Single Coil Bridge Options - the SSL's or others for fat smooth singing lead tone?

[ebagjones]

Hello! I've read the many threads like this before but never really found my answer. I currently have an SSL-6 in my strat's bridge position. I like it but it's still a little thin and weak for what I'm looking for. I use the bridge for a high gain lead pickup. I play through amps with Vox DNA like Bad Cat, Dr Z etc and get my high gain from pedals like the Crunch Box or Rats. I like a lot of midrange for a fat smooth singing tone (I know Vox is not a midrange monster but it can be dialed in with pedals). I am *not* interested in retaining a stratty sound in the bridge, but *would* like to retain a single coil sound. I have played mostly Fender all my life and when I play humbuckers or noise cancelling pickups I find the sound muddy and ill-defined, although I love the sound of other people playing them. Since the SSL-6 is not really getting me where I need, I'm thinking of moving up to the SSL-3 or the SSL-4. Would either of these get the fat smooth singing tone in the bridge better than the SSL-6? I am also consider a few other non-Duncan pups, namely the Lace Hot Gold Hot Bridge and the Fralin SP43, although I'm concerned that a P90 type single coil might be too grindy. I'm also considering dropping a Phat Cat in the bridge since it is routed for humbuckers. Can anyone who has experience with these pickups help me out?

 

[ebagjones]

Re: Single Coil Bridge Options - the SSL's or others for fat smooth singing lead ton

I should also add that one of my favorite single coils for the bridge is the Dimarzio FS-1, I like that it's got a little more midrange and bite than the SSL-6, but it still doesn't have quite enough output for what I'm looking for.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Single Coil Bridge Options - the SSL's or others for fat smooth singing lead ton

My suggestion–Fender Fat 50 bridge pickup and add a base plate to it.

 

[Blille]

Re: Single Coil Bridge Options - the SSL's or others for fat smooth singing lead ton

P-Rail with an A2?

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Single Coil Bridge Options - the SSL's or others for fat smooth singing lead ton

Lace may fit the bill.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Single Coil Bridge Options - the SSL's or others for fat smooth singing lead ton

if the ssl6 is not enough then you want the ssl3. its warm and very middy while still sounding like a single coil. i like the qp too but the ssl3 fits what you want better. fat50's with a baseplate is going to be much thinner than what you have with the ssl6

 

[Mincer]

Re: Single Coil Bridge Options - the SSL's or others for fat smooth singing lead ton

Another vote here for the SSL-3 or even, the Hot Stack. It almost sounds like you don't want a single coil- the sound you are going for is usually associated with humbuckers.

 

[ebagjones]

Re: Single Coil Bridge Options - the SSL's or others for fat smooth singing lead ton

if the ssl6 is not enough then you want the ssl3. its warm and very middy while still sounding like a single coil. i like the qp too but the ssl3 fits what you want better. fat50's with a baseplate is going to be much thinner than what you have with the ssl6

Thanks for recommendation Jeremy, I like what I hear of the SSL3, If you don’t mind my asking, was the reason you recommended that over the SSL4 because it has a fatter smoother sound or does the SSL4 not sound much like a single coil due to its wind and magnets?

 

[ebagjones]

Re: Single Coil Bridge Options - the SSL's or others for fat smooth singing lead ton

Another vote here for the SSL-3 or even, the Hot Stack. It almost sounds like you don't want a single coil- the sound you are going for is usually associated with humbuckers.

Thanks for the recommendation, yeah the sound I'm describing in humbucker-ish but when I plug my strat in after playing my Les Paul Trad with Burstbuckers the SSL6 just sounds so much more vibrant and cutting in the bridge position. I would just like a little bit more fatness and output to smooth it out. I'm kind of backwards in that I love the sound of a screaming strat bridge pickup (a la Gilmour) but also love the sound that huge bassy sounding Les Paul neck pickup (like November Rain), so much so that I've thought about dropping lil 59's in a couple of my strat's neck pickups and ditching the Paul, which i find tremendously harder to play than a strat. I like the sound of a humbucker in the neck, just not the bridge.

 

[ebagjones]

Re: Single Coil Bridge Options - the SSL's or others for fat smooth singing lead ton

Lace may fit the bill.

I have no experience with Lace, although I've heard they are a little higher output and smoother tone. Have you tried the Hot Gold's specifically?

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Single Coil Bridge Options - the SSL's or others for fat smooth singing lead ton

Nope - I only have experience with blue, silver and red (along with a broken regular gold.)

Each are different in output/character etc. from the other, but all mentioned pickups are smoother/more even-toned than a standard Strat single coil; little twang or sparkle, but can still quack a bit in combined positions. For those reasons I think they do a 'creamy' sort of tone quite well.

But Hot Golds are supposed to be somewhat more "vintage?" Not sure- never tried one.

 

[ebagjones]

Re: Single Coil Bridge Options - the SSL's or others for fat smooth singing lead ton

I’m also curious about the lil 59 and the JB Jr, I’ve heard these smaller single coil size humbuckers “see” a smaller window than their full size brethren and have a brighter, snappier tone comparatively. Anyone have any experience with these in comparison to the SSL3 and Quarter Pound in the bridge position?

 

[Adieu]

Re: Single Coil Bridge Options - the SSL's or others for fat smooth singing lead ton

You want hotter than SSL-6?? Gonna need a humbucker, and a hot humbucker at that

Your single-sized options are: Jb Jr, Hotrail, Super Distortion S, maybe DiMarzio Chopper

Your fullsize bucker options are the usual metal choices.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: Single Coil Bridge Options - the SSL's or others for fat smooth singing lead ton

Quarter Pound is a great pickup. It's meaty, sweet and fat yet still has distinctive singlecoil bite when you dig in.
The downside is, being true singlecoils that they can be pretty noisy, especially at high gain.
But I've used and loved 'em for years.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Single Coil Bridge Options - the SSL's or others for fat smooth singing lead ton

Thanks for recommendation Jeremy, I like what I hear of the SSL3, If you don’t mind my asking, was the reason you recommended that over the SSL4 because it has a fatter smoother sound or does the SSL4 not sound much like a single coil due to its wind and magnets?

the qp has a bigger bottom and is maybe a little crunchier than the ssl3 which is fairly mid focused and sings more

You want hotter than SSL-6?? Gonna need a humbucker, and a hot humbucker at that

Your single-sized options are: Jb Jr, Hotrail, Super Distortion S, maybe DiMarzio Chopper

Your fullsize bucker options are the usual metal choices.

thats just not true man

Quarter Pound is a great pickup. It's meaty, sweet and fat yet still has distinctive singlecoil bite when you dig in.
The downside is, being true singlecoils that they can be pretty noisy, especially at high gain.
But I've used and loved 'em for years.

the qp is great too but i think the ssl3 fits what the op wants better. as for the single coil sized buckers, i like them fine but they are quite different than a real single coil in tone and feel.

 

[RockinProf]

Re: Single Coil Bridge Options - the SSL's or others for fat smooth singing lead ton

SSL-4 Quarter Pounder. Sounds like a real single coil on a heavy dose of steroids. From my experience the SSL-3 loses the "spring" I expect of a single coil, the SSL-5 was just... meh from my perspective.

It really boils down to how much hum you can tolerate vs. how much of the true single coil character you're willing to give up. I use a bunch of guitars and only use the SSS strat sparingly where I really want to cut though and HH or HSS elsewhere for noise control or those textures.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Single Coil Bridge Options - the SSL's or others for fat smooth singing lead ton

if the ssl6 is not enough then you want the ssl3. its warm and very middy while still sounding like a single coil. i like the qp too but the ssl3 fits what you want better. fat50's with a baseplate is going to be much thinner than what you have with the ssl6

Ignore my comment above and take this advice.

I’m also curious about the lil 59 and the JB Jr, I’ve heard these smaller single coil size humbuckers “see” a smaller window than their full size brethren and have a brighter, snappier tone comparatively. Anyone have any experience with these in comparison to the SSL3 and Quarter Pound in the bridge position?

Since you said you weren't interested in retaining the Stratty sound in the bridge maybe look into a single coil sized humbucker such as the Cool Rails or Hot Rails. I don't think the JB Jr is gonna get you want you want personally.

 

[ebagjones]

Re: Single Coil Bridge Options - the SSL's or others for fat smooth singing lead ton

Thanks for all the recommendations everyone. I'm liking everything I've heard about the SSL-3 so far, but I also see the SSL4 getting some love. I'm ruling the Fralin SP43 right out, the more I think about it I don't think it's going to do what I'm looking for. I actually have two strats i could swap the bridge pickup in, since one is brighter and the SSL4 is bassy-er, maybe I will drop the SSL3 in my main axe and drop the Quarter Pounder in the Ash body one and get the best of both worlds. Does anyone think the JB Jr or Lil 59 would be worth considering, or will those be two far into humbucker land for my tastes?

Quote Originally Posted by Adieu View Post
You want hotter than SSL-6?? Gonna need a humbucker, and a hot humbucker at that

Your single-sized options are: Jb Jr, Hotrail, Super Distortion S, maybe DiMarzio Chopper

Your fullsize bucker options are the usual metal choices.
thats just not true man

As far as this goes, i would have to agree with Jeremy on the hot humbucker front. I have a strat with a Shawbucker in the bridge, which is a very low wind/low output PAF type humbucker and even it has noticeably more output than the SSL-6, and isn't really what I'm looking for, so I'm guessing a screaming high output humbucker would be overkill. But I notice the single coil size ones have less output than their full size cousins so I'm wondering if I shouldn't consider these too.

 

[Juanhanglo]

Re: Single Coil Bridge Options - the SSL's or others for fat smooth singing lead ton

not a duncan, but I would recommend harmonic design vintage plus pickups. they are hotter than stock by a margin but don't sound over wound. they sound like strat pickups with more balanced bass and mids.

also, lace pickups are lower output than a comparable pickup. they sound hotter but the magnets aren't strong enough to actually be hot.
they are smooth sounding.

 

[ebagjones]

Re: Single Coil Bridge Options - the SSL's or others for fat smooth singing lead ton

not a duncan, but I would recommend harmonic design vintage plus pickups. they are hotter than stock by a margin but don't sound over wound. they sound like strat pickups with more balanced bass and mids.

Thanks for the tip - been checking these out since I read your post - sound very promising. Can you tell me if they are higher output than something like a SSL5/SSL6, or would I need to look at the Super 90 for the bridge. Thanks!

BTW everybody I got a killer deal on a Budda Superdrive 45 this week and finally put it through it's paces this evening and DANG this has the best gain channel I've played through, and I've played through a lot of the greats. I need this hotter pickup to put it over the edge.