EMG HZ vs EMG SSD

[sub forum]

I have a pair of emg hz's humbuckers kicking about from an upgrade to EMG 35dc's.
I recently aquired a spector legend ns bass for much cheapness ,it has emg ssd pickups on it .I am thinking about putting my spare set of HZ's on it to give it a bigger sound .
can anyone tell me the difference in the HZ's vs The SSD's ?
Befrore i get out the soldering iron .

[JanusZarate]

If I'm not mistaken, the SSD was the predecessor to the HZ, and I doubt they're much different at all. Both are passive pickups, too.

The SSD pickups were originally custom-made for Spector before HZ pickups were around, but I think they all use HZ pickups now.

[sub forum]

Thanks MYSTICBOO ,
I thought they were much six and half a dozen myself .
I can keep the HZ's for some other project .

[JanusZarate]

I just checked the Spector website... apparently, they use both?

I guess the SSDs are still in production. From what I've read here on TB, though, they don't really seem to be that different.

Hmm... I guess we should wait for Spector users to chime in on this one.

[Stoney Lonesome]

sre the ssd's splitable? IE do they have all the wires for splitting the coils?

[Geist]

I THINk that the SSD pickups are the Spector made - EMG designed pickups. They are found in the less expensive spectors than what the EMGHZs are found in which leads me to believe this.

[Emergancy Exit]

spectors have active EMGs too

i think ssd's are inferior to the HZ. the HZ's are better technology.


sounds like you hae made up your mind on the 35 DC's good choice.

[Stormbringa]

Being a soundcontrol employee and spector endorsee i believe the HZs pack alot more punch, the SSDs are found on the cheaper Spector range but still sound great for the money. All else fails hit up active EMGs or Seymour Duncan Basslines.

[Musicman_Neuss]

SSD: Stuart-Spector-Designed
cheaper then the HZs but quite similar i think.

[sub forum]

Well after a year of getting round to it ,my spare set of HZ's have replaced my SSD's on my Spector holoflash legend .First off i put it through my rig with my usual settings and the difference is so clear that i wished i'd got the finger out earlier.The Bass sounds monumentally different at the bottom end .The SSD's sound very thin and trebley in comparison,while the HZ's are warm and punchy RESULT!!!!
So if anyone is thinking of doing the same kind of swap i recommend it ,it makes a cheap £200 spector sound like it costs the same as a £700 pro series spector .

[mordechai]

is the SSD the same size as the EMG35?

i have a chinese spector and i want to upgrade the pickups to one of many "direct replacement for emg 35" pickups i see around. probably duncan phase II passive. thoughts?

[sub forum]

Originally Posted by mordechai

is the SSD the same size as the EMG35?

i have a chinese spector and i want to upgrade the pickups to one of many "direct replacement for emg 35" pickups i see around. probably duncan phase II passive. thoughts?

Yes the pick ups are the same size , i upgraded to 35DC's on my Rex , then replaced a set of SSD's on another spector with the HZ's from the Rex

[doctorgonedon]

I saw a posting once from EMG somewhere, and I forget where. It read that the Hz's and SSD's were essentially the same pick-ups, with a small difference in the frequency response. This may have may accounted for your preference in the Hz's. I have two Korean Spectors with Hz's and two Korean spectors with actives. All with varying preamps from EMG, to Tone Pump, to Aguilar. I recently traded a cheap bass for a Spector Performer with SSD's. I note that they play similarly to the HZ's, but yes, sound a bit different. I will try my spare set of HZ's to see if I can detect a major difference.

Many people prefer passice pick-ups to active one's. I think Jeff Berlin is one of them. One factor is the distance from the strings. Passive pups allow for the distance to be much farther and still grab a lot of jam. My personal opinion is that I prefer the flexibility and noiseless design of actives, and that your choice of preamp will make a enormous amount of difference in the sound. Again, I have both passive and active pups on several Spectors, and I like them both.

Will get back to you on my perception of the SSD-Hz change-out.

Cheers!

[Bongolation]

Originally Posted by doctorgonedon

I saw a posting once from EMG somewhere, and I forget where. It read that the Hz's and SSD's

I wrote to Spector about this a couple of years ago and they told me that the SSD was an EMG HZ made to their proprietary specs with a different midrange response.

SSD = Stuart Spector Design

That's pretty much the goods straight from the horse's mouth.

[darkstorm]

I think youll get better articulation and overall sound lows thru highs with the HZ's. Not giant diff, but some. Maybe as much diff as between the early emg selects and current new hz's. Which can be substantial depending on particuliar model (esp true for the guitar versions of their current hz humbuckers compared to the selects of long ago. I kinda think of the ssd's as just a slight improvement to about the sound same as those early selects in some ways. In their time they was nice. But lotsa improvements to emg hz have been made since then imo.

[SoonerMatt]

I want to say that SSDs are pretty much HZs with a bit of a mid scoop but you can't really tell because the Tone Pump is such a piece of crap and gives its own mid scoop.

[Lync]

I don't care what they are supposed to be, but my Legend with SSD's and the tone pump Jr. sounds great. In fact, I like it better than my Euro Spector with real EMG's as that is just too much "active" if that makes sense.

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by Geist

I THINk that the SSD pickups are the Spector made - EMG designed pickups. They are found in the less expensive spectors than what the EMGHZs are found in which leads me to believe this.

SSD = Stuart Spector Designs, LTD. He had EMG make his own private label pickups.