Suhr SSH+ Humbucker
John Suhr has been building guitars for man years and is renowned for his craftsmanship. At the price point for a Suhr guitar, I won’t even look at one on display for fear of cash being sucked out of my pockets. LOL! But at least we have the Suhr pickups, which are more affordable for mere mortals.
Looking around the Suhr pickups webpage, I did find that the descriptions are helpful. But I’m wanting to dig a little deeper. That’s pretty standard when any guitar player is on the hunt for any new gear! HaHa! So I place call in to Suhr and found that the gentleman I spoke to very attentive and most helpful. I remember being so assured by his comments that I was completing the online order while still on the phone.
Speaking of looking at the Suhr humbucker menu, aside from the signature models. There is the single screw line and the double screw line. After that, it’s just as easy to keep up with what’s what. The SSV is the Single Screw Vintage. The SSH is the Single Screw Hot. A “+” after the model means it’s even hotter. As is the case here with the SSH+.
Installation
An advantage to the Suhr humbuckers is in the mounting tabs. If you’re dealing with it, you know what I’m talking about! HaHa! Those guitars with the pickup cavities routed with a very tight tolerance that just not any ol’ pickup will fit in to. LOL! Maybe it’s an Ibanez or a EBMM or maybe even a EVH. You can hack away at the feet or you can find a pickup that already fits. Such is the case with these Suhr humbuckers.
I’ve tried this pickup in a couple of similar “super strat” guitars. One was a maple body with a maple neck and maple board with a Floyd Rose. The other is the same with a mahogany body. The SSH+ is awesome in both.
Evaluation
Consider the archetype for a rock pickup. Then add an overall increase in clarity and a nice touch of a modern voice as compared to a vintage or PAF character. The lows have definition and don’t mush out. The mids are present and provide the roar I enjoy. The highs are clear and have plenty of cut. I had previously tried the Suhr Aldrich model and I like the SSH+ a lot more, without reservation. I find it great for 80s rock, but it’s clearly coming to the table with the good to delivery a very wide range of tones.
Here and there around the Interwebz, there are comments about the SSH+ having more focus than what some expect. I see where those opinions can come from, although I don’t find it to be a problem. An excellent alternative would be the DSH+ model. The Double Screw line is literally adding another row of screws to the exact same pickup from the Single Screw line. The extra row of screws adds just the slightest bit of chaos to the magnetic field that will deliver a hint of beef to the voice.
Demo
The SSH+ comes in the Suhr Modern Plus, the Standard Plus and others. Check out a demo:
Yes, that is the Modern Pro model, which is discontinued. When available, it had the SSH+ in there.
Specs
Series – 17.095 k
Inductance – 8.288 H
Split N – 8.547 k
Split S – 8.547 k
Parallel – 4.274 k
Magnet – Alnico 5
Conclusion
The SSH+ is going to be good for hard rock, garage, punk, progressive rock, fusion, shred, 80s metal, grunge, hardcore, progressive metal, and thrash. The SSH+ bridge comes in regular and trem spacing, and with 4-con lead wire. Available colors are black, parchment, white, zebra, and reverse zebra. Cover options include nickel, raw nickel, and gold.
For reference, this Suhr SSH+ humbucker pickup evaluation was conducted with a Fractal Axe-Fx II XL+ featuring Celestion Impluse Responses and Fractal MFC-101 MIDI Foot Controller. Real cabs in use are Marshall 1960B, Mojotone British, and Peavey 6505 cabs loaded with Celestion Classic Series Vintage 30s and Classic Series G12M Greenbacks.
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