Strat owners….

I splurged on a Suhr Classic S this summer with the HSS setup--and it does not suffer from the big volume jump when switching to the bridge bucker.

However, it's wired with a little voodoo as you can see in the pic below. I know they use a 'SuperSwitch' as well as some extra resistors to make the magic happen, but there's no reason such a wiring arrangement couldn't be adapted to your Strat. Unfortunately, Suhr doesn't publish a wiring diagram (though I'm sure there are some out there on the 'net somewhere).

View attachment 86215

That resistor and capacitor at the volume pot is the bleeding circuit. No voodoo; it is a well known RC Filter. It is used to avoid losing treble when rolling down the volume. It doesn't help to balance the volume between pickups.
 
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I found that the stock pickups in my fender player HSS strats were reasonably even across the board.

I have a lot of humbuckers, so my next strat will be SSS (my last one was as well).

Hilariously, I have a set of nocaster type tele pickups and the bridge is quite hot compared to the neck. That said, I've never checked the wiring on it.
 
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My solution to the HSS volume issue: L45S, L45S, L90-4H. The 5-way super switch automagically switches the bridge pickup to parallel in all but the bridge-only spot, where its status is controlled by a toggle switch. In parallel, the bridge pickup puts out about the same as the singles, and in series, it is about 6dB louder....
 
I splurged on a Suhr Classic S this summer with the HSS setup--and it does not suffer from the big volume jump when switching to the bridge bucker.

However, it's wired with a little voodoo as you can see in the pic below. I know they use a 'SuperSwitch' as well as some extra resistors to make the magic happen, but there's no reason such a wiring arrangement couldn't be adapted to your Strat. Unfortunately, Suhr doesn't publish a wiring diagram (though I'm sure there are some out there on the 'net somewhere).

View attachment 86215
I've got that diagram.
 
Here it is;
View attachment 86222
This wiring is actually about getting the pot value correct for both the single coil and the humbucker.
Single sees 250K and the Hb sees 500K. Normaly you have to make a compromise.
It also auto coil splits in position 4.
Correct for an older Suhr Classic S that also doesn't have the SSCII system. The newer ones don't autosplit, so they only use one resistor (1M) and a different treble bleed.
 
Thanks, I don't often use it. Also I'm not a fan of the SSCII I think it takes some tone with it . I like my single coils in all their PITA glory.
Do you mean the little system that's big as a battery? I can't really tell that's doing anything to the tone. Never tried the old system that was routed in a canal around the pickups, might be a different story with that one.
 
Do you mean the little system that's big as a battery? I can't really tell that's doing anything to the tone. Never tried the old system that was routed in a canal around the pickups, might be a different story with that one.
Is the new one available to buy as an accessory? Or does it only come in their guitars?
 
For Stats, I'm typically in the SSS or HH camp. Mixing and matching pickup types always ends up being a compromise on some level that usually leaves me wanting. If I want single coil tone, I grab a single coil guitar. If I want humbucker tone, I grab a humbucker guitar. It's just simpler that way.
 
For Stats, I'm typically in the SSS or HH camp. Mixing and matching pickup types always ends up being a compromise on some level that usually leaves me wanting. If I want single coil tone, I grab a single coil guitar. If I want humbucker tone, I grab a humbucker guitar. It's just simpler that way.
But sometimes you want both :)
 
Problem solved... except for the backache...
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:p
 
I like my single coils in all their PITA glory.
Yeah, me too. I tried several variations of stacked and narrow humbuckers and none sounded like single coils so they got pulled out.

Most places I play have decent wiring so they don’t pick up much noise. If they do that’s what positions 2 and 4 are for. I grew up listening to Clapton’s early solo albums and love those in-between sounds.
 
There is no rule that humbuckers have to use 500K pots and single coils have to use 250K. If you have a HSS strat and your bridge pickup is too bright, a 250K pot will help to tame it.

If you're just after basic sounds, then a loud bridge pickup can work for solos, while the neck & middle pickups work for rhythm. But I much prefer to be able to use any pickup for any purpose, so that means using a lower output bridge humbucker. I use a Seymour Duncan Seth Lover at the bridge which is not bright at all - the singe coils are way brighter, but it works for me. You can hear the sounds and balance here:

1st verse is neck pickup, 2nd verse is bridge (starts at 1:25)
 
Do you mean the little system that's big as a battery? I can't really tell that's doing anything to the tone. Never tried the old system that was routed in a canal around the pickups, might be a different story with that one.
I find anything that cancels the hum takes other things with it. Some are a lot better than others and I appreciate there are times when it can be a problem to run real SC. Thats why David Gilmour played EMGs for so long. He went back to single coils when PA got a lot better.
 
There is no rule that humbuckers have to use 500K pots and single coils have to use 250K. If you have a HSS strat and your bridge pickup is too bright, a 250K pot will help to tame it.

If you're just after basic sounds, then a loud bridge pickup can work for solos, while the neck & middle pickups work for rhythm. But I much prefer to be able to use any pickup for any purpose, so that means using a lower output bridge humbucker. I use a Seymour Duncan Seth Lover at the bridge which is not bright at all - the singe coils are way brighter, but it works for me. You can hear the sounds and balance here:

1st verse is neck pickup, 2nd verse is bridge (starts at 1:25)

The Seth is a PAF and at 8.3K a good match for single coils , it's bright with the right value pot.
 
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Here it is;
View attachment 86222
This wiring is actually about getting the pot value correct for both the single coil and the humbucker.
Single sees 250K and the Hb sees 500K. Normaly you have to make a compromise.
It also auto coil splits in position 4.

I just finished a controls upgrade on my Strat based on this schematic. 500k on the bridge volume and 250k on the singles, likewise on the tones. The bridge is a Duncan P-Rail. The middle and neck are Classic Stacks. No auto split. I used 2 Fender S1 switches to switch the P-Rail modes. Has a small toggle switch to add the neck to the bridge, and a treble bleed on the volume. This guitar makes a LOT of good tones. The bridge has a little more juice than the singles but I’m ok with that.

I’m a big fan of the P-rails. I put a set on my PRS and it went from thinking about trading to my #1.
 
I like the SD Alnico II Pro's as well for a HSS geetar.
Haven't tried the '59 with SC's though but I suspect it might work as well.
 
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