Replacing single coil pickups on a 2015 HSS MIM Strat

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Paverick

New member
Hi,

my HSS MIM Strat is about to go into maintenance and I'm wondering if I should have the single coil pickups swapped also. I'm a beginner guitar player and I like the humbucker sound. I'm looking to get a more Gilmour type of sound with the possibility to run the single coils with more gain and od. I might also change the original humbucker.. but ideally and cost-wise preferably not.

Any recommendations for neck / middle pickups? So far I've looked into SSL-1 neck and SSL-3 or SSL-5 in the middle - would these work well with the stock MIM bridge humbucker?

Thanks!
 
Re: Replacing single coil pickups on a 2015 HSS MIM Strat

Welcome to the forum. Those are great pickups, you can't go wrong with them. I have 1s in neck and middle and the 5 in bridge. Your idea to put a 3 or 5 in the middle is good. Putting a high powered pickup in the middle can be like a secret weapon - another good neck tone.
 
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Re: Replacing single coil pickups on a 2015 HSS MIM Strat

Also decide if hum-cancelling is important. The humbucker will cancel hum, so sometimes switching to a single coil can be jarring, as you start to hear the hum. The Classic Stack and Custom Stack are great, hum-cancelling pickups.
 
Re: Replacing single coil pickups on a 2015 HSS MIM Strat

Mincer said:
Also decide if hum-cancelling is important. The humbucker will cancel hum, so sometimes switching to a single coil can be jarring, as you start to hear the hum. The Classic Stack and Custom Stack are great, hum-cancelling pickups.
Click to expand...

+1... I recently started using these and can say, so far, I'm really diggin them. And they are dead quiet.
 
Re: Replacing single coil pickups on a 2015 HSS MIM Strat

Hi,

thanks for the input - I did some more homework and also discovered these hum-cancelling single coils. Also as a result, I'm now thinking of replacing the original humbucker as well. So now the pickup selection would be as follows: SH-16 The 59 Custom (bridge), STK-S4M RV/RP (middle), STK-S4N (neck).

I called the guitar service technician.. He told me that he could have the SH-16 wired so that the volume pot would, in addition to controlling volume, control the coil splitting. Like not as in on/off, more like stepless control. Sounded kind of interesting, but what would I be expecting tone-wise? This trick would involve also replacing the original volume pot.
 
Re: Replacing single coil pickups on a 2015 HSS MIM Strat

Can't help ya there, as I've yet to split anything... I'm sure someone will chime in with some info for ya.
 
Re: Replacing single coil pickups on a 2015 HSS MIM Strat

Thanks for the spin split video! I think the technician actually meant the splitting would be controlled via a tone knob and not the volume knob. Sounds interesting though, methinks I'm going to have that mod done..
 
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Re: Replacing single coil pickups on a 2015 HSS MIM Strat

Allright, got the STK-S4, STK-S4, SH16 Custom hybrid installed. Changed the other tone pot to control the '59 Custom hybrid splitting. When that tone knob is turned all the way down, I essentially have a regular 3 single coil strat. Just as described earlier in this thread. The remaining tone knob now works as a "master" tone knob for all pickups. Additionally I changed the strings to 10 gauge EB Cobalts.

Results? Well, so far I am totally liking the upgrade(s)! Sounds like a different guitar altogether vs. the original MIM setup. At switch position 2, the '59 Custom hybrid works really nicely with the STK-S4m. And of course the hum is gone.
 
Re: Replacing single coil pickups on a 2015 HSS MIM Strat

That is actually very close to the setup I use, and I love it. I can't imagine you not getting the sounds you want out of those pickups and that wiring.
 
Re: Replacing single coil pickups on a 2015 HSS MIM Strat

I would recommend the STK-S6 (advertised as kind of a noiseless SSL-5) in the neck, and the SSL-1 in the middle. Be sure to wire the STK-S6 with auto split for hum cancellation in notch position with the SSL-1. No need to order for RWRP models, regular SSL-1 and all duncan STK-Sx models are already hum canceling with each other.

Edit: I combine a STK-Sx neck with regular SSL-1 middle to get hum cancellation at notch position with auto split of the stack one by using a regular 5 way switch. No need there to get a fancy super 5 way which is kind of difficult to get for me here. I don't care about the hum from the middle pickup at all because I don't use that with a lot of gain. On the other hand I like to engage the noiseless neck pickup a lot for soloing which really takes care of the hum when using more distortion for lead. I tend to go back and forth between neck and bridge humbucker a lot, inspired by Blackmore in that sense.

Edit 2: I know you already got the upgrade but just wanted to share my comments for this thread :).
 
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Re: Replacing single coil pickups on a 2015 HSS MIM Strat

So the STK-Sx models do not have to be paired for humbucking effect, such as STK-S4n + STK-S4m? That is a useful piece of information for future use.

I did check out the STK-S6 (and S9) pickups. But I stumbled across a few references and based on those, the SSL-5 type pickups in the neck and/or middle positions maybe would not have been what I was looking for.

By the way: the switch positions 2-5 now have a really distinct tone difference compared to the stock MIM pickups. Switching between the MIM single coils did not produce such a clear difference.
 
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Re: Replacing single coil pickups on a 2015 HSS MIM Strat

If you wire them to split in positions 2/4, then you do need a "middle" to cancel hum. If you aren't splitting, it isn't necessary as they are all humbuckers.
 
Re: Replacing single coil pickups on a 2015 HSS MIM Strat

Hey man :)
as i am a BIG Gilmour's fan and a Prog/Psyc rock type of player, i installed Seymour Duncan STKS6b/STKS4m/STKS7n in my strat, and its a beast, i REALLY love it, and as it was mentioned - it is noiseless
I am going to get them swapped to SSL5b/SSL1m/SSL1n just to experience the tone diff (if there are any noticeable ones), but you really cannot go wrong with the STKs with regard to getting closer to DG tone.
For sure its only my opinion

Good luck!!
 
Re: Replacing single coil pickups on a 2015 HSS MIM Strat

Have been playing (or more like practicing...) for some time now, still liking the pups! One thing though: I seem to want to EQ out the chimey sound I'm getting when playing higher notes. Kind of like cold, digital tone there. Is this a pickup thing or is it just a interface (Focusrite) thing? I'm thinking of maybe acquiring a tube combo amp ..
 
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