AL SSS advice needed

[Magic Jason]

What replacement pickups would you suggest for an SSS Albert Lee (PDN 2014) ?

I know this matter has been covered but great new pickups from so many great builders keep coming.

I'm thinking about a change because the standard underwound Seymours are a bit "thin" and trebly to my taste.

I'd like to cover clean to classic rocks. In fact, I'd like my AL to have a more "stratty" sound!

I was thinking of the injectors as I liked the presumably similar Dimarzio's in my LukeIII.

But will they work well without the fabulous MM preamp?

I've read and researched the internet a lot but any help or advice would be much appreciated!

Any brand, any technology : I'm listening to you guys!

 

[beej]

"Stratty" is sort a moving target. There have been so many classic strat sounds over the years that differ.

The AL gets that early strat vibe ... I find the stock Duncans have that classic dip in the midrange that sounds great. But of course they're not for everyone and there are about a zillion strat style pickups on the market that also sound great.

If you find them thin, then you probably want more mids- I'd look for something more overwound. (The Suhr ML pickups are great in there and the're hotter.) Lots of good noisefree stuff out there as well. (I haven't tried the Injectors but they have lots of good reviews.)

 

[Magic Jason]

Thanks Beej!!!! C'mon guys, help me out!!!

 

[Samoht]

Thanks Beej!!!! C'mon guys, help me out!!!

I love the stock AL SSS pups, so I'm not a great person to ask, but I recommend Zexcoil pickups, specifically his Texas Blues Set. If you've ever seen any of the Texas Blues Alley videos on youtube, you've probably seen Anthony play this Zexcoil set. They can cover lots of ground. The great thing about Zexcoil is that you can call Dr. Scott Lawing and tell him what you're looking for and he'll help you get there. The pickups aren't cheap, but they're also naturally silent with no dummy coils and no 9v battery.

Like beej said, lots and lots of great options. I've heard great things about Fralin, Suhr, and Grosh.

 

[sanderhermans]

I find that dimarzio makes some excellent single coils too! Ive got a tele neck pickup from them in one of my guitars and that is one of the greatest and most sillent i've ever heard, i dont know what type it is since the previous owner installed it. However it has good output while it remains verry smooth.
The 2 single coils in my luke 3 sound verry cool too. And again, verry low on noise with plenty of output (even without the pre-amp) thes are a bit more articulate than the one in the tele.
There are really too manny options in pickups! That why i limit myself to duncan and dimarzio when i need something new, they are good price/quality and they both have enough options to choose from. I know there are other and better but its just impossible to check everything out....

 

[DrewH]

YJM Furys.... thank me later

 

[DrKev]

Bill Lawrence L-280 are great (beej has them in an AL). A student of mine put Fender noiseless in his strat and they sound fantastic (don't remember which model though I think they were Vintage Noiseless and might require 500KΩ pots). I'm thinking of DiMarzio noiseless for my Silhouette Special.

 

[Magic Jason]

YJM Furys.... thank me later

ThanKs already but I'm afraid these will be WAAAAAY too hot for me!

The original seymour are underwound so a slightly overwound would do!

 

[DrewH]

ThanKs already but I'm afraid these will be WAAAAAY too hot for me!

The original seymour are underwound so a slightly overwound would do!

Misconception. They are actually classified as medium output. They aren't fire breathers. The tone is FAT and very smooth.

 

[luiscesaripad]

Take a look at the zexcoil pickups

 

[kimonostereo]

While I think the AL is the closest EBMM guitar to a strat, it doesn't sound like many strats I've owned. It might be the size of the body or the shortness of the headstock that gives it a slightly different sound. I've had more than a few single coil swaps in my SSS Al:
- D. Allen Johnny Blades (Johnny Hiland signature pickups. At least it was for a while.)
- Original set of Fletcher/Landau pickups (now known as the Michael Landu model)
- Fishman Fluence single width. These sounded great, but wanted to try...

Lindy Fralin Woodstock '69 pickups which I've had sitting around for years in a drawer. I really liked these pickups in my old strat so I kept them around and finally tried them in the Al. These pickups are wound like a left handed pickup going into a right handed guitar. The pole pieces are also reversed. Lindy Fralin does not list these as a standard pickup model, but I'm pretty sure you can still purchase them.

What's strange is that I tried to wire them according to the Fralin wiring diagram and I got a lot of buzzing on the 2 and 4 positions. I swapped the leads and the buzzing went away. I wonder if they even reversed the black and white wires? Anyway, these sound great in the Al and I think I'll stick with these for now. It's got my idealized "strat" sound. YMMV.

 

[Magic Jason]

Take a look at the zexcoil pickups

I will and while they might sound cool, they also visually match well with the AL...

 

[Magic Jason]

- D. Allen Johnny Blades (Johnny Hiland signature pickups. At least it was for a while.)
- Original set of Fletcher/Landau pickups (now known as the Michael Landu model)
- Fishman Fluence single width. These sounded great, but wanted to try...

Thanks... What about these pickups??? plus and cons???

 

[kimonostereo]

Hi Jason,

They all sounded good, but not all of them sounded they way I wanted.
The D. Allen Johnny Blades were very good and hum free. They are a cross between a strat and a humbucker.
A good demo here:

I might add, that I don't think you can purchase these pickups any longer.

The Fletcher/Landau set was great, but I ended up putting them into my homemade strat, so I still really like these.
The Landau set is supposedly the exact same pickups as the Fletcher Landau set.

The Fishman Fluence are very interesting and have a lot of different sounds in one set. This set sounded very straty in the AL after you find the sweet spot for pickup height. The added bonus of pulling up on the control pot to get a hotter sound was very cool. You can even wire up one of the optional leads to get some cut some of the high end if it's too hi-fi for your taste. One cool thing about using these in the Al, is that it already has a compartment for the battery so no need to purchase the battery backplate.

In the end, I decided to try the Fralin Woodstocks and I've stuck with them since I'm too lazy to take the AL apart and resolder everything again. LOL!

 

[Samoht]

I will and while they might sound cool, they also visually match well with the AL...

Good point! Give Dr. Lawing a call if you're interested. His personal playing style covers the same territory you mentioned: clean to classic rock. Let me add that you may want to look specifically at the Zexcoil Convertible strat pickups. You add a series/parrallel toggle and you can go from the cleanest single coil to a meaty, dark humbucker....no hum either way. Here's an example demo vid of the Zexcoil Convertible strat pickups:

 

[beej]

Funny that most of the suggestions are for non-traditional strat pickups (i.e. hum cancelling).

 

[canuck6string]

Fender Tex Mex for that warmer blues, yet Stratty by default. And affordable. DiMarzio's True Velvet line sounds good in the Silo Special. Affordable as well. I'm a fan of Rob DiStefano (Cavalier Pickups) who does custom winds. And there's a winder in British Columbia, Mike Reilander of Reilander Pickups, that makes well reviewed and very affordable single coils.

For something full, fat and Strat, Bryan Gunsher of BG Pups makes a great single coil sized P90 separate or as a set. All of these run about $150 U.S. per set or less except the p90 type. I think they are a bit more, but not ridiculous.

 

[LawDaddy]

I've swapped out many different sets. Currently enjoying the Seymour Duncan Antiquity Surfer set with the custom bridge.

Other fave is D. Allens Tru '54 set.

Next set might be D. Allen's Voodo Blues set.

Give David a call, he gives good phone.

 

[Samoht]

I've swapped out many different sets. Currently enjoying the Seymour Duncan Antiquity Surfer set with the custom bridge.

Other fave is D. Allens Tru '54 set.

Next set might be D. Allen's Voodo Blues set.

Give David a call, he gives good phone.

I've also heard good things about David Allen. Also Bill Lawrence (which company is really Bill Lawrence's pickups?)

Honestly, there's only one pickup maker I have heard more negative than positive things about. Lots of great makers doing cool things while giving great customer service.

Personally, I love the journey of finding the tone I want in my guitar of choice. There are many single coils that have been mentioned here that I have yet to try and am curious about.

 

[DrKev]

Also Bill Lawrence (which company is really Bill Lawrence's pickups?)

Wilde by Bill Lawrence are the real ones.