ratherdashing
Kablamminator
I have a new (to me) Strat, and for this one I wanted to go for a pretty traditional single coil tone. That said, I've never really cared for the tone of a vintage single coil in the bridge of a Strat (too spiky), so I decided the SSL-5 Custom Staggered was a good compromise.
I bought one off a forum dude, and I was pleasantly surprised that it was a tapped version. I wired it up to a push-pull that puts it in tapped mode, and installed it with a pair of SSL-1's in the neck and middle - same as Gilmour's black Strat (I learned this after the fact ... kind of a happy coincidence as I'm a big DG fan).
I brought the Strat to rehearsal on Sunday along with my Warmoth LP. My thinking was that for the heavier songs I'd need to switch to the LP, because my prejudice was that a single coil can't possibly sound heavy enough.
Wrong! I played the Strat with the SSL-5 the whole five hour rehearsal, and loved it. I might have missed a wee bit of girth on the really heavy riffs, but that pickup has plenty of midrange power and enough highs to cut through when needed. It managed to sound big and powerful while retaining a lot of Stratty bite and snap.
In tapped mode it's very close to a vintage single coil. The bridge/middle position with the tap gives that beautiful Clapton and early Dire Straits tone. With the full power bridge and middle I got a very thick and chewy tone.
Conclusion: the SSL-5 is awesome. Not that this was a big mystery or anything. If you want Strat bridge tone with a bit more power and thickness, this is your first and last choice. Five stars!
I bought one off a forum dude, and I was pleasantly surprised that it was a tapped version. I wired it up to a push-pull that puts it in tapped mode, and installed it with a pair of SSL-1's in the neck and middle - same as Gilmour's black Strat (I learned this after the fact ... kind of a happy coincidence as I'm a big DG fan).
I brought the Strat to rehearsal on Sunday along with my Warmoth LP. My thinking was that for the heavier songs I'd need to switch to the LP, because my prejudice was that a single coil can't possibly sound heavy enough.
Wrong! I played the Strat with the SSL-5 the whole five hour rehearsal, and loved it. I might have missed a wee bit of girth on the really heavy riffs, but that pickup has plenty of midrange power and enough highs to cut through when needed. It managed to sound big and powerful while retaining a lot of Stratty bite and snap.
In tapped mode it's very close to a vintage single coil. The bridge/middle position with the tap gives that beautiful Clapton and early Dire Straits tone. With the full power bridge and middle I got a very thick and chewy tone.
Conclusion: the SSL-5 is awesome. Not that this was a big mystery or anything. If you want Strat bridge tone with a bit more power and thickness, this is your first and last choice. Five stars!
