IS HSS THE BEST PICKUP CONFIGURATION? | VERSATILITY AND TONE OPINION/RANT | MY MODDED STRATOCASTERS 

I was NOT prepared for that beefiness when you rolled into that first riff. Hot damn

"And who doesn't love an El Camino?" I'm loving the Sloppy Joe channel!

You explained this very well. I was debating getting an HsH or an Hss, but you've convinced me.

thanks man. this was really helpful. now I know HSS is exactly what I'm looking for.

Dope af vid my dude. Looking forward to watching more content from you.

I’m building a HSS strat right now , great video , lots of good info and playing 👍

I have a tele with HSS, a 5 way, and coil tap, so 7 total tones. Its so versatile

Great stuff Joe. Just what I needed.

This answered all my questions and more. Wow! Thank you. I might just get the setup you have with a obsidian wire solderless kit and stop worrying about what goes well together.

This video is so damn helpful! Thank you for posting. I have a Godin Exit-22 with a HSS pickup layout - maple & rosewood neck + fretboard, mahogany body, action is tight and crisp, and it just plays beautifully. It's so versatile. BUT the stock pickups are just a little lackluster. I love everything else about that guitar. I've been trying to decide what to replace them with, and thanks to your video, I have a pretty good picture of how to proceed. I was looking at Bare Knuckle's lineup and they actually have a list of recommended HSS combos on their FAQ page.

a friend of mine recommended me a Pacifica 112v for the same reason. No regret. Still can play metal on it.

I'm an HSS man myself. I currently have two Fender Stratocasters in HSS. One is a 2007 Lonestar with a Pearly Gates Plus humbucker( alnico 5 ) and two Texas Special single coils. This thing rocks and rolls!

Beautiful job man! The white strat with the bare knuckles man…. Gold😢. Your man, Duncan set that up well!!! I just got an hss strat today!

I’m in the process of choosing an HSS setup for my strat right now, and from bare knuckle no less lol. I’m not going quite this hot with them, but I don’t want pure vintage either, somewhere in between I’m thinking. Awesome video btw, very helpful and timely for me personally.

I just ordered a Nailbomb, and the two trilogy suites for my baritone strat. I'm happy to know they will work well together. I kind of took a leap of faith hoping they'd sound good. I also got the bare knuckle 550 and 280k pots.

Joe, your videos are very user friendly. Easy to follow, information is accurate, and on point

I cracked tf up when you played that first riff, you would’ve thought that was a ESP running through a rectifier 😂

thats a great sound man

Thank you for the thourough explantion of the electronics, something I need to learn more about. Looking to get an HSS, & this video was the most helpful one I've found. New subscriber.

I've got the SSS noiseless configuration in my new player plus in Olympic pearl, with a tortoiseshell pickguard. I freaking love the way it looks and sounds. It's my new #1.

good god almighty. was not expecting that much chug from a strat, like ever. i was gifted an HSS pickguard with singles from a 62 and a dimarzio humbucker.

Great video man. I’m fixing to buy me a paoletti strat style guitar, and I think I’m gonna try the HSS style

I got a mim hss strat and it rocks.

I put Fralin Blues single coils and Pure P.A.F. humbucker in my strat with volume kit, half blender pot, and split coil capabilities and it turned out incredible. Considering I'm mostly a home/bedroom guitarist, this one guitar is plenty for me bc of its incredible versatility and will easily play any genre I like and sound good doing so!

great video, helpful when deciding, thanks.

Thanks joe ! God bless bro

10:18 came for the configuration, stayed for the riff 🤘🤘🤘

I bought a squier strat and an epiphone les paul and I think I'm happy with two guitars.

HSS or HSH is actually the best real world combination. That said, I am not ruining my vintage SSS Strat routes anytime soon.

Just bought an American Special HSS used for $700 and a 25 year old Johnson Marquis JM60 amp which was the first ever Modeling amp that used a Tube in the Preamp. “12ax7”. 18 different amplifier models, 3 effects at once with 3 different reverb effects and a host of Modulation, Pitch, Detune, Chorus, Flange, Phase, you name it, all of which can be stored into its bank. 60 watts with an Eminence Speaker. Also the Output Is powered so adding a Cabinet sends another 60 watts to you and makes it Stereo, thickening the sound. Picked that amp up for 175 bucks off an old stoner. Im pretty sure i just got the most versatile set-up known to man.

I put an gold anodized hss pickguard on my sss fender strat. I put an 57 gibson hb at the bridge with about 8k output and 2 handwound sc about 6k output. It sound great with 2 volume pots. 1 250k pot that controls the sc and 1 500k pot for the hb. The tone pot is a 250k master tone and works on all pickups. Really versatile guitar!

The video was great! But that constant change between cameras it gave me a little headache jaja. Great work dude

Definitely check out Schecter’s Nick Johnston signature. I won’t usually purchase guitars with 22 frets, but I would make an exception for that one. It’s fantastic and it’s a better deal financially than the Fender Player Series.

U can also put a 250K+500K Stacked Dual volume pot as well for hss which will switch between the 500k & 250k pot via. ur 5- way selector. Its the standard setup of Fender American Pro HSS Strats.

I subbed. Now you feel real good.

I agree that HSS is the best combination, but I completely disagree about the output matching and pot resistance. I go the opposite route, I like the difference as extreme as it gets, as I never combine the humbucker with the single coil but I do when it's split, so I match the single coils with around HALF the output of the humbucker. If not then it defeats the entire purpose of HSS in my opinion. the Trilogy Suite as much as I like these pickups I'll only combine them with something extreme like a Ragnarok or a Warpig. I will totally combine a 16K pickup with something vintage. Volume drop? I have a compressor on all the time and I even hid it under my pedalboard so I can't even turn it off. losing the sparkle? the solution is to go with 500K pots all across the board. Yes, even with the single coils. I'd also suggest a 1meg pot if you're a bit more adventurous :D cuz why you're even go with single coils if you're just gonna make them darker?

Great video !!!! Do you have only 1 same tone capacitor for the HB and the SCs ? (How is the taper on the tone?) Did you add a 470K resistor to and middle and to the neck SCs ? Actually, since the Trilogy SCs are so high, don't they need a higher volume pot resistor (e.g. 500K) ? BTW, what other bridge HB would you also recommend to pair with the Trilogy SCs ? I'm looking to install a HSS (or HSH) pickguard on a rosewood/mahogany strat. I'm trying to figure out if the Trilogy would sound good on it.

I just built one. I decided to try a double volume, master tone type. That way you can split the 'bucker with the volume pot 1, use the volume 2 for the single coils so you can have 500k for the bridge and 250k for the single coils. I also used a push/pull for the tone, using a .015 Soviet PIO cap for the default/down and a .047 orange drop for the pull option. This way you get single coil split and two tone cap options, as well as the ability to balance the volume of the bridge and singles better.

looks like my next set up will be an HSS!

I love this pickup configuration, but some serious food for thought. Alnico 2 are the real deal for any sound, from studio, so small venue to arena. Lower output offers more control. It is easier to go up, with the overdrive channel, or pedals. Going down, thinking your volume pot will do it? No! It is like having your hot water tank on full hot. No matter how much you turn up the faucet, it is still hot. Who says this: EVH, Slash, Larry Dimarzio, Seymour Duncan, Billy Gibbons, Bonamossa, many GIT graduates. It is true. EVH specifically demanded Alnico 3 and let the amp do the work, like his guitar to amp is like keyboard to computer. He said it, not me. That means SD, Pearly Gates(Gibbons), Slash Alnico Pro 2s (Slash obviously), L.Dimarzio has 36th Anniversary pickups in his Les Paul. That leaves the single coils. Now you can go noiseless with Fender: Vintage, Hot Vintage, N3,N4, or the best Ultra. All noiseless obviously, but no 60 cycle BS. Dimarzio: Area noiseless pickups. SD: many noiseless to choose from. Of note: SD uses the exact same pickup wiring machine, as Gibson, with specs by Gibson, working together like Dimarzio/Ibanez. That makes great options and affordable. I just bought a Deluxe HSS Strat, HSS, S1, 2007, to get the great Bridge and roller nut, then I will drop in a pre-loaded Ultra HSS pickguard, which is about $360 USD, or $500 CDN. I wanted a HSS Ultra Strat. When I thought $. I can go this route, get the benefits of the Ultra, but now with the LSR nut snd Steel over nickel frets. Fender? Nickel frets on an Ultra Strat? Really? Do you want people to buy Ibanez AZ. The swaps I am making are $ friendly. I am pissed off at myself for not getting a 2010 HSS Deluxe Strat with S1. Then I could have got the compound radius neck! Do stupid of me! Live snd learn! Ugh! When all these icons screamed get Alnico 2, they can’t be wrong. I had a LP with the Slash A2Pros and it could do clean to rip, maybe needing a pedal. I felt in full control though. Just like EVH and the GIT grad/teacher noted. These are can’t lose options. I asked my guitar tech, who played one your with The Guess Who, when Randy Bachman left. On the tour was ZZ Top and The Allman Bros Band with other great following. Texas to Tennessee. All wanted A2s. That is the Gibson PAF, but, control in any sized venue. I just trust this hearing it non-stop. * The best anything is WHAT YOU LIKE for your needs. Food for thought only. This is not from me. I want info from the greats. I don’t know crap. They do! Happy playing! Be safe! All the best!

New sub, cool vibe

Nice video!

I'd much prefer to modify a Stratocaster for heavy genres cause 1. they're insanely easy to work on, so you can chuck any pickup you want in there, and 2. If you're dropping tunings, they'll hold up a little better without changing string gauges thanks to the slightly longer scale length, so you can stick to a particular gauge to a certain extent (I like 10-52's, which hold well all the way down to Drop B, surprisingly).

I know the video is older but yes. Its very close! I have been playing 38 years and most of my guitars I always revert to HSS.

I want to swap out just the bridge pu in a mim strat, and leave the stock middle, neck. I plan to use this project as a chug machine anyway, so pup imbalances arent the hugest concern to me. Have any idea if an alnico II/paf is up to handle crunchy high gain chuggy stuff? Or do I have to go with a JB?

This is so cool! How did you wire the coil split?

I bought a $200 70s super distortion, 12.7 ohms for 5 bucks out of a parts bin so I made an ssh pickguard for it with 2 wilkinson hot strat pups. I think I'm going to get a push pull pot that I can switch from 500k to 250k with a resistor then add a 2nd cap on the middle/neck tone pot. Problem is my humbucker is so old, it only has two wires and a braided shield so I can't split the bucker.

New subscriber here, great review of pickups bro.🎸🎼

Thanks for sharing that.

Yep. Hss ALL the way mate. I was a Les Paul player all my life and now I’m Strat Hss converted 🙌

My first electric guitar was an S body HSS Yamaha. I’ve been considering giving it a restoration and switching out the original pickups 😂😂

I think I will add a humbucker in my sss strat

Hss pickups configuration are so versatile that's why you should altlist one or 2 hss configuration guitar

So I just recently installed a John Mayer big dipper loaded pickguard that I got off ebay into my American Ultra. Then I was like you know what, I never touch that bridge pickup lol. Any suggestions for what humbucker to use that would blend with Big Dipper single coils? Thanks :)... Also I'm pretty sure my big dippers came with 250k pots. Do you think 500k pots would mess up my single coil tone?

HSS i think is the best configuration, in my opinion. I want my bridge pickup to b humbucker, powerful... And neck is single coil, i love the tone of single coil in neck position. 😉

I had Strato SSS, I modified it to HSS, then to HH and then to HSH I could then realize one thing the best configuration is SSS, have single it is the nature of Strato and Tele I modified it and it had become another thing, the same way you would put singles on a Les Paul. I definitely went back to singles because I realized that the classic sound of the Strat and Tele masters is the majority of singles, When I talk I'm referring to people like Jimi Hendrix, Rory Gallagher, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Mark Knopfler, Ritchie Blackmore, David Gilmour, Steve Rothery, Nile Rodgers, Curtis Mayfield, Robin Trower, Eric Clapton, Joe Walsh, Tin Renwick, Jeff Beck, Eric Gales, Jason Becker...

So amazing I'm looking for this setup can you point me to a loaded pickguard with exactly this configuration eithout loosing the volume output etc like you said in the beginning 🤘

“I’ll probably change my taste in like 3 months anyways” Man i feel attacked

I have an hss strat and I took out the stock humbucker to replace it with a seymour duncan sh-6. The single coils are still original and sound fine for the most part, but the humbucker doesn’t sound the greatest. Any ideas why this might be or any tips?

I have a HSS i wanna hot rod, this is some good food for thought

How do you wire the hb split for the tune pot?

Fender player series hss is on point! I have played 9k customs 5k Les Pauls and everything in between and the fender hss player strat is the guitar in my hands everyday. Cost $850 and it’s great!

"tagima" a good option !!

Vol drop bridge to neck ? May I know how u overcome. Tks b4

mullets are the el camino of hairstyles :)

Hoely fvck! This is like the heaviest strat I've heard. 😳 What amp do you use and settings? Thanks for these videos man. Cheers! 🍻

I know now I want an HSS set up, but I’m still hung up on the pickups. Would the Seymour Duncan SSL-2 (neck and middle) Single coils work with a Jb Humbucker in the bridge? I have stock 250k pots

I have strat HSS. Pick up Humbucker : lollar imperial ,Single : lollar dirty blonde

I need a Low-output ( non shrill or ice-picky ) Bridge Humbucker for a Suhr Strat with Lollar Blonde's ( which I Love ) in the neck and middle. Any input is much appreciated.

Awesome video man is there any chance you could share the wiring diagram you used?

Just bought a Squier HSS hardtail and I love it. Planning to upgrade the pickups in the next year or so, still not sure what approach to take, I want a metal pickup for the humbucker and I want to upgrade the single coils for two different tones of cleans. Anyone have recommendations? What are the considerations for fitment/wiring?

Just starting following you, I’m become a fan of you channel. I just wanted to know, instant of the bare knuckle I am more of a fan of the Dimarzio D Activator what are two single coils that would balance that humbucker?

Joe, this video has popped up at just the right time. I have two strats. The first one which I love cos it was my first and one I’m not really digging just yet. Tonight I had the light bulb moment that I maybe should get an HSS as I have a les Paul and a tokai. Thanks for the tips.

Is there noise when you split the coil for the Humbucker? Like the 60 cycle hum

HSS with coil split is the dream 💔 i have an HSS without coil split , for blues sometimes i feel having that coil split would make a difference

SUBBED

Dimarzio rail pickups are so nice for this stuff

You can use 500k on the hb and the middle pot as 250k for the singles. You still have one tone pot for 1, 2 or all 3 pups

I have a dimebucker in the bridge wich makes mine a heavy metal machine, sounds heavy but trebly and very good for country stuff clean(kinda like a tele in a way) then i have a jb junior in neck wich sound dark and its really great for clean and thick blues lead. then i have original pickup in middle positio, Wich is tex mex and it sounds really thin in strat like way , so that way i have a really versitale guitar in fact its the only one i have been playing for the last 15 years or so.

Do a parts and installation video about the same pickups and configuration

I have a mim standar strat with lace sensor gold.. which hb pickub can I use for heavier tones? (24-7 spyz kind of sound) BUT, keeping the strat tone when coil splitted. uwu

I like hhh strats.and only use the bridge pickup

Kickass riffing

My question is simply this. The 2nd position (Bridge & Middle PU) needs to sound like my regular Strat. I currently have 2 other H-S-S style Jacksons and the 2nd position does not sound like my Strat. Close but no cigar. What's a fella to do?

What size strings do you use especially to get that dark metal

Your passion for hss setup motivated me to look for one. I found a made in Indonesia fender starcaster. If you find the wikipedia description they have a picture of the 4 different styles they made. I found the all black one with hss setup in absolutely perfect condition. I doubt think it was ever played. Do you think I should change the pickups? Thank you for taking the time to create videos and post them you youtube!

Where did you get an hss pickgaurd that would fit a nickel covered humbucker???

How did you make bigger hole on pickguard for that humbucker?

Hey! Does the Fender Player Strat HSS has a coil split ?

Sorry if you’ve answered this already but did you get the nailbomb at 50mm spacing or 53mm spacing?

And large head stocks are the best!

"ANY WAY, mullets are dope" had my rolling lol

What would it be the best most affordable HSS pick ups set?

It's the Swiss army knife of tone.... Except Steve Vai came up with HSH...so......that must be Swiss Navy......

What about filtertron in the H , And texas hot in both s positions.

Godin “session” guitars are amazing HSS guitars.

This is definitely what I need now after my SG humbucker set up but now I'm on the fence weather I want a strat body or something else I do want this to be a 9.5 and neck I do like jazz Caster but not too fond of that bridge I don't know trying to do a lower and warm so I can put in all that stuff upgraded

hi where did u buy that pickguard thanks!!

7:04 JHS pedal's song

I have an HSS guitar and planning to do pickup upgrade. What are some of the best HSS pickup sets out there? I had a slightly crazy idea of putting Hot Rails bridge in the neck & middle position, with Invader on bridge position for total all-out high gain and wire it to 500k pots master volume & master tone control to add some brightness.. Do you think that would work, or am I sound a little bit retarded? Lol...