SSL-1 questions

[gimmieinfo]

From reading posts about these elsewhere i keep hearing about staggered and non staggered SSL-1's and "california" SSL-1's. I only see one SSL-1 set in the catalog. Can someone explain 1-what all this means, whether there are 2 different SSL-1 sets or what, and 2- what is THE set that most glowing reviews are speaking of? Or maybe a better way to put it is what is the quinessential SSL-1 set? I assume staggered, and like i said thats all i see on the site anyways. Lastly, i have tried the fender 57./62 set and hated it for being too thin with no body, the fat 50s set which i like but weren't quite there in some indescribable way, and the set i have used most is the van zandt blues set. Great set but also not quite there.How does the SSL-1 set compare to those in your opinion? I like traditional strat tone without too much mids to muddy them up and hinder chime. I have read the SSL-1's do add bit too much in the mids. I like enough to eliminate harsh excessive top end but only enough to do that w/o turning them into nasal tone that ruins the cleaner tones i get by7 rolling back my treble bleed equipped volume pot.

 

[jeremy]

they sound similar to a new early 60s fender strat pup that on the hot end of vintage correct. there is only two types of ssl1. normal and rw/rp. both a5 staggered rod magnets, and around 6.4k. the ssl2 is similar but with flat poles, also available rw/rp. the california set is, as far as i know, two ssl1 and one rwrp ssl1, but available as a set so you dont have to but three individual pups.

there is rumor of a "calibrated" bridge ssl1, but i have never seen one in the wild and no one with real knowledge has confirmed they exist.

i dont love the 57/62 set, kinda like the fat50s, have havent heard a van zandt blues set in long enough i cant compare the ssl1 to them, though i remember like them. the ssl1 is a great strat pup if you want the early 60s fender tone

 

[Mincer]

I don't think you have to worry about mids with an SSL-1 set. They have chime for days, and not many mids at all.

 

[GuitarStv]

SSL-1 (and the flat pole SSL-2s which sound almost the same but with better string balance) are not honky or excessive in the mids at all. They're bright single coils with that distinctive single coil mid scoop (though not as mid-scoopy as an underwound single) and get great sounding cleans.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Yah, flat pole (SSL-2) is the better way to go for modern strings. The original Fender stagger was designed for a wound G string.
SSL-1 and SSL-2 have the exact same wind; the only difference is magnet stagger.

 

[gimmieinfo]

Thanks all. Kinda strange but i read a old thread at TGP where a lot of people cited them as middy to the point it lost some of the chime. Maybe they changed the spec at some point? Anyways, thats what i needed to hear tho i'd still like to hear from someone who's had both these and the fat 50s to describe how they differ side from the slightly different DCR with slightly higher bridge wind on the FF's.

 

[jeremy]

they didnt change the spec. people hear things differently and the internet isnt regulated for truth or vetted for accuracy

 

[Teleplayer]

I think the spec may have changed over the years. The older ones from around 2011 measured about 6.4k ohm, but I ordered two more sets more recently and they measure around 6.7k to 6.8k. I think either the wire spec has varied or they could be wound hotter. A strat pickup with 2.7 H inductances is slightly on the warm side when comparing to Fender branded pickups. So I think there is some truth the SSL1 and SSL2 having more mids. It mostly depends what your frame of reference.

 

[AlexR]

^ I'm sort of thinking this too.......unless in this case the wire used leads to the mid/high 6's of the Duncans being equal in output to the typical 5.8-6k of typical 60's Fender spec in pickups.
Certainly when I a/b'd the two antiquity Duncan sets to Fender Fat 50's, the latter had more scoop and sparkle, especially in notch positions.

 

[beaubrummels]

6.4k vs 6.8k is less than a 10% tolerance difference for a 6.5k spec pickup. They shouldn't be hotter or sound different. If the turn count and inductance was different, then there might be a spec difference. But Duncan doesn't often change a recipe that is part of their bread and butter for years. Are you saying you have two sets of SSL-1s and one of them is hotter and sounds different?

 

[pskorz]

The SSL-1 is just that pickup’s model number. But they package a trio of them together as a set and call it the “California 50’s.” (Similar to how they sell a “Vintage Blues” set, is just a pair of 59’s)

i think the SSL-1 set is very traditional and pleasant sounding. I wouldn’t call them scooped, nor are they overly middy. I find them to have that stratty chimey sound. However a “good strat sound” is definitely subjective.

 

[GuitarStv]

The two SSL-2s I bought in 2017 both measure 6.5k on the dot.

 

[Teleplayer]

6.4k vs 6.8k is less than a 10% tolerance difference for a 6.5k spec pickup. They shouldn't be hotter or sound different. If the turn count and inductance was different, then there might be a spec difference. But Duncan doesn't often change a recipe that is part of their bread and butter for years. Are you saying you have two sets of SSL-1s and one of them is hotter and sounds different?

Yes.. they sound different. However a lot of pickups sound different due to small variations in turn count winding pattern and magnet specs. A variation of 0.2H is noticable although it's only around 3.5 percent variation in turns. If some guys on the internet have a collection of different strat pickups from Fender and various winders, its not surprising they will notice difference when swapping them. It doesn't mean they are bad, it's just that pickup nerds can tell they are different.

 

[freefrog]

Thanks all. Kinda strange but i read a old thread at TGP where a lot of people cited them as middy to the point it lost some of the chime. Maybe they changed the spec at some point?

AFAIK and as said by fellow members, their theoretical specs haven't changed along the years and my measurements on them these last decades are pretty consistent. The only oddball that I recall right now is a low reading RWRP SSL1 from the 90's. Other readings didn't evolve much if memory serves me.

Now, I think that SSL1's were initially designed to replace low DCR / low inductance CBS Strat PU's (those with 5.5k of wire at best). Most of the SSL's that I've measured were over 2.6H inductively wise... and 2.6H (for 6.16k) is the inductance of the hottest original pickup that I've found in the L Series Strat that I use for reference.

This high inductance is certainly translated by "non scooped mids" albeit the chime is there too, IME and IMHO.

Those that I've bought in the early 80's still put a smile on my face each time I play or hear them, in a maple neck Strat copy sold to a friend a long time ago. Quintessential Strat tone, not less.

Those that I've mounted two times in my first home made Strat with rosewood fretboard were less at home. I've mounted a first set, then sold it and tried a collection of other PU's (but also changed all the parts of the guitar except its body), then mounted again a trio of SSL1's... and in this case, yep, they were too beefy, especially compared to the Fender CS69 mounted just before (5.8k an 2 to 2.2H). But this Fender model is hardly stronger than the CBS PU's from the 70's that I mentioned above so the difference was expected.

Then the last set of SSL1's was donated to a Std American Strat with maple neck where it shined again, although with a big bass response that I had never heard from this model before. At least as fat as "Fat 50's"IME...

I won't talk about SSL1's that I've mounted for other players nor claim that SSL1 are better with maple neck than rosewood fretboards (even if it's my own experience) : the conclusion of this wordy testimonial will just be that SSL1's are guitar dependent... like most if not all transducers.

FOOTNOTE - Despite of their "degaussed" rods, SSL's are still strong enough magnetically to produce rich harmonics. And played through high resistance pots and/or low inductance cables, they are certainly capable to sound unbearingly bright like most SC's with rod mags. :-D

HTH even if nothing new...