Fender Strat American Deluxe, HSS OR SSS?
Lester
Jan 27 2011, 03:17 PM
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Hi Guys,

I was planning on buying a Fender strat american deluxe, but I am in doubt if I should go for a version with a humbucker or with single coils only. the single coil- version features 3 noiseles N3 pickups, and the other comes with a fender atomic humbucker.

So, anyone has any experience with this? I like to be able to have some heavier sound, but from what I heard from a single-coil fender strat that a friend of mine owns, they do the job pretty good as well.

These are the ones I'm looking at:

http://www.tonika.nl/shop/Product.asp?p=9102759

http://www.tonika.nl/shop/Product.asp?p=9300731

/Lester

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Bogdan Radovic
Jan 27 2011, 03:50 PM
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Well, if you want fat sound and heavier riffing I would definitely recommend to get one with the humbucker. Single coils just won't do it in the end. You will also get a different pickguard for humbucker configuration so you can easily swap it for something different if needed in the future.

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Adrian Figallo
Jan 27 2011, 03:59 PM
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i would pick the singles strat, i had one in my studio and they ROCK, if you need more "punch" i would go for something different, maybe an sg or a V.

now, how do you define "punch"? i LOVE single coils, i think they got a super aggressive percussive sound, and they cut thru the mix like butter, in fact im taking the FRED humbucker off my flying v and putting a set of bareknuckles p90's smile.gif.

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Daniel Realpe
Jan 27 2011, 04:14 PM
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I think you get the most of a strat with single coils

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Lester
Jan 27 2011, 04:32 PM
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QUOTE (Adrian Figallo @ Jan 27 2011, 03:59 PM) *
i would pick the singles strat, i had one in my studio and they ROCK, if you need more "punch" i would go for something different, maybe an sg or a V.

now, how do you define "punch"? i LOVE single coils, i think they got a super aggressive percussive sound, and they cut thru the mix like butter, in fact im taking the FRED humbucker off my flying v and putting a set of bareknuckles p90's smile.gif.


I love percussive sound, I often (try) to play that way. But I think your strat has some other pick-ups right? do you have any experience with Noiseless N3 ones?

QUOTE
Well, if you want fat sound and heavier riffing I would definitely recommend to get one with the humbucker. Single coils just won't do it in the end. You will also get a different pickguard for humbucker configuration so you can easily swap it for something different if needed in the future.


That's a point to consider too, from my (very little) knowledge on this is that humbuckers aren't exactly fender's specialty, so replacing it with a Dimarzio or Seymour Duncan or something would be possible then I gues...

QUOTE
I think you get the most of a strat with single coils


Why would that be exactly? because that's what they are known for?

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Mudbone
Jan 27 2011, 04:57 PM
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I think the HSS would be your best bet, you just can't get those really heavy tones from a single coil. You can always coil tap the bridge humbucker and get a single coil tone out of it. There are humbuckers that have a punchy tone along with having a moderately fat sound. The HSS has the most versatility - you get that classic Fender sound from the neck and middle pickups and also have the big fat sound from the bridge.

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Fran
Jan 27 2011, 08:32 PM
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HSS is more versatile, but SSS is the "classic" strat setup... Mine is SSS, but I usually play my Ibanez because I miss a humbucker in the bridge. Love the strat anyways smile.gif

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Lester
Jan 28 2011, 01:01 PM
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Thanks guys! I think I'm going for a single coil version, allthough I'll first try both versions in the store ofcourse.

I thought about tweaking the guitar later, add a humbucker if needed, but then again...if the result is dissapointing you can't get the old guitar back.
So, maybe I can add another guitar later on for the heavier sounds if I need it. like a gibson SG for example, always liked those! smile.gif

Thanks everybody for the help! I'll post some pictures once I get it ofcourse and do a review.

Cheers!
Lester

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This post has been edited by Lester: Jan 28 2011, 01:15 PM
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Hardtail
Jan 28 2011, 01:38 PM
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QUOTE (Lester @ Jan 28 2011, 07:01 AM) *
Thanks guys! I think I'm going for a single coil version, allthough I'll first try both versions in the store ofcourse.

I thought about tweaking the guitar later, add a humbucker if needed, but then again...if the result is dissapointing you can't get the old guitar back.
So, maybe I can add another guitar later on for the heavier sounds if I need it. like a gibson SG for example, always liked those! smile.gif

Thanks everybody for the help! I'll post some pictures once I get it ofcourse and do a review.

Cheers!
Lester


Consider going for a "Fat Strat" HH configuration. You can switch between various humbucker configurations or tap them into single-coil modes via the volume knob and 5-way switch. I have the original version of this known as the "big apple" strat and can accomplish every tone I desire from single coil SRV sounds to heavy thick humbucker juices.

Hardtail

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Adrian Figallo
Jan 28 2011, 02:28 PM
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on my experience with strats, the real deal is to get the SSS, you can make humbuckers have "half power" making them "singles", but it is NOT a single coil sound, it sounds a little bit different, but it feels a lot different.

well i love vintage sounds, and maybe that's just a valid opinion for me smile.gif.

also, if you get the SSS you can always replace the bridge with a "half size" humbucker, i have the dimarzio chopper right now on my strat and it rocks, kind off sounds like a p-90 or something.

One more thing is, if you have a powerful humbucker on the bridge and a single on the neck, you will have an "unbalanced" sound, this can be as tiny as a simple gain difference, or as a big as volume difference.

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Lester
Jan 28 2011, 08:27 PM
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QUOTE (Adrian Figallo @ Jan 28 2011, 02:28 PM) *
on my experience with strats, the real deal is to get the SSS, you can make humbuckers have "half power" making them "singles", but it is NOT a single coil sound, it sounds a little bit different, but it feels a lot different.

well i love vintage sounds, and maybe that's just a valid opinion for me smile.gif.

also, if you get the SSS you can always replace the bridge with a "half size" humbucker, i have the dimarzio chopper right now on my strat and it rocks, kind off sounds like a p-90 or something.

One more thing is, if you have a powerful humbucker on the bridge and a single on the neck, you will have an "unbalanced" sound, this can be as tiny as a simple gain difference, or as a big as volume difference.


That makes sense to me also, I love the sound of your strat, I think you just convinced me! smile.gif cool.gif

Thanks for the help everybody!

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Hardtail
Jan 28 2011, 10:55 PM
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QUOTE (Lester @ Jan 28 2011, 02:27 PM) *
That makes sense to me also, I love the sound of your strat, I think you just convinced me! smile.gif cool.gif

Thanks for the help everybody!


It makes sense in writing but I've played the HH strat with enough guys who are using the SSS configuration and they always seem to be drawn to the tone and versatility of my guitar. Just saying.

Hardtail

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Lester
Jan 29 2011, 01:22 AM
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QUOTE (Hardtail @ Jan 28 2011, 10:55 PM) *
It makes sense in writing but I've played the HH strat with enough guys who are using the SSS configuration and they always seem to be drawn to the tone and versatility of my guitar. Just saying.

Hardtail


I'll ask for that one in the store then too so I can try it, I hope they have one though smile.gif thanks for the advice!

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Ivan Milenkovic
Feb 2 2011, 03:11 AM
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It's a fact that Strat is designed as SSS guitar, and if you take out one of it's S coils, you take out some of it's "soul". Humbucker in Strat bridge position will sound defined, but without that much low end, and definitely NOT strat sounding (although the humbucker will inherit some of the Strat's natural twangy/punchy character).

If you want versatility, get yourself HSS strat. Bridge S is great for country and pop solos, you can't beat it, but for everything else, H performs better. You will quickly find that you would like to swap the S bridge for some H, so getting HSS right away is not bad at all. Saves yourself a hassle. Getting SSS is still a good option, cause changing to HSS config is not hard at all. All you need is a HSS mask and good H pup, and you can even do it on your own.

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This post has been edited by Ivan Milenkovic: Feb 2 2011, 03:14 AM


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Praetorian
Feb 2 2011, 03:19 AM
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I would go with the second one...without question!

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Todd Simpson
Feb 2 2011, 03:22 AM
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Not much left to add after reading Ivan's reply. Well said. You can put a Humbucker in but you do change some of the "strat" sound in doing so. You could always coil tap the humbucker and get pretty close.

Todd

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Lester
Feb 4 2011, 07:01 PM
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Sorry, I didn't see these replies until now...thanks for the help guys! smile.gif

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