Seymour Duncan SSL-5 Custom Staggered Pole Neck/Bridge/Middle Strat Single Coil

6 years ago I bought as used Mexican Strat. The hum coming off those pickups was ridiculous regardless of gain. I got sick of it quickly and put in a competitor's set of noiseless pickups which I've enjoyed for several years. Two years ago I bought a gutted Epiphone Les Paul for 30 bucks, and put the Jazz/JB combo in it during the build and was floored at the tone quality. So much so that I swapped the Telecaster vintage set into my Tele. Floored once more... and it was dead silent. The hum was actually there, but you had to stack every overdrive I had and boost the front end of my Marshall to hear it.So that's the backstory leading up to the SSL-5. I was on the fence because I did not want the crazy hum level to come back. I took the plunge on a set of SSL-1 neck, SSL-1 middle, SSL-5 bridge. I got them installed last night and they're simply amazing. The bridge SSL-5 has a wonderful wide mid presence, thick but not syrup. And most of all, the hum is totally minimal. It is indeed there, but it's night and day better than the stock Mexican pickups from years ago. Very, very tolerable and the tones are just brilliant, clean or gain.I've got a Fuzz Factory, a Green Rhino, an OCD, a DS-1 that I have configured to provide dirt, and it sounds fantastic on all of them. I use a Soul Food at the end of the preamp stage of my board set clean with the volume dimed to slam the front end of my Marshall, and it's also just stellar. Great tones, mnimal noise.

Fender players make sure it’s wired right. It’s a great sounding, high sustain pickup that’s worth every penny.

This is an amazingly powerful pickup! Wow! Harmonics everywhere and super high output! Love it for rock! Way too strong for a lot of situations depending on your attack, amp settings, song choice, etc. Great for Pink Floyd Gilmour tones! Only complain is that it's not the style in the picture, it's the style with the wires coming out the sides of the pickup so the single coil cover doesn't fit down to the base which makes it look odd because the pole pieces don't stick out of the plastic as far as they should. Doesn't effect sound and isn't noticeable unless up close so I'm keeping it and using it as is. I'm going to try cutting slots into the plastic for the wires and see if that works better. You can see in the picture I attached that the wire is under the white plastic near the screw holes so the cover won't fight right without cutting the cover some.

I wish I had gotten the SSL-6 for my guitar, which is the flat polepiece model which is suggested for the 9.5" modern fretboard radius. When my selector switch is in the bridge and middle position, I notice a distinct drop in volume on the 5th string. I don't know for sure, but I believe it's because of the recessed 5th polepiece. No amount of angling the pickup with restore balance. Otherwise. It sounds great. It's totally David Gilmour in a box.Edit: I've had this in my guitar for a while now, and I'm upgrading my review. The pickup sounds amazing. It's the perfect middle ground between a humbucker and single coil. It's midrangey, but not harsh. It can sound extremely sweet. The 5th string volume thing still bothers me and I might still sub in an SSL-6, but this is not a 3 star pickup. It's probably a 5 star pickup (but again, the string balance thing).

Nice pickup for the bridge has a good amount of treble, but not too much!

and it sounds fine there. I guess I just prefer a HSS strat setup. In the neck position though, this sounds very full and wonderful compared to the SSL-1 I normally have in the neck. I'd have no problem putting a set of these in a guitar. Sounds like a strat, just a fuller and better.

Great pickup, but no surprise its a Seymour Duncan. This PU is like a P-90 pickup, thick balanced tone.

I gave the SSL-5 a try in my Strat and found it muddy and dark no matter what height setting. I found that the Seymour Duncan Lil59 and the JB Jr both were more suitable for my needs than the SSL5. Both have more top end and bottom end, a much smoother response, and a ton more power. The SSL-5 was worth a try, but isn't near as good as it's supposed reputation. At least not for me.