Ssl-5b / Ssl-52m / ssl-52?

[Tomax]

Hello all

I am looking fir pick ups to give a second breath to my 2001 MIM strat. I have 0 experience in swapping pickups and living in France no much opportunities to try different options so I need a bit of help.

what do I play: classic rock and soft blues. I really like cleans or lamps light crunch. But its my only guitar so I am looking for versatility

what is amost decided: all true single coils for spanky stratty sound, a hotter bridge for distortion (probably SSL-5) and a gilmour style 7 way wiring (probably from 920d)

what i dont like the only other pick ups that I have tried after my stock MIM are tex mex. Great improvement in most areas, except that I feel the treebles are really overpowering everything. If I turn down the tone pot, then all gets a bit dull

So i am looking for balanced pick ups for middle and neck and it seem most vintage pick ups in the market are indeed very bright

My first interest was SSL-1 but from comments i ve read on forums and the tone chart from duncan, they do seem very bright

The SSL-52 seem very balanced as per the tone chart, but what is the trade off with alnico 2 for the trebles and would it balance well with an SSL5 in the bridge?

Any other pickups you would recommend for a straty sound not overly bright? (Fralin vintage hot? Fender eric Johnson?...)

Thanks a million

Tomax

Thanks

 

[Mincer]

Re: Ssl-5b / Ssl-52m / ssl-52?

Welcome to the forum!

The set you chose is wonderful, and probably what I would have suggested, too. The Five Two does balance well with the SSL-5 (or 6 if you want flat poles), and this set will tame the high end present in something like the SSL-1. This would probably be my favorite true single coil set there is.

 

[BlueSnMettle]

Re: Ssl-5b / Ssl-52m / ssl-52?

I have an SSL5/SSL1/SSL1 setup in my Strat and don't find
the SSL1's to be over trebley at all. I think it's a wonderful
setup.

 

[Tomax]

Re: Ssl-5b / Ssl-52m / ssl-52?

I have an SSL5/SSL1/SSL1 setup in my Strat and don't find
the SSL1's to be over trebley at all. I think it's a wonderful
setup.

Thanks for your feedback. Might be as well a matter of taste? I prefer tl remain prudent given the SD tlne chart... I was quite bothered by the tex mex brightness while this PU are highly regarded by most

 

[Tomax]

Re: Ssl-5b / Ssl-52m / ssl-52?

Welcome to the forum!

The set you chose is wonderful, and probably what I would have suggested, too. The Five Two does balance well with the SSL-5 (or 6 if you want flat poles), and this set will tame the high end present in something like the SSL-1. This would probably be my favorite true single coil set there is.

Hello Mincer

Thanks for your feedback. Will certainly go for this set up then

I have checked your instagram and your HSS strat definitely got my attention: beautifull guitar!

Can you let me know a bit more about your set ? I was indeed initially considering an HSS setup for maximum versatility and considered ordering below set which is not far from yours:
- stk-s7n
- stk-s4m
- JB or 59 tremB

The stk s4 and stks7 seem to bring a tuch of warmth compared to true single coil that I will certainly like but I got a bit scared by forum s comments saying that noiseless not sounding like real strat.. How s your clean sounds on your classic stack plus?

Similar story with humbucker on bridge. Got lost on "balancing output with neck and middle" and "250 or 500k pots" issues and thought that maybe this wast too complicated for a newbie like me. What do you think about the above HSS set? How did you wired yours?

 

[EC Strat]

Re: Ssl-5b / Ssl-52m / ssl-52?

I have a set of classic stacks 4 plus in my Strat and if there’s a difference bt them and a true single coil set I can’t tell it.
What a fantastic set of pickups! Responsive chimey and Noiseless They are basically the Noiseless version of an SSL 1 set Voiced for late 50’s / early 60’s tone

 

[Mincer]

Re: Ssl-5b / Ssl-52m / ssl-52?

Hello Mincer

Thanks for your feedback. Will certainly go for this set up then

I have checked your instagram and your HSS strat definitely got my attention: beautifull guitar!

Can you let me know a bit more about your set ? I was indeed initially considering an HSS setup for maximum versatility and considered ordering below set which is not far from yours:
- stk-s7n
- stk-s4m
- JB or 59 tremB

The stk s4 and stks7 seem to bring a tuch of warmth compared to true single coil that I will certainly like but I got a bit scared by forum s comments saying that noiseless not sounding like real strat.. How s your clean sounds on your classic stack plus?

Similar story with humbucker on bridge. Got lost on "balancing output with neck and middle" and "250 or 500k pots" issues and thought that maybe this wast too complicated for a newbie like me. What do you think about the above HSS set? How did you wired yours?

I wrote a blog about the configuration I settled on, mostly because I wanted all positions to be humbucking, I wanted a humbucker in the bridge, and I wanted a silent neck pickup. I didn't want higher output single coil stacks, as I don't like the way they compress. I use the STK-S4 in the neck the most, and I absolutely love the sound of that pickup.