Saturday Night Special Strat Single Coil Questions

M

Moaky

New member
Can anyone give advice on the rare Saturday Night Special single coils in this strat? I love them but I’d like to save time if they’re never going to give me the clean tones I want.

I’m a relatively new guitarist trying to get my gear together, and I purchased the Saturday Night Special Strat from Guitar Center. I did a ton of research about body shapes and configurations, choosing an HSS Stratocaster for max versatility, and fell in love with the look and vibe of the SNS. I was also interested in the rare SNS single coils that apparently aren’t available anywhere else and the SNS page showed an even output, which I thought would be just as flexible.

I love the sound of the pickups but now, whenever I try to replicate or build certain clean tones, I can’t pull them out of the single coils. I use a BOSS Katana 50; tones I’m trying and failing to find are things like Hozier’s From Eden as well as other glassier clean tones. I can’t find any demos of clean tones from the guitar, since the SNS pickups are marketed as “arena rock” pickups, that’s what everyone seems to play. Outside of this issue, I wouldn’t trade them for anything, but I’d love to move on with my life if they’re never going to give me the bright tones.
 
Welcome to the forum!

These singles seem to be OEM for this Fender model. I don't remember anyone here talking about them yet- I didn't even know they existed. Do you know any specs on those singles? Are they not as bright as you want them to be? Do you know if they are true singles or stacked design? Now I am curious.
 
There's no reason you can't get cleans out of any pickup. You just need to adjust your volume and amp settings. Katana can certainly do cleans. I used one as a "P.A." for my pedal board before, so it had to clean all the time for me. The SNS Tele demo has an example of cleans (unfortunately the Strat one does not in the demo, but there's no reason you can't get Hozier cleans out of it.)

To be honest, I find it hard to believe those singles are actually a new wind. Looking at them, I can't help but wonder if they are just a pair of hot stacks or something already in the line (edit: specs says single coil, so I might guess just a hot single). But either way, you can get clean from anything by changing your settings.
 
Yeah, I think it is a matter of settings (I have a Katana, and it does cleans very well, even with humbuckers), but I am curious about those pickups, though.
 
Be sure to set the singles coils properly. The bass side should be lower to the height of the pickguard, while you set the treble high as possible. The treble side should not touch the pickup when fretting the highest fret. This works for me!
 
They’re definitely single coils; they hum and don’t take distortion as well as the humbucker. I think they’re “hot” and take overdrive extremely well, much better than the cheapo single coils in my project guitar.

I think what I want is to get the really bright tone of indie rock. They make great normal clean tones, but I’m looking for “chime” and “sparkle.” Again, I’m still exploring all the effects offered by the Katana, so I’m glad to hear it’s a me problem and I can figure it out eventually.

The tilt on my pickups is there but not extreme. I try to keep tinkering so I learn more, and maybe I’ll experiment with a more aggressive treble side of the pickup here. I originally adjusted things so all the pickups were similar in tone, but I’m interested in having more options.

I appreciate your advice! If I ever have the pick guard off, I’ll take some photos and post them here. I’m too busy with work to disassemble and reassemble anything soon.
 
Versatile Sound Across All Styles


The Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Special Custom Staggered pickup delivers a dynamic, powerful tone that stands out in thick arrangements. The staggered pole pieces provide balanced output across all six strings for crystal clarity. Alnico 4 magnets ensure a harmonious, melodious overdrive, ideal for genres like rock and metal. The Saturday Night Special humbucker in the bridge spot guarantees the rich, robust sound characteristic of humbuckers. Whether you're aiming for country twang, jazz fusion or hard rock leads, a simple adjustment of the tone control or pickup selector allows this Strat to navigate a wide spectrum of sounds.
​
 
Now that makes sense. They recently did the Lari Basilio pickups with A4 poles. I assume custom stagger is 3x3 (as opposed to traditional 4x2)?
 
I'd be interested to try them...I don't think I've ever used A4 single coils. And who doesn't want to "ensure a harmonious, melodious overdrive"?
 
Here are photos of the pickups themselves. I haven’t anything quite like them but looking this closely I can see that my slant is definitely not boosting my treble. And I’ve always felt like they were extremely “harmonious and melodious” but my only frame of reference was the stock pickups on a $200 metal guitar.
 

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playas said:
I can't remember now if I read it or he mentioned it in an interview but they are apparently the aps2s, but with alnico 3 poles.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Now I have to try them. I think the few Albert Lees I have played have been really old ones, so now I am curious to try these.
 
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