SSL-1 question

[Dr.J4ckal]

I'm looking for a good, vintage sounding pickups for my MIJ strat's neck and middle. I already put a twang banger in the bridge and I absolutely love it.
The SSL-1 is spec'd at 6.5k DC resistance. Isn't that a bit on the hot side?
People usually classify 5.7-6.0k as vintage spec, and 6.2k as overwound (fender cs Texas Specials, Fralin blues specials).
Is there any special winding technique used on the SSL-1s to make them sound brighter?

 

[Evan Skopp]

Re: SSL-1 question

Hey Dr.J4ckal. The SSL-1 is a vintage voiced Strat pickup. I wouldn't say it's on the hot side at all. And I'd also say that DCR is just one of several variables that determine the tone and output of a pickup. It's not the be-all-end-all.

There's no special winding technique used to make them sound brighter. The bobbins are fabricated from forbon and hand-chamfered alnico 5 rod pole pieces. They're wound with formvar magnet wire to vintage spec. They're finished with waxed cloth hookup cable--all pretty much vintage materials and vintage specs.

I hope that helps.

 

[DreX]

Re: SSL-1 question

I'm curious to know what the DC resistances of the whole calibrated California 50's set is.

 

[Diminished Triad]

Re: SSL-1 question

I have both the SSL-1's and also a '69 set that both sound "vintage." Most seem to prefer the SSL-1's.....and I enjoy both and agree they are both great vintage sounding pups. They are not on the hot side at all......
Good Luck!

 

[DreX]

Re: SSL-1 question

Given the limited number of variables involved with making a single coil pickup, I wonder how it's possible to have a 6.5K resistance pickup have a sound people associate with ~5.8K. I have to wonder if that 6.5K figure is another website inaccuracy, as OP pointed out, all the other pickup makers generally refer to such a pickup as "hot", and if it were wound with 43 AWG, it would probably show a DCR much higher than 6.5K. If anyone has an SSL-1 and a multi-meter, a fresh reading would be appreciated. I'll probably have to give in and buy an SSL-1 soon just to get a close look at it, and I hear they sound good, too.

 

[jeremy]

Re: SSL-1 question

you can do a lot with those limited number of variables. even keeping everything else the same, changing the tpl makes a huge difference.

from what ive seen 5.6k to 6.7k was the range of pre cbs fender pups. I haven't seen a ton of them but there was a website that had data that suggested a similar range. most people (forum folk are not at all most people) would feel a 5.6k pup to be too weak and would prefer the higher end of that range. is the ssl1 hot for a vintage voiced strat pup? some people might say so but that's not very hot at all

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: SSL-1 question

I'm curious to know what the DC resistances of the whole calibrated California 50's set is.

all 3 pickups are identical, save for that the middle one is revere wound/reverse polarity to afford hum cancelling in position 2 and 4.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: SSL-1 question

I'm looking for a good, vintage sounding pickups for my MIJ strat's neck and middle.

ssl-1's are superb pickups, but bear in mind that your twang banger is an Alnico II pickup, so if i were in your position, i'd probably lean more towards alnico II pros.

 

[uOpt]

Re: SSL-1 question

Most of mine (and APS-1s which I assume are the same wind) come out around 6.3 kOhm.

I have a SSL-1 with 6.9 kOhm that I am very proud of and keep for special purposes like the neck position in my Floyd/bridge-humbucker guitar, for "balance". The only problem is that it sounds very much the same as the 6.3 SSL-1s

 

[jeremy]

Re: SSL-1 question

ssl-1's are superb pickups, but bear in mind that your twang banger is an Alnico II pickup, so if i were in your position, i'd probably lean more towards alnico II pros.

I have a guitar with aps and twangbanger and its great

 

[darthphineas]

Re: SSL-1 question

I'm looking for a good, vintage sounding pickups for my MIJ strat's neck and middle. I already put a twang banger in the bridge and I absolutely love it.
The SSL-1 is spec'd at 6.5k DC resistance. Isn't that a bit on the hot side?
People usually classify 5.7-6.0k as vintage spec, and 6.2k as overwound (fender cs Texas Specials, Fralin blues specials).
Is there any special winding technique used on the SSL-1s to make them sound brighter?

The SSL is a nice choice for what you have going on. The APS is another option is you want something a smidge closer to smoother and sweeter. But the SSL is a safe bet.

Don't get terribly hung up in the DCR. Those #s don't represent the voicing or the output.

 

[DreX]

Re: SSL-1 question

you can do a lot with those limited number of variables. even keeping everything else the same, changing the tpl makes a huge difference.

from what ive seen 5.6k to 6.7k was the range of pre cbs fender pups. I haven't seen a ton of them but there was a website that had data that suggested a similar range. most people (forum folk are not at all most people) would feel a 5.6k pup to be too weak and would prefer the higher end of that range. is the ssl1 hot for a vintage voiced strat pup? some people might say so but that's not very hot at all

I wouldn't necessarily doubt a pickup with a DCR of 6.5K - 6.9K could have a vintage voicing, but it still leaves the question why the SSL-1 is an outlier with respect to voicing and DCR when compared to most other single coil offerings on the market.

I think the term "hot" single coil is bit over-emphasized in general, and a lot of guitarists would fail a Pepsi challenge if you played for them Texas Specials, or Fralin Vintage Hots, or Fralin Blues Specials, and asked them to tell you if it was hot or vintage. I think just calling a pickup "hot" is all some guitarists need to think of it as being "hot". Everyone, and I'm no exception, is susceptible to suggestion to one degree or another. When you plug in a guitar, you often have to adjust the EQ and the gain a bit to get the best results for a given pickup, but in doing so further close the difference between one pickup and another with respect to it's EQ emphasis and how much it pushes the amp.

I really like Texas Specials, but what I like about them is not even so much how they sound as much as how reactive they are; a small pluck of the string sounds more like a hard pluck with other pickups.

 

[DreX]

Re: SSL-1 question

After giving it some thought, I think I answered my own question; if Fender can release production pickups with a DCR between 5.6k to 6.7k and most who use them is satisfied that it constitutes "vintage" or classic Strat voicing, then most all "hot" pickups can be considered vintage voiced, and what it really means is "hotter side of vintage", because in order to say a Strat pickup is "hot", you have to decide what "cool" is, and it looks like the line was drawn by some sort of informal consensus at the 6.0K mark.

I understand that how the wire is laid on the bobbin makes a difference, as does the insulator, but we don't know the degree to which that's the case. Can a pickup wound with 42AWG to the point of achieving 6.5K resistance be laid on the bobbin in such a way, and with an insulator, that would make it sound very close to a 5.8K pickup that was laid another way, or is that too great of a leap?

 

[Ashurbanipal]

Re: SSL-1 question

Most of mine (and APS-1s which I assume are the same wind) come out around 6.3 kOhm.

I have a SSL-1 with 6.9 kOhm that I am very proud of and keep for special purposes like the neck position in my Floyd/bridge-humbucker guitar, for "balance". The only problem is that it sounds very much the same as the 6.3 SSL-1s

Same kinda story with my #1. I bought some old SSL2s for the neck and mid slots, one was rated 6.4 another 6.2, iirc (have the numbers somewhere). I just stuck the one with the longer lead in the neck position, which happens to be the 'hotter' one. Whatever, they give me the Stratty sound I was after.

 

[jkats]

Re: SSL-1 question

I've noticed that the older SSL-1s have a DC resistance in the 5.8 to 6.0 range, and those are the ones I look for. You can tell these by the "1R" marking on a white sticker on the bottom of the pickup.

 

[Evan Skopp]

Re: SSL-1 question

I can assure you that the DCR specs on the older SSL-1s have not migrated from the new ones. The "1R" you saw on the old sticker just means it's an SSL-1 wound by a winder who's last initial was "R."

 

[Dr.J4ckal]

Re: SSL-1 question

Hi. Finally got around and installed SSL-1s on the neck and middle. Both units measure at 6.67k. So far I like them, I think they sound really great with OD/distortion, no mud at all. They balance really well with twang banger in the bridge.
Much, much better compared to fender texas specials they replaced. Nice pickups!

 

[FuseG4]

Re: SSL-1 question

I always had thought that the SSL-1s had a higher DCR than vintage pickups but they got the sound right by using slightly degaussed "DunAged" magnets.

 

[DreX]

Re: SSL-1 question

I always had thought that the SSL-1s had a higher DCR than vintage pickups but they got the sound right by using slightly degaussed "DunAged" magnets.

There's got to be more to it than that. The Texas Hots are wound to 6.3k and have weaker magnets, they're somewhat dark, even "hot".

 

[FuseG4]

Re: SSL-1 question

There's got to be more to it than that. The Texas Hots are wound to 6.3k and have weaker magnets, they're somewhat dark, even "hot".

the rest is probably winding pattern, turns per layer, and tension.
Keep in mind also that degaussed A5 does not necessarily sound like A2