Pickup suggestion for the New Silverado

[Ascension]

These came stock with SSL 5's and they are ok. While I like the hot bridge a lot, it just doesn't sound like a Strat should in particular clean.
I have an Antiquities Surfer II set with the Eric Johnson 300K volume with neck and bridge tones set up only in the Sunburst Silverado.
I want hotter and more aggressive in this one while still retaining some of the chime and character of a real Strat.
Have done the Gillmore SSL 1 neck and bridge with an SSL 5 bridge in the past but want hotter and fatter in the neck and middle but still retaining some of that classic Strat glassyness in particular in pos 2 and 4.
Real single coil only with A 5 mags and will keep the SSL 5 bridge. To me, the SSL 5 sounds a lot like a P90 in the bridge
What are your thoughts for the neck and middle?
Have also considered swapping out everything and doing an Antiquities Texas Hot set with the EJ control set up in this one.
Want a different personality with this one from the Sunburst Silverado as it plays like one of the best 80's and 90's super Strats you have ever picked up but looks pretty classic and has the build quality and character of something like a Masterbuilt Fender Custom shop Strat.
So what would you do with it on pickups?

 

[jeremy]

if you go much hotter/fatter than the ssl1 in the neck and middle youll lose the chime. you could try the antiquity ii custom bridge pup in the neck and middle with the ssl5 bridge

 

[Ascension]

if you go much hotter/fatter than the ssl1 in the neck and middle youll lose the chime. you could try the antiquity ii custom bridge pup in the neck and middle with the ssl5 bridge

Right now I am looking hard at the Scooped neck and Middle. I have the Antiquity Surfer II set in my other Silverado so am familiar with that set.
I know I'm going to lose some chime over that set but want something thicker than the SSL-1's are. Had an SSL 5 bridge with SSL 1's in my old Mexican Strat. The Scooped set looks interesting, but there are few clips online so it's hard to really get what they are like.
I have a pair of SSL1's in my 95 Washburn MG 120 with a JB bridge now also.

 

[Mincer]

Look at the STK-S4, which is hotter than the SSL-1, but still has a lot of chime.

 

[playas]

Without getting into specific pickups, if there is a vintage / slightly hotter than vintage set that has a hotter bridge that you like...and if you can get a standard and a rwrp version of the bridge you could use them for the neck and middle.

 

[jeremy]

i dont know if the scooped strat neck will be what ya want. the bridge model in the neck might work great though, keep the middle in that spot to get the cluck and spank, and the ssl5 in the bridge

 

[Ascension]

Without getting into specific pickups, if there is a vintage / slightly hotter than vintage set that has a hotter bridge that you like...and if you can get a standard and a rwrp version of the bridge you could use them for the neck and middle.

What I am looking for if I keep the SSL 5 in the bridge is not super hot in the neck and bridge. The SSL 1 is simply too bright and weak for what I want in this one. I have a full Antiquities Surfer II Retrospect set with the custom bridge in my other Silverado. I love that set up but want this one to be slightly more aggressive, smoother and fatter.
At this point, going to the Antiquities Texas Hot set is a real consideration. I had the Custom Texas Hot bridge with a pair of Alnico II's in the neck and bridge in a guitar for a while. I liked the Texas hot but found the Alnico II neck and bridge to be bland.
The SSL 5 gets me closer to a PAF type tone and output, but still can get that pos 2 strat chime. Many of my other guitars will have a humbucker in the bridge, so if I am running multiple guitars on stage and swap on the fly between songs, it's not so much of a drastic change.
Doing the worship thing I may cover traditional Gospel, clean Country and high gain that gets into metal territory in the same set. This one will be a workhorse that needs to be super versatile.
My workhorse has been my 2023 Kiesel Delos with their Marks Singles and a Beryllium bridge. The bridge is around 9K with an A2 mag the singles around 5 K also with A2 mags. Great guitar but at times I want a little more of that true single coil Strat tone but with a little more smooth and fat.
The Scooped Strat clips sound interesting, as I normally will roll out some mids on my amp with a Strat. I wish I could find a clip that compares them to something I already know, as I have never had the chance to play a set.
Doing this kind of stuff is where I want to really use this guitar.

Played this one a couple of weeks ago with this guitar in one of our services.

Here is a community worship event with some friends from different churches all over Birmingham. This was an off the cuff straight up improv jam. I'm playing my 17 Kiesel DC here with the same Beryllium Marks singles set up that my Delos has through my PRS Archon.

 

[Chistopher]

There is no joke to be made here that isn't completely obvious

 

[Ascension]

After listening back to recordings live with the new Silverado I'm rethinking things.
Running the mix I was in my personal monitor on stage at Church was not giving me an accurate feel for how it was really setting in the mix out front.
This is why I record regularly with my Zoom, the tape don't lie.
I'm now considering a full set of pickups. I have the Surfer II set with the FJ control set up (300K volume, tone on neck and bridge only) in my 94 Silverado and really like that set up. I may pull that pickguard and swap it to the new guitar and drop the stock guard on the Sunburst 94 and sell that guitar. The neck on the new one is so different with the thinner profile, plus it's lighter and more resonate than the 94. It's amazing just how different these 2 guitars are.
Also, I am considering dropping étrier a scooped full set or a set of the Texas hots in the 95 and keeping both. The 94 is more like a great vintage Strat in the way it sounds and plays. The 95 plays like one of the best of the true Super Strats, but needs to sound more like a real Strat. I want that guitar to become the ultimate shredders Strat at high gain, but still sound like a real Strat when I'm running clean or at light crunch. With the SSL 5's it just doesn't and doesn't have that quack or chime clean or with light gain.
Anybody here have run Strats with both the Surfer set and a Texas Hot set? I had a Texas Hot bridge with Alnico II neck and bridge in a Mex Strat I had for a while but have never played a guitar with a full Texas Hot set. How do they compare with the Surfer II set with the Custom bridge I have? How is the full scooped set, anybody run a start here with that set? The clips I can find with the scooped set sound interesting but have never had a chance to play a set.

 

[jeremy]

i have both sets, they are both great in their own way. the texas hots are chewier and not as spanky, but still very much sound like a strat. i prefer the a5 surfers for a true vintage strat sound. i like the aps2, but the texas hots have that extra 10% i havent tried the scooped set.

 

[Ascension]

i have both sets, they are both great in their own way. the texas hots are chewier and not as spanky, but still very much sound like a strat. i prefer the a5 surfers for a true vintage strat sound. i like the aps2, but the texas hots have that extra 10% i havent tried the scooped set.

Thanks for that. That was exactly what I was hoping for on the full Texas Hot set Chewer and slightly darker than the Surfers but still sounding lake a Strat should. Listening back to recordings running the 95 with the SSl-5's live, it's too brash and harsh, plus doesn't have that classic Strat quack and expressiveness I want. The guitar unplugged is very resonate and expressive, but those super hot pickups just kill it. This guitar deserves better!
Now I have to decide if I will keep the 94 Sunburst guitar and drop a set of Texas Hots in it, or pull the pick guard on the 95 and swap it to the 94. If I do that, I would then drop the surfer guard on the 95 and sell the 94. They have very different personalities, so I really need to set down and play both, then make a hard decision on if I want to keep both or not.
After a lot of thought if I keep both, the 95 will definitely get a set of the Texas Hots.
One thing that sold me were the tones Lauri Bassilio was getting on her Kiesel Delos with an SNS bridge and the Texas hots in the neck and middle here on the song Today.

 

[Ascension]

Now have a game plan on this one. Washburn used a 500K volume pot on this with the SSL 5 set. That's why this one is so brash in the bridge at full volume. I found a neck and middle unopened set of the scooped strats for $150 shipped on Reveb and have them coming. I will swap the volume pot for a 300 K I have on hand then wire it like my other Silverado in the Eric Johnson set up with tone control on the neck and bridge pickups only. I will also back off the SSL 5 a little from the strings to help balance the output a little but still have a bridge single that is big and fatter. Let's see if this does what I need in this one. I also got some better photos of this guitar showing the true color. Other than that stain on the headstock this is a very clean guitar to be 30 years old and doesn't have a trace of fretwear.

 

[Mincer]

I do like that color- I am partial to the blue/purple family.