Suhr Singlecoils: ML Standard vs V60, clean and distorted (alder Strat)
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- Опубліковано 16 вер 2024
- The Suhr ML Standards have been my favorite singlecoils for some time now, but I wanted to try something different in a rosewood necked ash Strat so I grabbed a set of the V60s. Before I installed them, though, I thought I'd briefly throw them in the Strat I had the MLs in to do an A/B comparison, since there were so few good comparison clips of these two pickups on the net.
ML Standard: clean - 0:08 distorted: 1:10
V60: clean 2:14 distorted: 3:15
ML for overdrive, V60s for cleans… but what I most appreciate in a strat are the clean tones. So V60s for me. Thanks for the test!
No problem, glad it helped!
Great playing and really impressive collection! Been contemplating throwing these in my '74 strat and am sold after this
Thanks! It's not a huge collection, but it's pretty focused, with each guitar serving a particular purpose. I ended up preferring te V60LP to the V60 in the rosewood/ash strat these eventually ended up in, just looking for something different, but I think the MLs are my favorite singlecoil pickups I've tried in anything.
The V60s sound more resonant and closer to the Vintage Strat sound. Great demo by the way!
Thank you! I definitely agree, the V60s (and V60LPs, which I eventually swapped to because I ended up preferring) are more "classic" in voicing, while the MLs are a bit punchier and more "modern" while still sounding like a Strat.
@@drewpeterson7 Are the V60s and the MLs noiseless? I'm still trying to decide between Suhr single coils and Dimarzio's Area Pickup s.
@@souviksen7497 They are not, I'm afraid. I don't find the hum terribly offensive while playing though, and while I did shield this strat, I'd say that if you can listen to this and not be sure if they are or not, then the level of hum is probably something you can easily live with.
happy V60 owner here since 2006
I already have the ml standards in my custom S1, I was curious how the V60's were different. I'm very happy with my ml set, Suhr is the best guitar I've ever owned. Had it almost ten years now and the frets still look new.
The MLs are hands down my favorite singlecoil set I've tried. I ended up liking the V60LPs quite a bit more than the regular V60s, but if I had to pick just one, it'd probably be the ML Standards.
Does your guirar have stainless steel frets?🙂
I could be wrong, but I feel the V60s sound more traditional and the ML are more mid heavy. I have both but never try them in the same guitar. Great job!
That's exactly my impression, too.
I've got the v60's. Think I'll keep em in. Thanks for putting this up.
My pleasure! I personally preferred the MLs, but the point of doing comparisons like this is to highlight the differences, not sell one over the other.
I have a strat with Seymour Duncan jb on the bridge. Wich single coil can be better on the middle and the neck? I think expecially about the volume between the humbucker and the single coils. Suhr V60 and Suhr ML have a beutiful sound. I don't know how to choose...
Hey, sorry for a late surprise - the ML is a little more midrange heavy and a little punchier, I think it would hold up better with a JB.
@@drewpeterson7 thanks!
I have a buddy who installed the MLs into a cheap Strat and I swore after playing it that those MLs are the best single coil pickups there must be! And I'm a huge humbucker guy .. good stuff!
Yeah, the first time I ever played one, I was in a shop with a couple Suhrs, and after a few minutes with all the others a buddy of mine ended up spending the next hour or so passing back and forth a natural oil finish alder Standard with a ML in the neck and an Aldrich, I think, in the bridge. Total Plain Jane of a guitar, but that neck position OWNED. My buddy ended up buying it, and then when he sold it a few years later I bought it off him because that neck position was just magical. Suhr makes great singlecoils.
Now see, that was my experience too! The neck position OWNED. It's still my favorite neck pickup alongside my Dimarzio Gravity Storm. I did btw have the Doug Aldrich for a short time. Very agressive and clear. Guthrie Govan's best times tone-wise was when he was endorsing their stuff. I think it's very cool that we are on the same page with this. I think we just have great ears :)@@drewpeterson7
@@roba1899 I've actually never played a Gravity Storm - maybe one of these days! And I accidentally briefly hit dislike on your comment when I was going to click reply - I reversed it, but sorry about that!
Hey, don't worry! It's all good :) The Gravity Storm has rounded off highs but the midrange is so present and round-sounding. I think you'd dig it .. @@drewpeterson7
@@roba1899 Still, gotta apologize for my poor manners! Maybe one of these days I'll check it out, but my favorite neck humbucker is the PAF Pro and I always seem to miss it when I play something else...
Great demo!
Thank you! I ended up preferring the V60LP to the V60, a little rounder and smoother on the top end, but I was really curious to see how these stacked up, myself.
I installed the v60lps on my american pro and the pups made me like the guitar again
These are the regular V60s, not the V60LPs, so I can't say exactly how they compare (save for a lower resonant peak, haha), but they're probably both great pickups, based on the ML Standards and the V60s!
@@drewpeterson7 yeah i know , both are awesome!
I haven't trued the V60LPs yet, but maybe one day!
@@drewpeterson7 yeah i especially love the bridge PUp of the v60lp set!
I kinda dig the regular V60 in the bridge, but maybe I'll give that one a try - a fatter version might balance better with the neck, and grabbing one pickup to try out is a bit more cost-effective than a trio at $80 a piece!
Neck single coil pickup for hss strat basswood body?
HUGE number of options out there. Between these two probably the ML Standards, as it's a bit fatter and has some more midrange. I ran a pair if the MLs with an AT-1 for a while, and they worked pretty well together. I'd look at some other stuff too, though - that particular pickguard is still wired up in a box if I ever need a bride humbucker in that guitar, and I have a set of Dimarzio Area pickups in there, a 67 in the neck and 61 in the middle, as they're silent and the lower magnetic pull lets you set them closer, which makes balancing them with a humbucker easier.
@@drewpeterson7 Thank you very much
@@drewpeterson7 Is now i have dimarzio virtual solo in the neck position and dimarzio norton in the bridge position (basswood strat). i feel the neck pickup a have bass too much and treble too little
@@Siam_Thai. I've never tried a Virtual Solo, but the spec sheet suggests it's darker than the Heavy Blues 2, which was a little too dark for me, too. Finding anythiing as hot as a Virtual Solo that still sounds like a classic singlecoil is going to be tough, but maybe the Area 67? It's less loud, but sounds very much like a classic singlecoil, with no noise.
Drew ML are similar output To Cruisers??
I have a 2011 fender strat and I’m trying to pick between v60 and a hot rail thanks
V60 awesome.. like vintage strat add bright
Hi there, nice comparison and playing! In your opinion would it be OK to combine a ml standard in the bridge with something more "typically stratty" in the neck and mid? I do love glassy (but not ice picky) neck strat pups... But I'd like to have something more punchy in the bridge as my strat is ash/maple... If so, which pickups would you recommend? Thanks in advance!
Hey! I actually found the MLs to do "typical" strat sounds rather well, and while they're reasonably hot, they don't really "sound" it. That said, I have a second Strat which now has a set of V60LPs in it (nort the V60s here, the "lower peak" version with a lower resonant peak and a little less sizzle tot he high end), and it's definitely a more traditional, "classic" Strat sound (the rosewood/ash construction is a factor here too). You could probably mix a pair of those with a ML with good effect, though the V60LPs aren't much weaker than the MLs so maybe a set of those all around could work.
@@drewpeterson7 Hey man. Nice demo. I've found an ml bridge for a very low price online and i had to buy it. But for the neck i can't decide between v60, v60lp and ml. I like srv type stuff but you could play that style on any low output pickup. And in my experience lower the output the better. I was thinking about getting v60lp but i found two guys on the forums saying they were a bit dark. Dark sounding pickups are my nightmare lol. ML would go nice with ml bridge obviously but i still can't decide. Considering i am a blues/fusion/funk/r&b type guitarist, which of the pickups do you think i should get? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
The ML would probably sound better live with minimal EQ.
It does sit rather nicely in the midrange, especially the neck. That's probably the most "modern" aspect of its voicing, is the midrange is pretty solid played with some gain.
What are height settings for ML pickups for starting point ? Thanks for your help
I'm not sure if Suhr recommends a particular height as a starting point, but what I've always done is fretted the low and high strings at the last or second-to-last fret, raise the neck pickup until I begin to hear audible warbling from the magnetic pull of the pickups on the string, and then back it off a quarter turn at a time until it goes away. Then, I'll balance the middle and bridge pickup against the neck until they're all at the same perceived output, and make sure I'm still not getting any warbling in any position. That's your absolute max height - you can set them lower than that if you like, if you prefer the sound, but anything past that will cause problems with intonation and sustain.
I prefer the V60
I vastly preferred the MLs, to the degree that I eventually swapped these for V60LPs just because they were too bright for me. The V60s have a very "hi-fi" high end, which if you want ultra clean sounds out of a strat is a great option. I like singlecoils with some grit on them and a darker, spongier vibe, and the MLs definitely deliver there.
@@drewpeterson7 I have a vintage Fender stratocaster, and a Suhr-strat with Lollar Dirty Blonde's (which I will go-to-the-grave with). My single-coil-search ended - right there. Enjoyed your comparison. The research . . . Never ends !
Very nice. Say what model is that Fender strat ?
Hey - I missed this earlier, sorry! That's a '97 American Standard, though very little of it is stock these days - I think I'm down to the string tree, the output jack, and the trem studs, at this point! This was my first good guitar though, and I can't count how many hours I've spent playing her since I bought her new in 1998.
What is the name of the colour of the Suhr guitar?
The guitar is actually a Fender, and it's Inca Silver. Fairly aged Inca Silver at that, too, it's a nearly 20-year-old guitar.
First off, great playing and a terrific demo. I recently picked up a '97 California series Strat. The guy I bought it from put in a new set of Tex-Mex, pups. The neck and middle pups are fine for now. That bridge pup, though is really shrill. Like ice pick in the ear shrill. I'm digging the Suhr ML, here. Question -- will this pup combo platter play nice together in the sandbox?
Hey, thank you! I haven't played aything with the Tex Mex pickups in it in years, so it's hard to say for sure. I think it's a spectacular bridge pikup, though, so I can't see it sounding *bad* in your guitar. Another thing you could do, is if the bridge pickup isn't wired up through the tone pot (a lot of vintage Strats aren't), then I believe it's only a matter of moving one or two wires or adding a jumper wire to run it through the middle pickup tone pot, and even with the tone on 10 simply having the pot in the circuit will slightly tame the treble. I'd probably start there (I think it sounds better anyway, and it's never a bad idea to have a tone circuit at your disposal), and then try switching bridge pickups.
Which of the two pickups have more noise?
They're both equivalent enough that, having used them in two seperate guitars since I made this video, I don't think I've noticed a difference. I've shielded both guitars, but nothing really struck me as abnormal about the amount of 60-cycle hum in either set.
Nice video. Are these the V60LP or V60?
Thanks! These are the regular V60s.
Not one goddamn chord was played
I've never found strumming chords really tells you all that much about how a pickup responds, especially something like a singlecoil which is very touch-sensitive. Anyway, who wants to watch someone sit there and play chords?
Drew Peterson appreciate the demo, but I wasn’t implying strumming a cowboy C chord! A song is 95% chords, rhythm or riffs. Maybe next time do both.
@@SuperHotrod4 Usually I do some Jimi-style double-stop rhythm stuff as part of a demo, which at least is more interesting and covers some of the same ground, but listening back to this one it sounds like I didn't. Idunno, usually when I do a comparison like this I'm just improvising anyway, playing whatever the mood takes me to, and then just trying to do something in similar ballparks on the subsequent takes - I'll take that into consideration!