Y
Quality pickups, but do not buy for the Frusciante sound
I bought this set for my Squier CV 50's Strat in order to get closer to the Frusciante sound like many fans do. Let me talk about the pros first, the pickups are definitely high quality and they will give you a clean, vintage Strat sound which is ideal for classic rock and blues. The neck pickup can get you close to the clean Gilmour and Knopfler tones easily, while the bridge pickup is very Hendrix-ish.
However, it sounds a bit darker than I expected with the crunchy tones. If you read that Frusciante used these pickups in his favorite guitars and decided to buy this set, don't. Frusciante got confused about which pickups he used, he actually has Fender stock pickups in his main guitars, confirmed by his guitar tech. His clean sound is not that clean, it is crunchy, thick and warm at the same time, and these pickups are just not the ideal fit for that.
That said, I'm definitely intending to keep these pickups for the pros I mentioned.
However, it sounds a bit darker than I expected with the crunchy tones. If you read that Frusciante used these pickups in his favorite guitars and decided to buy this set, don't. Frusciante got confused about which pickups he used, he actually has Fender stock pickups in his main guitars, confirmed by his guitar tech. His clean sound is not that clean, it is crunchy, thick and warm at the same time, and these pickups are just not the ideal fit for that.
That said, I'm definitely intending to keep these pickups for the pros I mentioned.
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j
great for 50s -60s style
Great pickups for your strat. Really good if you are looking for that 50s - 60s sound. Work really well with distortion. But has too much output and didnt work that much for my sound. Word of advice no matter the quality of the pickups (which is really good in this situation) you will never know if you like them until they are on your guitar, because the sound will change slightly due to the different woods.
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R
Seymour Duncan SSL-1 California
This matched set of SSL-1 with the added suffix 'California' is the perfect set if you are looking for a great vintage strat-tone to a great price. With vintage wiring (Wiring scheme supplied - I used a 0.47 cap) you will get a absolute wunderful woody tone from the neck pickup and very nice quack from the in-between positions. The bridge pup has a great bite to it without getting to sharp. I suspect that the middle pup is not reverse wound as both in-between positions is a little lower in volume. Summed up this is a very nice pickup set from seymour Duncan that should upgrade about any stratocaster-type guitar to a vintage tone machine. Great for surf rock!
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G
Exactly what I was looking for
I but these to replace my HSH plate on my Fender strat to get a warmer tone. I'm also a big fan of John Frusciante's sound in the original RHCP albums, and after watching tons of videos with sound tests comparing different models, I went for these.
I did the soldering myself with a kit I also bought with these, it was my first time but I managed to get them properly soldered and installed. Let me tell you how excited I was when I plugged my guitar and started noodling with these for the first time!
It has this very iconic warmth that this particular model is known for, and it is very versatile with a 5-way switch. I can play super clean jazz, as well as punchy blues rock and the sound definition is awesome.
I spent a lot of time playing on the neck pickup since I really like the warm sound they get you.
Overall I'm very satisfied after a few years, and I still enjoy them as much as the first day. If you are looking for a high quality set of pickups for similar reasons as I did, I highly recommend you get them, they won't disappoint.
I did the soldering myself with a kit I also bought with these, it was my first time but I managed to get them properly soldered and installed. Let me tell you how excited I was when I plugged my guitar and started noodling with these for the first time!
It has this very iconic warmth that this particular model is known for, and it is very versatile with a 5-way switch. I can play super clean jazz, as well as punchy blues rock and the sound definition is awesome.
I spent a lot of time playing on the neck pickup since I really like the warm sound they get you.
Overall I'm very satisfied after a few years, and I still enjoy them as much as the first day. If you are looking for a high quality set of pickups for similar reasons as I did, I highly recommend you get them, they won't disappoint.
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A
Excellent product!
Have had these installed in my Strat for the past few months and I am very happy with them. Compared to my stock Fender pickups these have more clarity and sparkle. Tonally I can achieve sounds remninissant of John Frusciante, Rory Gallagher, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Niall Rodgers etc. with a few amp tweaks (Blues Jr.).
Other than that there isn't much to say - great pickups!
Other than that there isn't much to say - great pickups!
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H
Love These pickups
Bought these to go into my home build Mark Knopfler signature. These pickups combined with the Harley Benton Strat kit gave me an incredible guitar that plays and sounds at least twice as good as it cost!
Pros: Fantastic vintage sound from these pickups that can cover many different genres comfortably.
Cons: They are lower output pickups. This can't be considered a con as they were designed as such. They will be quieter than most modern Mexican or American Stratocasters you can buy.
Pros: Fantastic vintage sound from these pickups that can cover many different genres comfortably.
Cons: They are lower output pickups. This can't be considered a con as they were designed as such. They will be quieter than most modern Mexican or American Stratocasters you can buy.
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J
The strat sound!
Exactly what a strat should sound like in my book. and I've owned a lot of strats;)
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K
Great clarity
I have had these pickups in my Mexican strat for a few months now and they have a lower output than the Mexican standard pickups. The sound is a lot less muddy and more clear, with a fender amp these just sounds right. You do need to add more gain than before to get similar levels of drive. The neck pickup is awesome and is my favourite. These are great to get a clean / just on the verge of breakup sound. I could never really get that with the standard Mexican pickups for some reason.
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m
Nice sound! Worth upgrading my mexico strat
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m
Great vintage sounding pickups
These are great vintage sounding pickups! Not hot, yet combines really good with gain pedals! I recommend this to everyone who is looking for a vintage strat sound!
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