SSL-5: tapping & bridge pickup switch

[scpa105]

I have SSL-1's in the neck and middle positions of my strat and love them. I have the tapped version of the SSL-5 coming in the mail this week. Let me also add, regarding strat tone, I'm a fan of David Gilmour, Robin Trower, and John Mayer.

So, with the ssl-5, I can either tap the pickup with a push-pull pot OR use the push-pull to wire up the bridge pickup so that I can combine the bridge pickup with either the middle and/or the neck pickups (essentially, a David Gilmour mod...I just don't want to wire it up like his guitar with that little switch).

I wire my strats with just one volume and one tone, so that Fralin tone blender pot wouldn't be an option.

So, here are my questions, and thank you in advance for your responses...I value and appreciate everyone's thoughts.

1. So, with the SSL-5, which mod would make my guitar more versatile - wiring for the tap (which would give me the benefit of more 'quack' in the #2 position, versus the stock ssl-5) or doing the bridge pickup switch mod?

2. I would like the option of pushing/driving my neck and middle ssl-1's a bit more...would the bridge pickups switch mod give me this?

3. What does it sound like to mix the ssl-5 bridge with the middle and/or neck (if I did the bridge pickup switch)? I've never heard the mixture before. Is it a muddy, flubby tone, or something useful?

4. Is there a simple way to do both the tap and the bridge control mods on the same guitar (with my push/pull volume and one tone control)?

Thanks!

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: SSL-5: tapping & bridge pickup switch

Get a pair of push pulls and do both mods. The neck+bridge tone will be kind of like a tele and the sound of all 3 pickups is kind of "Hendrix-y", for lack of a better description.

 

[scpa105]

Re: SSL-5: tapping & bridge pickup switch

Any thoughts how I could do both mods? I'm assuming I'd use two 250k push/pull pots. I know how to wire each of the mods as separate projects to the volume push/pull pot (either one mod or the other), but I'm not sure how to do them both on the same guitar using separate pots.

 

[hamerfan]

Re: SSL-5: tapping & bridge pickup switch

I use the SSL-5T with two SSL-1 in neck and middle. My current wiring is using the tap with a blender pot before the switch.
To be honest the tap at middle of the SSL-5 completly useless. The SSL-5 sports a 43AWG wire, so the tap is greatly underwound and sound whimpy. I only use the full coil even in parallel with the SSL-1.

 

[scpa105]

Re: SSL-5: tapping & bridge pickup switch

So, from what you're saying, you'd recommend just doing the "Gilmour" mod (bridge control) instead of the 'tap' mod (if I had to choose one mod over the other)?

And of the ssl-5 wires, which color is the full power wire and which color is the weaker 'tap' wire?

And if I don't end up using the 'tap' wire, I can just tape it off and it won't effect the sound at all, right (as opposed to a stock, non-tappable ssl-5)?

Thank you!

 

[El Supremo]

Re: SSL-5: tapping & bridge pickup switch

Had the SSL5T in combination with Fender cs69's. I wired the tap to one of the tone pots (I just use one master tone anyways) and used that to blend or rather select full or tapped. I still have a push/pull to select the bridge pickup and get all 7 pickup options.