Suhr BPSSC

[angelodp]

Any of you guys using the Suhr BPSSS system. How do you like it.
yeah i know $260 .... but noiseless are about the same.

ange

[bluefireamps]

I've got one on my American 70's reissue Strat using Lollar Blackface pickups. It works as advertised. My guess is that it's about 90% as good as noiseless pickups at removing the hum. I like it and it's staying put.
Dave

[angelodp]

My 1457 dano is by far the quietest guitar i have.... including any humbuckers. The Danelectro pups are a stroke of genius. They are warpped in black paper then a nickel silver casing is installed over the winding & paper. The older pick-ups have three wires coming out in a contained jacket.
Why not put single coil pickups on strats into an enclosed container similar in design but that looks like a standard cover.

ange

[drz400]

My 1457 dano is by far the quietest guitar i have.... including any humbuckers. The Danelectro pups are a stroke of genius. They are warpped in black paper then a nickel silver casing is installed over the winding & paper. The older pick-ups have three wires coming out in a contained jacket.
Why not put single coil pickups on strats into an enclosed container similar in design but that looks like a standard cover.

ange

You loose high end and output with shields or covers around a coil.
I have original lipsticks as well and they are interesting but dont have the brilliance IMO. Years ago I tried just wrapping copper tape around a Strat pickup running it to ground, I definitely noticed a difference, high end noise better, tone not.

[mike9]

It's a great system - 90% of the hum gone and you still get great sounding pickups. Been my experience that noiseless pickups lack something that a set of straight wound single coils deliver - tone.

[FUCHSAUDIO]

I used copper tape and mu-metal in the past. Remember, you are basically creating a capacitor to ground from the coil of the pickup. Depending on the pickup, it can be either a big deal, or not.

[jaysg]

Any of you guys using the Suhr BPSSS system. How do you like it.
yeah i know $260 .... but noiseless are about the same.

I disagree. I attempted to challege Suhr when he was still posting at TGP, but he never bit. A BPSSS for $260 doesn't do much unless you also buy pickups...so you're looking at $260 + $220 + shipping for Fralins, say. There's a small passive circuit board with some pots. OEM, maybe $15. A backplate and some formvar wire....$15. A bit of goo and a profit margin...I still see this costing about the same as a good strat pickup...in the $65 to $90 range. I would order two today, if he'd make that price reasonable. I can only conclude that he's not interested in volume and he wants it to be a high-zut product. When the patent dies, they'll be ubiquitous.

[FUCHSAUDIO]

What's the patent number ?

[angelodp]

Ok, so you are saying that on standard strat pups that the Suhr system is less effective or just does not work ?? Is this based on empirical data.

a

[jaysg]

What's the patent number ?

I will attempt to do one better. This is the patent application. Don't know when or if it was granted...probably has been.

[benoit]

Ok, so you are saying that on standard strat pups that the Suhr system is less effective or just does not work ?? Is this based on empirical data.

a

It seems to me he's not questioning the efficacy of the system as he is the fairness of the price - cost of materials seems to be low enough that the margins on the system would be just STUPID high.

[FUCHSAUDIO]

Sure is darn simple....Suhr has some exclusive deal with the inventor, as far as I know. I guess that means he can mark us as he sees fit. So a passive coil in the ground leg ?!?!? Thats it ? sheesh..... almost worth making one to try out...Heck, you could make the coil on a PC board if it has a small enough amount of turns....

[mike9]

Ok, so you are saying that on standard strat pups that the Suhr system is less effective or just does not work ?? Is this based on empirical data.

All three pickups have to be the same wind and polarity, or it won't work as advertised. You will have to buy another neck pickup to replace the middle one. I do a complete shield on my builds and they are very quiet. Where the BPSSC shines is in a setting with a lot of electrical noise - florescents, transformers, etc. - like a club setting.

[angelodp]

Yah, me too. It has made a difference. I just also did my 72 strat and that was a big change... and i did not do the cavities just the Monte Alums thick shield. The 72 has all the same pickups in terms of polarity and winde.

a

[IMG:792:594]http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii9/ ... at-S-1.jpg[/img]
[IMG:720:960]http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii9/ ... at-S-2.jpg[/img]

[jaysg]

Steve Ahola has done a certain amount of work on it. See the Music Electronics Forum (fomerly Ampage) for his thoughts. One his pointers is that someone with a RWRP set could use a superswitch to disconnect the BPSSC in the 2 & 4 positions on a strat.

I don't know how Suhr implements this on his own guitars, but you could route a loop in a guitar that gets a laminated hardwood top. If there was an internal break, you'd never be able to fix it, however, unlike a pickup, there doesn't have to be any stress on the wire.

It seems to me that it would work fine with a 2x or 3x P90 guitar. The pickups on a tele might be too different to make it as effective.

[edit] Patent 7,259,318