Suhr SSV with a little more output?

warlockII

warlockII

Fractal Fanatic
I got together with a buddy of mine who has increadible live tone with his Dirty Shirley amp...funny thing was how similar my main BE patch was when I kicked off the drive pedal. The biggest surprise for me was how much I enjoyed playing his suhr with SSV in the bridge position. To put this in context I mostly use Dimarzio Super Distortion as my bridge pickup. He also had a warmouth with an Thornbucker. To MY ears, the Thornbucker sounded a little nasal compared to the SSV. When I read the descriptions of the SSV plus it is brighter which I don't think I'd dig. Is there a Suhr (or other brand) pickup that would have similar tone and openness of the SSV but with a little more output? I'm assuming the new Thornbucker II would have simlar tonality to the Thornbucker. I have a Doug Aldrich set, but it is way too JB sounding to my ears so they are just sitting in a drawer.
 
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You might want to check-out the SSH (not +). I found the SSH to be a little hotter and warmer than the SSV. I ended-up with a TB+, but it’s a mahogany body/neck guitar.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys! From reading the descriptions, I thought the SSH would have been brighter than the SSV so your feedback gives me hope. Did you notice the tone difference that I mentioned between the SSV and TB?
 
I have an SSV+ in the bridge position of my custom built Suhr Standard. It is a great pickup and very versatile. I have used this guitar for many gigs in a cover band that covers a lot of ground for guitar tones.
 
JasonE said:
I have an SSV+ in the bridge position of my custom built Suhr Standard. It is a great pickup and very versatile. I have used this guitar for many gigs in a cover band that covers a lot of ground for guitar tones.
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Do you have any experience with other Suhr buckers to compare it with?
 
warlockII said:
Do you have any experience with other Suhr buckers to compare it with?
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I have an SSV in a Classic Pro and Aldrich in a custom built Modern. I like the SSV+ the best of the three. However, the SSV is not bad. The wood of the body is different in that guitar. That one is Alder. My Standard is mahogany with a maple cap so that makes things a little tougher to A/B.
 
JasonE said:
I have an SSV in a Classic Pro and Aldrich in a custom built Modern. I like the SSV+ the best of the three. However, the SSV is not bad. The wood of the body is different in that guitar. That one is Alder. My Standard is mahogany with a maple cap so that makes things a little tougher to A/B.
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I agree different guitars make it harder to do a diffinitive A/B. Tone-wise, would you say the SSV+ is closer to the SSV or Aldrich? I'm more interested in eq than gain level.
 
warlockII said:
Thanks for the feedback guys! From reading the descriptions, I thought the SSH would have been brighter than the SSV so your feedback gives me hope. Did you notice the tone difference that I mentioned between the SSV and TB?
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The SSH is slightly warmer than the SSV, and definitely warmer than the TB, which I find fairly bright.
 
I’m a bit of a Suhr nut. I have the Thornbuckers in an LP, SSV & SSV+ in a couple of Warmoths, and an SSH in my Suhr Custom Standard. To my ears the SSV is the brightest, the SSV+ is a touch warmer with a bit more push, the SSH is a different sound. More lower mids but still articulate. I love the Thornbuckers in my LP but not so much in a 25.5” strat style guitar.
I have a Super Distortion in a Jackson PC1. It’s thicker and much louder than any of the Suhr pickups I have.
 
Thank you to everyone who replied here! No I need to either sell my Aldrich set or see if I can find someone willing to trade and see if I can be happy with the suggested Suhr pickups in my guitars.
Thanks again!!!
 
Another Thornbucker user! I have both TB and TB+ in almost identical guitars one being a trem. I would agree that the TB are a tad bright but cut like a knife in a mix! The TB+ has that little extra when it comes to bite but over all they sound pretty similar when it comes to EQ. I like a vintage pup sound and I am of the camp that if it's not there you cant put it back but you can always take it out.
 
Sixstring said:
Another Thornbucker user! I have both TB and TB+ in almost identical guitars one being a trem. I would agree that the TB are a tad bright but cut like a knife in a mix! The TB+ has that little extra when it comes to bite but over all they sound pretty similar when it comes to EQ. I like a vintage pup sound and I am of the camp that if it's not there you cant put it back but you can always take it out.
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If I hadn't played it right after the SSV, I might have liked it. The SSV just sounded more open and full. It will be interesting to see if the Thornbucker II has the same general tone or if it is fuller/less nasally.
 
warlockII said:
If I hadn't played it right after the SSV, I might have liked it. The SSV just sounded more open and full. It will be interesting to see if the Thornbucker II has the same general tone or if it is fuller/less nasally.
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It's definitely hotter and has a similar EQ! You also might look at the Thornbucker II which to my understanding is like the Thornbucker + but with an Anico 2 mag.

 
warlockII said:
I have a SSV+ on the way. Hopefully I can find a SSH and a thornbucker II if it doesn't float my boat as the "bright" comments on the SSV+ has me a little worried.
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I have been thinking on doing a switch to the TB II. The + in my CT6 is a tad on the harsh side though to be fair I think I have it a little too close to the strings. Going to be messing with it this week to see if I can tame it a little.
 
Due to family in town, I've only been able to spend a very short amount of time with the SSV+. In my Les Paul with the Tone know rolled down to about 5, it's pretty cool. Time will tell if it's a keeper or just a step in the right direction.
 
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