Fender American Strat Professional II: HSS or SSS?

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Fender American Professional II Strat: HSS or SSS?

Poll ended at Fri Feb 18, 2022 7:03 pm

1. HSS
16
48%
2. SSS
15
45%
3. Strats are not things that are nice.
2
6%
 
Total votes: 33

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Miza
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Re: Fender American Strat Professional II: HSS or SSS?

Post by Miza »

chur wrote: Wed Feb 16, 2022 6:46 am I put a hotrail in the rear of my strat many many years ago, as while I wanted the push of a bucker, I personally don't like the look of HSS... just a preference thang.
Agree, personally never been a fan of the look of HSS, but they must be a very versatile guitar, especially if you can split coils.

Surely Disco is all about the single coil sound though? And if you need a humbucker sound, just use an EQ or pickup booster :thumbup:
Nothing to see here.

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Re: Fender American Strat Professional II: HSS or SSS?

Post by AiRdAd »

Before you go down the route of putting a humbucker in - check that the body has got a humbucker sized space - I didn't :-)

Also consider what you're going to do with pot values etc, as a humbuckers are normally 500 and single coils are usually 250.
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Re: Fender American Strat Professional II: HSS or SSS?

Post by Optical »

On one of my strats I have HSS (JB Jr in the bridge) and the lower tone knob has been replaced with a rotary switch for coil splitting the JB - can do SSS or HSS. I almost never split the bridge or use position 2, but I'm also not at all funky

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Re: Fender American Strat Professional II: HSS or SSS?

Post by rickenbackerkid »

HSS. Strat stock bridge pickups are hopeless.

I currently have a DiMarzio Super Distortion in mine, it's a seriously good pickup, but hopelessly poorly matched with the single coils

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Re: Fender American Strat Professional II: HSS or SSS?

Post by werdna »

blackstratblues wrote: Wed Feb 16, 2022 9:11 am If you use the tone knob on the bridge pickup, SSS. Bridge & Middle single coil combo for funk/disco is special.

If you want to get geeky, use a super switch (4 pole 5 way) so you can wire bridge+middle to Tone1 (or even no tone) while assigning bridge alone to Tone2.
I've already got a strat with only the bridge wired to the tone knob.

I use middle and neck combo for funk/disco.
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Re: Fender American Strat Professional II: HSS or SSS?

Post by Miza »

AiRdAd wrote: Wed Feb 16, 2022 12:32 pm Also consider what you're going to do with pot values etc, as a humbuckers are normally 500 and single coils are usually 250.
I was reading up about this the other night (talk about a rabbit hole!). There's a way you can do it so that one pickup is wired direct to the vol pot, bypassing the tone pot, and somehow it gives the right resistance to all pickups? I forget which way round it was. Maybe a 500k vol + 500k tone = 250k for the single coils?? I could be way off tho.
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Re: Fender American Strat Professional II: HSS or SSS?

Post by werdna »

Miza wrote: Wed Feb 16, 2022 3:07 pm
AiRdAd wrote: Wed Feb 16, 2022 12:32 pm Also consider what you're going to do with pot values etc, as a humbuckers are normally 500 and single coils are usually 250.
I was reading up about this the other night (talk about a rabbit hole!). There's a way you can do it so that one pickup is wired direct to the vol pot, bypassing the tone pot, and somehow it gives the right resistance to all pickups? I forget which way round it was. Maybe a 500k vol + 500k tone = 250k for the single coils?? I could be way off tho.
The Pro II claims to have "balanced" the humbucker with the single coils. There's no noticeable jump in volume.
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Re: Fender American Strat Professional II: HSS or SSS?

Post by jeremyb »

Slowy wrote: Tue Feb 15, 2022 8:03 pm
jeremyb wrote: Tue Feb 15, 2022 7:20 pm .......even as a massive strat fan, the bridge pickup is pointless in one.
Put it through a Hermida Zendrive and see if you still say that.
I live in positions 4 & 5 on mine, its just such a perfect tone why change?!?!!!
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Re: Fender American Strat Professional II: HSS or SSS?

Post by robthemac »

jeremyb wrote: Wed Feb 16, 2022 3:27 pm
Slowy wrote: Tue Feb 15, 2022 8:03 pm
jeremyb wrote: Tue Feb 15, 2022 7:20 pm .......even as a massive strat fan, the bridge pickup is pointless in one.
Put it through a Hermida Zendrive and see if you still say that.
I live in positions 4 & 5 on mine, its just such a perfect tone why change?!?!!!
I also hate being heard in the mix.
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Re: Fender American Strat Professional II: HSS or SSS?

Post by IMOCD »

robthemac wrote: Wed Feb 16, 2022 3:30 pm
jeremyb wrote: Wed Feb 16, 2022 3:27 pm
Slowy wrote: Tue Feb 15, 2022 8:03 pm

Put it through a Hermida Zendrive and see if you still say that.
I live in positions 4 & 5 on mine, its just such a perfect tone why change?!?!!!
I also hate being heard in the mix.
Lol, that was me at last week's session. Thought I'd give position 4 a spin during a song. I simply disappeared. All of my band mates looked over to me at the same time. I rather sheepishly flicked back to bridge and all was well in the world again.

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Re: Fender American Strat Professional II: HSS or SSS?

Post by robthemac »

IMOCD wrote: Wed Feb 16, 2022 3:43 pm
robthemac wrote: Wed Feb 16, 2022 3:30 pm
jeremyb wrote: Wed Feb 16, 2022 3:27 pm

I live in positions 4 & 5 on mine, its just such a perfect tone why change?!?!!!
I also hate being heard in the mix.
Lol, that was me at last week's session. Thought I'd give position 4 a spin during a song. I simply disappeared. All of my band mates looked over to me at the same time. I rather sheepishly flicked back to bridge and all was well in the world again.
Don't have that issue with an Esquire, all I'm sayin'....
Jops wrote: Sun Sep 18, 2022 7:46 am Spring is the comic sans of reverbs anyway.

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Re: Fender American Strat Professional II: HSS or SSS?

Post by Bg »

robthemac wrote: Wed Feb 16, 2022 4:25 pm
IMOCD wrote: Wed Feb 16, 2022 3:43 pm
robthemac wrote: Wed Feb 16, 2022 3:30 pm

I also hate being heard in the mix.
Lol, that was me at last week's session. Thought I'd give position 4 a spin during a song. I simply disappeared. All of my band mates looked over to me at the same time. I rather sheepishly flicked back to bridge and all was well in the world again.
Don't have that issue with an Esquire, all I'm sayin'....
Bandmates have bleeding ear drums though....

Tell Knopfler he's not heard in the mix ;) They mix around him. With JB, ok you'd mix to cover him... ;)
So, is that low alcohol or no alcohol at all? mmmm, no alcohol, do you want to try it? Noooooooooo.

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Re: Fender American Strat Professional II: HSS or SSS?

Post by IMOCD »

Miza wrote: Wed Feb 16, 2022 3:07 pm
AiRdAd wrote: Wed Feb 16, 2022 12:32 pm Also consider what you're going to do with pot values etc, as a humbuckers are normally 500 and single coils are usually 250.
I was reading up about this the other night (talk about a rabbit hole!). There's a way you can do it so that one pickup is wired direct to the vol pot, bypassing the tone pot, and somehow it gives the right resistance to all pickups? I forget which way round it was. Maybe a 500k vol + 500k tone = 250k for the single coils?? I could be way off tho.
Obsidian wire have it nailed with their pre-wired HSS kit. :thumbup:

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Re: Fender American Strat Professional II: HSS or SSS?

Post by rickenbackerkid »

Can anyone recommend a single coil size humbucker that will work well alongside Alnico singles? My DiMarzio SD is superb, but it's so hot that it completely ruins the middle/bridge position sound, it's literally unusable. I need fairly thick and fat to play covers with 80's, 90's, 00's distortion levels.

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Re: Fender American Strat Professional II: HSS or SSS?

Post by Bg »

I'm a big fan of the dimarzio cool rails, they don't overpower the standard pups.
So, is that low alcohol or no alcohol at all? mmmm, no alcohol, do you want to try it? Noooooooooo.

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