My first guitar is the Gretsch 2655 Streamliner, and I was looking to buy my first strat.
I am looking at the Fender Player Plus but it comes with a HSS and a SSS model.
Would a HSS with a coil split sound the same as a SSS, mainly I’m looking for a versatile guitar so I thought I’d get the HSS since I could just coil split it to sound like a SSS.
It depends, really. A split humbucker is a single coil, so it would sound like a single coil when split. But pickups sound a bit different from guitar to guitar and pickup to pickup. So your HSS split may not sound just the same as the SSS.
An HSS is definitely more versatile and more suited to rock if you like to play that. I have an HH and both are splittable - but the humbuckers are so good I almost never split regardless of what I’m playing.
2 Likes
Ah got it, so I might consider the HSS model then.
I’d go for the HSS; it will be a very versatile guitar!
(and with some cheap mods you’ll have a ton of wiring options later if you want to experiment).
1 Like
A split humbucker doesn’t sound like a single coil exactly, the dimensions / winding etc are usually different but, depending on the pickup it’s not that far off.
I went for HSS strat and served me well until I got HH guitars that are better at that humbucker sound. So, now I wish I have a proper SSS strat actually and corresponding pure single coil tones. Split humbucker tones are different than proper single coils, so I wouldn’t count on that split option as a long term solution.
Depends on the PUPs.
My splittable Iron Gear Hammer Heads HBs on my HSH modded Affinity are superb when split and compete nicely with my Mim Roadhouse Deluxe SSS Strat with Texas Special Singles. And the “S” is an Iron Gear Smoke Stack II which is a splittable dual coil that is a stacked “single”. For a 28 year old dog it has a mean bite compare to my stock stable of HB models.
I have an SSS Fender Player Strat and a HH Epiphone LP.
In hindsight I wish I’d have passed on that configuration of the Strat, opting instead for the HSS version (having now experienced the versatility with my HSS Harley Benton Fusion III - absolutely love it!)
Hi Michael. As ever, there is never a yes/no answer to a question involving guitar tones. 
3 Likes
My own experience is that split coil humbuckers rarely sound completely like single coils or, at least, not like the equivalent single coil tones on something like a strat.
If they did, there would be no reason to use single-coils.
They do, however, have single-coil characteristics, which is useful.
That being said, on something like an S-type guitar, the bridge pickup is probably the least useful, as it can be quite thin and “ice-picky”. In that case, having a split-able humbucker in the bridge isn’t losing you much, whilst gaining a lot of versatility.
And, with HSS, you keep a single coil in the neck and “in between” positions which is probably where a lot of the nice “stratty” tone can be found.
Cheers,
Keith
2 Likes
You have your humbucker bases covered with the Gretsch, I would would go with a telecaster for single coil goodness. You can cover a lot of ground with these two guitars. If your heart is set on getting a strat, I would go single coils all the way around, and get the tele later. 