Yes I’ll just swap the pickups and keep everything else.
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Cutlass SSS 2016 pickup swap
- Thread starter jellodog
- Start date
Years later, I decided to swap my Lollar neck pickup (again!) for a Suhr V63+ sounds great! The Lollar was also very nice, but I wanted to try a little more mids in the neck.
But that's not why I'm posting.
I'm posting because I've read many times that a 2016 SSS Cutlass would not be routed for HSS, so I've always thought a humbucker on this guitar was not possible. That made me a little sad.
And yet, opening the guitar up again, here's what I found:
That looks like it'll take a humbucker right?
Is this what the later HSS route looks like or is this bridge cavity too shallow?
Can't believe I didn't notice this last time, but I was too focussed on the single coil wiring.
I'm wondering now if I should order an HSS pickguard and go for it. But presumably I'd need a new circuit board too, so that the humbucker would have a 500k pot load swapped in, unlike my 250k SSS circuit. One drawback to having everything on a board.
But that's not why I'm posting.
I'm posting because I've read many times that a 2016 SSS Cutlass would not be routed for HSS, so I've always thought a humbucker on this guitar was not possible. That made me a little sad.
And yet, opening the guitar up again, here's what I found:
That looks like it'll take a humbucker right?
Is this what the later HSS route looks like or is this bridge cavity too shallow?
Can't believe I didn't notice this last time, but I was too focussed on the single coil wiring.
I'm wondering now if I should order an HSS pickguard and go for it. But presumably I'd need a new circuit board too, so that the humbucker would have a 500k pot load swapped in, unlike my 250k SSS circuit. One drawback to having everything on a board.
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beej
Moderator
Neat! Ok that's good to know.
Pretty sure the PCB is the same but the pots are different (from all the images I've seen). You could solder something else in there. Or pick a humbucker that works with 250k pots. Or wire it up passively.
Pretty sure the PCB is the same but the pots are different (from all the images I've seen). You could solder something else in there. Or pick a humbucker that works with 250k pots. Or wire it up passively.
It'd be desirable to keep the silent circuit for the single coils.
I suppose I could place a 250k resistor in parallel with the 250k volume pot only when the bridge pickup is selected so the humbucker will see a 500k pot?
I don't really care about the position 2 quack sound so much, I mostly use neck and bridge pickups.
DrKev
Moderator
No, you can put a 500k resistor in parallel with the pickup and a 500k pot to see 250k. You can only reduce, not increase.
The latest SSS -> HSS swap turned really well except for one unexpected hiccup - didn't realise the pots were mini pots with very long shafts!
My replacement pots are full size, so there was no space for them on the Cutlass circuit board. Whoops.
In the end I mounted the new pots on the pickguard side of the circuit board, attached directly to the pickguard same as any other guitar and ran wires to the preamp. No big deal, just not what I was planning.
Anyway, I added 500k pots and a 560k resistor across the Neck and Middle pickup selectors to dump half the load to ground as per the Cutlass HSS schematic.
BIG shout out to Pickguard Heaven for supplying the aftermarket HSS EBMM pickguard and sending it across the Atlantic to the UK.
Very happy with the results though! That's a Suhr Asatobucker with raw nickel cover, 53mm spacing. Suhr v63+ in the neck.
My replacement pots are full size, so there was no space for them on the Cutlass circuit board. Whoops.
In the end I mounted the new pots on the pickguard side of the circuit board, attached directly to the pickguard same as any other guitar and ran wires to the preamp. No big deal, just not what I was planning.
Anyway, I added 500k pots and a 560k resistor across the Neck and Middle pickup selectors to dump half the load to ground as per the Cutlass HSS schematic.
BIG shout out to Pickguard Heaven for supplying the aftermarket HSS EBMM pickguard and sending it across the Atlantic to the UK.
Very happy with the results though! That's a Suhr Asatobucker with raw nickel cover, 53mm spacing. Suhr v63+ in the neck.
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