Strat HSS Or HH - Tell Me What You Think. - The Gear Page

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You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.You should upgrade or use an alternative browser. Strat HSS or HH - Tell me what you think.

• Thread starter 777
• Start date Feb 10, 2007
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7

777

Member

Joined Jul 14, 2006 Messages 834 Reaction score 162 Location Kansas I've been considering one of these. I like the idea if it truly does give a humbucker sound. What have been your experiences? Thanks N

Nick Patterson

Member

Joined Dec 27, 2006 Messages 432 Reaction score 39 Location Alamogordo, NM I have an HSS Strat and I love it. In order to get a good humbucker sound though, I put a Duncan Distortion in the bridge and converted the second tone to the bridge. I then upgraded the tone pot to a 500k. I also have five tremolo springs and the trem claw is as tight as I could get it. It's in the shop now getting a bone nut put on, and I can't wait to get it back. I also have two Tex-Mex single coils in there. It can cover everything. From clean to hard rock, it all sounds good to me. I was never a big fan of a neck humucker on a Strat. It doesn't sound good to me. It sounds too muddy. That may be the 250k pots though. A

Austinrocks

Member

Joined Feb 10, 2007 Messages 7,020 Reaction score 20 Really depends on what from the bridge pickup, I have both SSS and HSS Fender Strats, the Humbucker is nice for playing distorted, mine is a split coil so I also get a nice bright single coil tone, the SSS is really nice clean, and gets noisy distorted, the HSS is my primary strat, the SSS is more of a blues strat, it has the Lindy Fralin Blues Specials as the pick ups. R

RJM/rydog2223

Member

Joined Oct 4, 2006 Messages 2,164 Reaction score 6 Location Central Wisconsin I'd say HSS all the way. It's few and far between but if I ever take one guitar to practice or a show thats the one. Covers all my bases. M

MarcJ

Member

Joined Jun 14, 2006 Messages 989 Reaction score 270 Location NC I've got a Fat Strat Texas Special that came with a Pearly Gates in the bridge. I changed the Texas Special single coils to Lollar Blonds, which I really like. It really has a nice range of sounds with those pickups and the Pearly Gates sounds really fat while the Lollars have that traditional strat sound. I'm happy that combo in that particular guitar.

Jujo

Silver Supporting Member Joined Jun 6, 2006 Messages 1,817 Reaction score 520 Location location, location, location... HSS. That way there's no mud in the neck and you can still get strat tones. If you HH, say bye bye to strat or single coil tones. A humbucker in the bridge definitely sounds like a humbucker. No worries there. A

axepilot

Member

Joined Nov 24, 2006 Messages 630 Reaction score 1 Location South Jersey Pine Barrens I own a HSS Strat and a HH Strat. Both are killer guitars. My HH Strat has a SD Pearly Gates Plus in the bridge and a '59 in the neck with a 5 way switch. It sounds great, but it's not exactly classic Strat sound. I modded a SSS American Deluxe for HSS with a SD Custom Custom in the bridge, and SD SSL3's in the middle and neck. I also installed new pots and a new cap. This guitar will cut your hair and definitely retains that classic Strat spank. IMHO, HSS is the way to go if you want to preserve that classic Strat sound. I bought my HH Strat because it plays sweetly, sounds great for humbuckers, and it's a hard rockin' guitar. D

DejavuDave

Member

Joined Aug 11, 2006 Messages 1,811 Reaction score 7 Location So Cal HSS if you want versatility, SSS if you want a vintage bridge sound (put a neck single coil in the bridge position if you want real vintage twang).

Boomer

Member

Joined Jan 4, 2002 Messages 1,910 Reaction score 129 Location Hollywood, FL For me, SSS is necessary. I've owned SSH's and, as good as they were, they couldn't give me that 2 and 4 position quack. If you want a humbucker, buy something mahogany! JMHO YMMV HTH

Jerrod

Gold Supporting Member Joined Jan 7, 2002 Messages 16,629 Reaction score 25,938 I've owned and loved HSS and SSS guitars. I've even really enjoyed the occasional HSH guitar (Anderson Drop Top T). But only Les Pauls, 335s, etc should have the HH configuration. At least in my world. 7

777

Member

Joined Jul 14, 2006 Messages 834 Reaction score 162 Location Kansas

DejavuDave said: HSS if you want versatility Click to expand...

That's exactly what I'm looking for. In fact, I may even consider that VG Strat, once we learn more about it. Thanks guys, this is the kind of information that I'm looking for. Brad J

John Phillips

Member

Joined Mar 17, 2002 Messages 13,031 Reaction score 217 Location Scotland

Jujo said: HSS. That way there's no mud in the neck and you can still get strat tones. If you HH, say bye bye to strat or single coil tones. Click to expand...

Not if you fit it with coil splits. Fender did one with a neat setup that gave: neck HB, neck single (outer coil), both HBs, both inner coils, bridge HB on a 5-way switch - although it needs a true 5-way switch, not the usual 3-way-with-5-positions. Very neat, and gives pretty good approximations to the two most-used Strat sounds - the both-inner-coils sound is really surprisingly like the Strat in-between (about halfway between the 2 and 4 sounds, tonally). I recently did one - on a Chinese Squier Double Fat! Although I did fit it with a Duncan Distortion and a Jazz - with a Superswitch to give: neck HB, both inner coils, both HBs, both outer coils (Tele-like), bridge HB. Very versatile, and because I flipped the magnet and reversed the wiring in one pickup, all hum-cancelling... which can be important for working-band gigs in noisy places. (I sometimes like hum for my originals band, but that's an 'artistic' thing and it doesn't always fly with wedding crowds ). I do find the option of a neck humbucker more useful than the choice of two different Strat in-between sounds, personally.

SvenHock

Silver Supporting Member Joined Mar 10, 2003 Messages 1,059 Reaction score 14 Location MD HSS all the way. You must log in or register to reply here. Share: Facebook X (Twitter) Reddit Pinterest Tumblr WhatsApp Email Share Link

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