SSL-1 or Custom Shop 69?

[357mag]

I'm looking for a neck pickup that is a little more transparent than what I'm playing now. I'm using a Van Zandt Vintage Plus and it's quite good but when I get to the bass strings the sounds gets a little fat and woofy.

I was thinking of trying either a Custom Shop 69 or and SSL-1 or maybe a Lindy Fralin Vintage Hot or a Klein 69.

Is the SSL-1 pretty bright?

 

[PFDarkside]

I really like both pickups. The CS69 is nice and clear, with the slightly scooped mids. To my ear the SSL-1 has more in the midrange and a little less in the treble comparatively. What are the stats on the VanZandt? I’d bet they are probably pretty close to the SSL-1, maybe would a bit hotter.

 

[Mincer]

The SSL-1 is probably the brightest vintage single coil that SD makes, as it is designed to replicate the sound of late 50s Fender pickups that are really bright. Other pickups, like the Antiquity Surfer or the Five Two are still vintage-y, but not as bright.

 

[EC Strat]

I really like both pickups also. Both give you iconic strat tones so you can’t go wrong with either one. The SSL 1’s are a touch warmer than the 69’s with a bit more mods being present. The 69’s are more scooped with a bit more chime on the top end. That’s how I’d describe the differences - which admittedly aren’t that great they are very similar

 

[Lewguitar]

Aren't the Fender Eric Johnson pickups Alnico 3?

In the earliest 1954 Strats Eric favors, Fender used Alnico 3, and then switched to Alnico 5, which is in the SSL1 and Antiquity Surfer, after 1954.

Alnico 3 EJ pickups do those EJ style "chimey clean & sparkle tones" better than Alnico 5.

But Alnico 5 does clean Hendrix and SRV tones better.

For me, the pickups in my EJ Strat were not ballsy enough. I was used to the pickups in my '63 Strat, which Antiquity Surfers remind me of.

 

[PFDarkside]

FYI, I built two Strats, one early 60’s style and one late 60’s style. I used SSL-1 for one and CS69 for the other. I like them both enough to still have them.

 

[GuitarStv]

The '69 pickup is a bit mid scooped . . . sounds fantastic clean and with most effects, doesn't play as nicely with gain and is a little bit easier to get lost in a dense band mix. The SSL-1 is a little bit middier, sounds good clean and plays well with effects, is a little bit nicer with gain and a little less likely to disappear in a dense band mix. For funk, jazzy stuff, John Mayer Slow Dancing in a Burning Room . . . '69. For everything else, SSL-1. Both sound like great strat pickups.

But they're just different enough takes on the same thing that I like having a guitar with each in it.

 

[Lewguitar]

The '69 pickup is a bit mid scooped . . . sounds fantastic clean and with most effects, doesn't play as nicely with gain and is a little bit easier to get lost in a dense band mix. The SSL-1 is a little bit middier, sounds good clean and plays well with effects, is a little bit nicer with gain and a little less likely to disappear in a dense band mix. For funk, jazzy stuff, John Mayer Slow Dancing in a Burning Room . . . '69. For everything else, SSL-1. Both sound like great strat pickups.

But they're just different enough takes on the same thing that I like having a guitar with each in it.

That's the thing with Strat pickups that are "mid scooped" so that they sound "fantastic clean": they don't do high gain and work with overdrive pedals as well as a Strat pickup with a fuller tone.

Eric Johnson uses Strat pickups that sound "fantastic clean" in the neck and middle positions.

He gets his overdriven tones from a hotter bridge pickup, and uses that pickup when he's playing through his overdrive pedals for that overdriven "violin sound".

Just something to keep in mind.

 

[357mag]

Well I play with a lot of gain so...

 

[GuitarStv]

That's the thing with Strat pickups that are "mid scooped" so that they sound "fantastic clean": they don't do high gain and work with overdrive pedals as well as a Strat pickup with a fuller tone.

Eric Johnson uses Strat pickups that sound "fantastic clean" in the neck and middle positions.

He gets his overdriven tones from a hotter bridge pickup, and uses that pickup when he's playing through his overdrive pedals for that overdriven "violin sound".

Just something to keep in mind.

I like Gilmour's approach - a very overwound strat bridge pickup like an SSL-5 or 6 paired with pretty scooped neck/mid. That way you get middy sounds where (and when) you want 'em, and sparkly cleans when you want 'em.

 

[357mag]

I read on another forum that the '69 does handle gain well. I ordered it anyway. I got it for a good price on Ebay so if I don't like it I will not be out a lot of money.

 

[Lewguitar]

I read on another forum that the '69 does handle gain well. I ordered it anyway. I got it for a good price on Ebay so if I don't like it I will not be out a lot of money.

Well Hendrix used real '69 pickups and sounded pretty good with overdrive so... :bigthumb:

 

[jeremy]

all vintage type strat pups are scooped. the later 60's lower wind pe wire ones, even more so. They can all sound great with overdrive, but sometimes the top end can be clangy and harsh but rolling the tone back helps. they wont sound like a hot pup or a bucker, but even an ssl1 or 69 can sound great distorted depending on what you are going for

 

[ErikH]

Well Hendrix used real '69 pickups and sounded pretty good with overdrive so... :bigthumb:

Truth! The man had a monstrous overdriven tone for that era. I had read on a site somewhere about vintage Fender single-coils that the '69 pickups back then were would a little different than prior years. Can't remember the details other than that.

 

[Lewguitar]

Truth! The man had a monstrous overdriven tone for that era. I had read on a site somewhere about vintage Fender single-coils that the '69 pickups back then were would a little different than prior years. Can't remember the details other than that.

In 1969 I was playing a hardtail '57 Strat. At the time, the pickups on new 1969 Strats struck me as being glassier and not what I wanted to hear.

Not that the pickups in my '57 were perfect either. I always wanted a thicker, hotter bridge pickup but none existed at the time.