo of all (11) the sounds possible through my particular setup (neck s/c, neck h, neck s/c + middle, neck h + middle, middle, middle + bridge, bridge, neck s/c + bridge, neck h + bridge, neck s/c + middle + bridge, neck h + middle + bridge). It's just the same lick over again. Similar to the Seymour Duncan audio samples.

The second clip is noodle hell ... Since the first clip is very static, I thought I'd record a clip where I play more dynamically. I don't use all of the pickup combinations, but the ones I use the most. If you can endure 10 minutes, I'd say well done! But at least you'd get a fair idea of what the pickups sound like in use, not in a testing lab.

1)



2)

 

[Thomas_Desch]

Re: Pickup demo: Little 59, APS-2, SSL-6

Sorry for asking this, but I tried to wrap the YouTube tags around the links, but all I see are two white rectangles, not the videos. What do I do wrong?

*Question answered*

 

[P.A.Foholic]

Re: Pickup demo: Little 59, APS-2, SSL-6

Sorry for asking this, but I tried to wrap the YouTube tags around the links, but all I see are two white rectangles, not the videos. What do I do wrong?

Just put the end of the link between the tags

For example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msHyv40wMpw

 

[Thomas_Desch]

Re: Pickup demo: Little 59, APS-2, SSL-6

Thanks a million! Links fixed.

 

[P.A.Foholic]

Re: Pickup demo: Little 59, APS-2, SSL-6

Thanks a million! Links fixed.

No problem, man! Nice demos btw!

 

[Thomas_Desch]

Re: Pickup demo: Little 59, APS-2, SSL-6

I have two questions:

1) If you listen to the split neck pickup sound in these clips, how would you describe that sound compared with an SSL-1/2 or an APS-1/2?

I've read that some people don't care for the sound of a Little 59 split, but I kind of like it, both on it's on own and in combination with the APS-2.

2) I bought the 59 to be able to play some jazzy sounds (humbucker) and with slide the humbucker sounds great, dark and growling. However, that happens rarely, so I'm considering getting a bona fide single coil. One of my favorite neck pickup sounds is a Teisco Gold Foil (Ry Cooder). Anyone with an idea of what kind of single coil would yield that sound (apart from a Gold Foil ...)?

 

[Thomas_Desch]

Re: Pickup demo: Little 59, APS-2, SSL-6

In case anyone bothers to answer ... With regards to question 2) above, the sound I'm looking for is "airy". Not "thin". Difficult to explain. My guitar has an alder body, maple neck with rosewood fretboard. Would the SSL-2 screwed down pretty low give a sound like that?

 

[Richard Irons]

Re: Pickup demo: Little 59, APS-2, SSL-6

Yes it would. If you can, I would audition both the SSL-2 and the Alnico II Pro flat. Both have that airy sound but the difference between them will be up to your taste. There are audio samples here:

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/audio-samples/strat_replaceme/

The SSL-1 sample will give you a great idea of how an SSL-2 sounds.

Hope that helps.

 

[Thomas_Desch]

Re: Pickup demo: Little 59, APS-2, SSL-6

Thanks a lot, Richard! The audio sample of the SSL-1 sounds more "vintage" than the APS-1, so that's probably the direction I should head in.

 

[Sausagefingers]

Re: Pickup demo: Little 59, APS-2, SSL-6

What pot values do you need for a lil59. I want to fit a lil59 & duckbucker in a project and just wondering what values you need for coil splitting these pups and what volume pot value you would require.

 

[Thomas_Desch]

Re: Pickup demo: Little 59, APS-2, SSL-6

Sausagefingers,

Some of the other more knowledgable guys here probably should answer this, but I guess it comes down to a compromise. I'm a single coil guy, so I have pots that are suited for sc pickups, i.e. 250k pots. As far as I understand, that means the Lil59 sounds darker in humbucker mode than it would have with 500k pots. If you mainly use them as humbuckers, you probably should go for 500k pots.

Please correct me if I'm wrong anyone.

Edit:

On a second thought, I guess it would be possible to use 250k pots but somehow add 250k resistors to the circuit so that the circuit "sees" 500k in humbucker mode but will be cut out from the circuit when you switch to split mode. Never tried this though. Anyone?

 

[Sausagefingers]

Re: Pickup demo: Little 59, APS-2, SSL-6

Thanks for the reply Tom, I take it your talking 500k "treble" pots giving a brighter tone which is what I want. What does different vol pot values do?

 

[Thomas_Desch]

Re: Pickup demo: Little 59, APS-2, SSL-6

I meant on both volume and tone pots. The value of the volume pot also affects how much treble is let through.

 

[Sausagefingers]

Re: Pickup demo: Little 59, APS-2, SSL-6

I meant on both volume and tone pots. The value of the volume pot also affects how much treble is let through.

Thanks for the tip.

 

[Thomas_Desch]

Re: Pickup demo: Little 59, APS-2, SSL-6

No problem, mate. Please note I'm no expert on this, so you should either wait for some more replies or Google for pot values. I believe there is a lot of info on this forum too. Good luck!

By the way, pots are not very expensive, so you might try out different values.

 

[Thomas_Desch]

Re: Pickup demo: Little 59, APS-2, SSL-6

Decided to give my guitar wiring an overhaul this weekend and ventured to swap around the neck and middle pickups. Now the APS-2 is in the neck, and the Little 59 in the middle. The neck sounds great, but I wasn't very happy with the 59 in the middle. For a while.

What's strange is that I mostly used the 59 as a split pickup in neck, and in the neck+middle combination that sounded great. With the new combination, it just didn't sound great. Very thin. But then I tried the s/c + hb combination, and that did the trick! Wow! Punch to kill. The pickup height was a decisive factor though. With the 59 in neck, I kept it pretty low, but now I raised it a lot higher to get that Strat quack. So now it's APS-2 in neck, very low, Little 59 in middle, humbucker, quite high, and SSL-6 in bridge, a bit lower than the 59.

To me that gives a lot of tonal possibilities. Great neck sound, great 2 and 4 position sounds, lots of quack, great punchy bridge, and now a middle pickup that's useful for more than just twangy surf/country music. The 59 in the middle sounds amazing for some dirty playing, especially with slide. It sings.

I'll try to make a decent demo down the road.

 

[lazyfinger]

Re: Pickup demo: Little 59, APS-2, SSL-6

I've got SSL-2 in the neck, and SSL-6 in bridge, I think you'll like the pairing, especially the combo sound with neck and bridge in parallel, very much tele-like.

 

[Thomas_Desch]

Re: Pickup demo: Little 59, APS-2, SSL-6

The APS-2 and the SSL-6 work very well together too. Get that quacky Tele thing. The Little 59 (neck) and the SSL-6 were also a great combination for that sound. It's not a combination I use much, but it's excellent for funky rhythm stuff.

 

[Artie]

Re: Pickup demo: Little 59, APS-2, SSL-6

Nice clips, nice playing. I love the SSL-6 in the bridge of a Strat also. The only reason I don't still have it is because I had it at a time when I was just trying a bunch of different pups. I may snag one back someday.

 

[Thomas_Desch]

Re: Pickup demo: Little 59, APS-2, SSL-6

Thanks!

Yeah, the SSL-6 is fantastic. To me, it's almost bordering on a Tele bridge pickup, very close to that snarl.