A few months ago I replaced my '07 Hwy 1 strat pickups with some Seymour Duncan SSL-1's and they sound to shrill. They don't sound as smooth as they did on the demo. Is there something I did or didn't do when I installed them. I love the sound of the 57/62's in my '00 MIM strat and thought the SSL-1's would be as good or better in my Hwy 1. Any ideas before I change them?

Hello Issac Taylor,

I'm thinking a different tone cap and/or pots.
Find out what the demo had under the hood.

Cheers.

I agree with Mr.Bill. What was under the hood of the demo guitar? Change the guts to match. What kind of music are you playing though it?

According to the website:

"application:
Vintage-correct true single-coil for warm instruments. Recommended for country, pop, surf, rockabilly, blues, ska and classic rock."

I hope you are playing one of these types of music? What kind of amp are you playing through? Could be the amp as well.

RK

_________________
RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

So I guess you did not remove the greasebucket circut in the Hwy one. You know it does effect the bass tones and how it is handle via the bridge. Very non traditional strat wiring. The Hwy ones that I have moded for people get a rewire without the greasebucket.

_________________
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

Thanks everyone for your input!! When I changed pickups I did nothing but pull out the Hwy 1's and put in the SSl-1's. So taking out the greasebucket circuit might help? Is it hard to do and is there special wiring to be done?

Can a "novice" do this? I do believe this is my problem because my guitar sounds shrill in any amp I play. Thanks.

Sure anyone could do it by following a wiring diagram. Need soldering iron and such. But I would suggest a tech do it then a setup for you.

_________________
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

If I remove the caps and resistors on the pots will that solve the problem?

You have a different guitar than the one in whatever demo it is you are talking about. That will also affect the outcome.

I don't know about that but my guitar sounds shrill in any amp I play in. Like I said before I took out the '07 Hwy 1 pickups and went back and soldered in the SSL-1's. I pretty much went by sound bites on Duncan's site and all reviews I could find. The sound I'm looking for is a good clean full sound and sweet sound without too much sharpness like a Fender is known for, simular but not the same sound of 57/62's. I believe the greasebucket circuit with these SSL-1's don't go together. Thinking about removing this circuit is it a bad idea?

By the way my amps are an Epiphone Blues Custom 30 and a Fender Stage 160. The SSL-1's sound really bad when playing in the Stage 160, have to lower the treble waaaaay down not as much as on the Epiphone.

Have you looked at the setup in the Hwy one. You have .1 and a .02 disk caps plus what I think is a big part of it the 4.7 film resistors. Pickups are going to sound different with that setup over the more traditional setups. Its designed to be more high gain heavy shred less warm. Pick yourself out a traditional strat setup and wire switch caps and all. Preload a pickguard using your pickups or better yet have it done if you are not comfortable with it.

_________________
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

Your guitar is a different guitar than the one used on the demo. A pickup interacts with the wood and hardware especially the bridge and block. You can take two American Vintage 62's and move the same pickups from guitar to guitar. They won't necessarily sound the same. It depends on the wood. This is to be expected.

My first three Malmsteen Strats had a bassy sound with those HS-3's in there. But my fourth one had a much brighter sound with the exact pickups.