Fender Ultra Strats - HSS vs SSS for Axe FX III?

cloud mountains said:
First about me: I play a 2018 Les Paul HP into my AXE FX III, coil-tapped/split to all single coils mode, playing primarily jazz, rock-jazz fusion and Eric Johnson, Jeff Beck style, with heavy Mclaughlin and Metheny influences. I don't use a pick, I use my fingers to play.

I had a chance to play an open-box Fender American Ultra SSS thru my Axe FX III and was blown out of my chair. The true single coils (noiseless) sounded fantastic thru all my my favorite amps on the Axe. I thought it was an absolute PERFECT match for the Axe FX III. I returned the open-box item and am contemplating buying a fresh new Ultra.

But then there is the Ultra HSS, that has a humbucker in the bridge(which I will not use), and the 3 single coils are listed as 'Hot' versions of the noiseless pups. Has anyone played it thru the Axe FX III? I absolutely loved the SSS, and wonder if the HSS 'Hot' single coils will push the clean presets like the 'EJ Clean' into distortion when I don't want them to. I realize I have complete control over the guitar and input volume controls, etc., but just curious if anyone has first-hand experience.

Anyone who has experience with the Ultra HSS or SSS, please feel free to chime in with advice and also to tell me how your Ultra sounds thru the FX III.

Thanks!
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Well, only have the FM3, because it fills my needs. But my Ultra SSS sounds fantastic. A good example, is try Burgs Rig 102. He shared patches for the III nd the FM3.
Sounds amazing, imho. .................................
 
Stratman68 said:
Well, only have the FM3, because it fills my needs. But my Ultra SSS sounds fantastic. A good example, is try Burgs Rig 102. He shared patches for the III nd the FM3.
Sounds amazing, imho. .................................
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Yes, I think Suhr is pushing Fender to achieve better and better Strat technology. I agree the Ultra SSS does sound fantastic.
 
cloud mountains said:
First about me: I play a 2018 Les Paul HP into my AXE FX III, coil-tapped/split to all single coils mode, playing primarily jazz, rock-jazz fusion and Eric Johnson, Jeff Beck style, with heavy Mclaughlin and Metheny influences. I don't use a pick, I use my fingers to play.

I had a chance to play an open-box Fender American Ultra SSS thru my Axe FX III and was blown out of my chair. The true single coils (noiseless) sounded fantastic thru all my my favorite amps on the Axe. I thought it was an absolute PERFECT match for the Axe FX III. I returned the open-box item and am contemplating buying a fresh new Ultra.

But then there is the Ultra HSS, that has a humbucker in the bridge(which I will not use), and the 3 single coils are listed as 'Hot' versions of the noiseless pups. Has anyone played it thru the Axe FX III? I absolutely loved the SSS, and wonder if the HSS 'Hot' single coils will push the clean presets like the 'EJ Clean' into distortion when I don't want them to. I realize I have complete control over the guitar and input volume controls, etc., but just curious if anyone has first-hand experience.

Anyone who has experience with the Ultra HSS or SSS, please feel free to chime in with advice and also to tell me how your Ultra sounds thru the FX III.

Thanks!
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I've owned the Ultra sss and hss. I didn't gel with the pickups in the hss; the humbucker or hotter singlecoils. I sold the hss, but the sss is a keeper. I swapped the stock pickguard for a black one.
 

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cloud mountains said:
Very cool!!
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Thanks! I had a set of Suhr MLs in this guitar and sold-off the stock PUs. Later decided I let go of the stock PUS too hastily, so bought a loaded pickguard from Stratosphere. I'm glad I was able to swap back. I dig the sound of those Fender pickups and like that they're noiseless.
 
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I've never played an HSS guitar where the H balanced well with the Ss, or sounded great in single coil mode. I've also never played noiseless single coils that sounded like real single coils.

I've wished mightily for both those things though, so if you've got one live in your hand that does any of that and flips your beanie, get it. Don't mistake marketing words for reality though, play the thing.
 
cloud mountains said:
Good point. I know this is really true. But the strings were higher than Fender's standards, and some pick marks, a ding in the paint. I have no idea what was done to this guitar by someone else. But I hear you, every guitar is different, and if it sounded that good regardless of its history, I may need to grab it.
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I don’t care about the manufacturer’s standard setups, but if it is high for your tastes, string height is easily fixable with a basic setup (which every guitar I’ve ever bought, even my Eric Johnson Strat, needed). The one thing to be mindful of is to adjust the pickup height after the setup. Decreasing the distance between the strings and pickups (by lowering the strings) will affect the sound and might lose some of what you like. That is also an easy fix (just turn those screws with a screwdriver), although it can be tricky to get the distance exactly where it was before (then again, maybe you will find a setting you like more).

Pickmarks... they’re gonna happen anyways.
Ding in the paint... up to you to judge how big of a deal that is and whether it will bother you.
 
Don’t make the same mistake I did and buy a bunch of different guitars that are all very similar, and even put similar or the same pickups in all of them. Happened slowly over a long time so didn’t really notice till I had a bunch of guitars that all did the same thing more or less. Sigh.

Buy a SSS strat for that unique sound it produces. Wish I would have.
 
Single is single and 'bucker is 'bucker and never the twain shall meet, lol. I've got SSS guitars and HH guitars that I like. I've yet to play an HSS guitar that I really liked. (And I have owned several.) Considering the styles of music you said you like to play, I'd say get with the SSS guitar. You already have the HH camp well represented.
 
cloud mountains said:
...Anyone who has experience with the Ultra HSS ...

Thanks!
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I have one. It's a fun guitar. Easy to play, stays in tune, kind of weighty, though. The pickups are good but to my ears are a little 'safe' ... a little neutral, perhaps. But I enjoy it and haven't sold it yet so that's saying something. Here's a video I made with it when it first arrived. My playing style is a galaxy away from yours (going by your description) but this may help. All Axe-FX III.



And here's another that's probably not up your street at all, but I leave it here for your reference anyway.

 
@TG3K Suhr balances hum and singles well but yeah, I'd rather have SSS or HH. The Thornbuckers split nicely for an HH but not quite like a real single coil.
My Suhr has the Devin Townsend fluence with the tele sound as the other voice and it's probably the best way to get kind of a best of both worlds.
 
I prefer to have my Strats both ways. Sometimes I love the HB in the bridge. Sometimes I don't. Sometimes I like the HB and the middle to be all on at the same time. If you're not gonna use the HB, don't bother.
 
with a humbucker you can play many more music genre, not only metal . Dont have the noise, dont have the extra high and very trebly sound ... you have the 2 and 4 position of the strat ... HsH is even better :)
 
Make sure you buy the new one from a place that has a return policy and inspect it like crazy. I bough a new American Elite Telecaster and while it was a beauty the volume knob just kept spinning and the ebony fretboard had cracks and crevices all over it right out of the box. It was obvious the guitar was neither set up or inspected properly at multiple levels. Not what I expected from a $1700.00 guitar.
 
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I have tried a ton of Strats and couldn't bond with any of them, including the various Deluxe, Ultra, noiseless iterations. They never sounded right or Stratty enough. Had a couple Jeff Becks. I finally tried an Eric Johnson Strat with rosewood board. It's a keeper for me. SSS. It's a Strat. HSS just isn't right, nor is noiseless. Lol.
 
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