Which position do you prefer?!?!

[Teahead]

I mean your pickup positions of course!

Before I confess my own, I know we all move between pickup selections whilst playing, in the never ending quest for textures, tones and all that.

However, I do always feel better represented when playing through my neck pickup position, on both my Tele and Les Paul.

I dislike the bridge position the most on each. I'm not sure why, maybe the bright bridge tone highlights my faults as a player. I do use it, to cut through the mix, but far prefer my comfortable neck p'up, and it's easier to explain why. I just love how it sound more "wooden" than the "metallic" bridge, much more full and rounded in tone.

This was not always the way, I used to be exclusively a bridge man, in my early bedroom years. Only in the last year or so of regular gigging have I changed my preference.

 

So, do you too secretly favour one pickup selection over any other? If you do, what influences your preference? Has it always been this way? Or have you changed your approach?

Best Wishes, Tea.

[Darklava]

Les paul middle PAGE

Lonestar stat 4th pos SRV

SG bridge darklava

[strat0124]

I rarely get away from the bridge pickup on any guitar I play.

[freelance]

I almost always use the bridge pick-up on any guitar.

[D_dup3]

It seems to me that, if you're into tonal variation, you'd use them all, plus the tone controls to temper those selections.

[strat0124]

Originally posted by d:

It seems to me that, if you're into tonal variation, you'd use them all, plus the tone controls to temper those selections.

Unless you know how to get tonal variation just from the position you pick the strings! Naw, I use the other pickups from time to time, but I can get lots of treble picking close to the bridge, and mellow it out by picking further away from the bridge. Nuance my brother!

[D_dup3]

Originally posted by Geenard:

...Nuance my brother!

Well, wasn't that my point?

[alguit]

I use all the pickup positions on all my guitars; I crave tonal variety, and on at least a subconscious level I think it works for the audience as well.

 

Some of my choices aren't apparently the most popular, though. On strats I love the middle pickup-it can be glassy or rough depending on how I set my amps and how hard I pick (this does work best with Class A amps). On my Tele I just so enjoy the bridge pickup; it's just one of the greatest sounds ever! However, often when I'm using it, I pick right above where the fingerboard and body overlap-it has more of a pedal steel tone that way, to my ears.

 

As Geenard said, where one picks can produce dramatic variations in tone. Allan Holdsworth has recorded and gigged with one-pickup guitars and sounds amazing, as has the Reverend Willy G. I think that acoustic players tend to understand better the art of pick placement.

[Tedster]

I like doggie sty...ooops...oh, you mean PICKUP position...

 

Never mind...oh, on my Strat, lotsa times I'll go for the out-of-phase between the bridge and middle. Or the bridge...my pickups are a bit beefed up and aren't as harsh in the treble position.

 

But for jazzier or more mellow stuff I'll use a different combination.

[exactopposite]

well in general i prefer using the neck pickup because i like that thick sound. on strats i like the #2 position (neck and middle) for clean rhythm parts, but i don't like the 2 or 4 positions for leads at all. there are lots of things you can do with the middle pup on a strat.

 

i use all the positions of al lthe guitars that i play. it all depends on what i need at the time. however the sound that i call my own is the neck pickup into an overdriven amp, a little on the dark side with lots of harmonics availible depending on how i pick, and notes that sustain into oblivion and eventually feedback into the next octave. that neck pickup is the one for me. yes it is.

[doc taz]

I like 'em all on most guitars. What I don't like are single pickup electrics, though they do serve their purpose.

 

On mine, I typically use the neck single coil, middle single coil + front coil of bridge humbucker, and the bridge humbucker. On a Paul, it might depend on what I'm playing. As some have said, where you pick can also have an effect on the tone. I can dial up a nice, sparkly clean tone, and play with just the bridge HB. That also sounds great when done on a guitar with a Dimebucker in the bridge. Very "Hifi" sounding, almost like an active EMG but warmer.

[Mudcat]

On my Strat it's the four spot (neck/middle). Sounds like Knopfler on the first Dire Straits album.

 

The Gretsch Tennessean is either the bridge pick-up alone or the middle position. Depends on what I'm going for. However - my favorite of the two would be the middle. Real jangly but still fat (with the right amp of course).

[Dave da Dude]

You mean there's more than one position?!

 

Seriously, until a year ago I used almost exclusively neck, maybe a little neck and mid because that was the sound that I was used to as an acoustic guitarist.

 

I haven't played around with the combinations enough to have a valid "favorite", but I agree that all should be used for the tonal search of nirvana in a given song.

 

All that being said, I'm starting to lean towards position 2, mid & bridge SC, but I kinda like the mid only on the Highway 1 a lot (I have visitation rights).

 

I'm looking forward to the neck/bridge HB combination of a Les Paul ('ya all know, a guitar that's not a Strat?), but don't have a guitar to do it with yet. I will be changing the wiring on my Korean Raven (H-S-H) so the '3' position will be HB-HB instead of just mid. The mid on the Highway 1 can't be beat , so I may as well have a different combo on the Raven (it's currently traditional Strat wiring, with the HB's being split in positions 2 and 4.

 

Dave

[Teahead]

I knew I couldn't be the only one with a favourite! I was almost afraid to admit it because I knew I'd get cries of "Use Them All," like I explained, I will use whatever tone suits the song best. It's just that the neck is my preference, it's not like I'm picking a favourite child or anything...

I do remember loving that neck/middle position that has been mentioned, on an M.I.J Strat I once owned, now if I were to put a middle pickup in my Tele, and a five way switch, I could revisit that sacred tone.

I feel another thread brewing here...

[revolead]

I like, probably a lot of people here use both a lot, depending on the amp and the tone I'm going for. I used to use the neck mostly, and on a single coil instrument I prefer the neck exclusively. But with a humbuckered guitar I like all the settings. The neck is sweet and pure, the middle pretty and acoustic, and the bridge bright and punchy. I guess it depends on what I'm playing.

Metal = bridge only

Rock = middle

Acoustic-like tone = middle

Sustaining jazzy tone = Neck

[Caevan O’Shite]

Yeah, I like 'em all, and change depending upon the tone I want, in combination with what sort of get-up I'm plugged into. Some of the patches on my little modeling headphone amp work better with one or another setting on the guitar's controls and pickups. And, yes, I also vary where, and how, I pick. Quite a bit, actually.

 

I also play fingerstyle, so I may be plucking the strings so that they slap back against the frets, gently "rubbing" them, picking them in the normal way, doing quick, light upstrokes for that "Brit Blues" tone, using a nail like a pick for alternate picking, etc. etc. etc. In combination with different pickup selections, this all provides a lot of variation.

 

When available on a triple single-coil guitar, all three together in parallel sounds absolutely Heavenly; very lush, responsive, sparkly and shimmering "super-cluck"! I really, really wanna try this with three soapbars sometime; I bet it would sound amazing!

[Blue Strat]

I use either the neck or bridge pickup on my guitars, and the combined positions almost never get used. I will use the combined positions when playing clean, but with distortion the tone gets muddy when I do that. I'm more likely to use the middle positions on a Tele or Les Paul than the 2 & 4 positions on a Strat.

 

I'm going to have to get better switches in my Strat and Tele, the cheaper switches that the Korean and Mexican guitars have are stiffer and don't allow for fast switching on-the-fly. Maybe I'll use a three way switch in my Strat and convert one of the tone knobs into a volume for the middle pickup. Then I could have all seven pickup combinations.

 

Interesting question there, Teahead.

[Cowbell]

I can't stand the sound of my guitars with the bridge pickup on...it drives me nuts. I'm a neck pickup guy all the way. The bridge sounds too nasally for me, kinda like an untrained oboe player.

[DIAMOND DUST]

More cowbell brother!!! More cowbell.

 

S.N.L + Will Ferral=

[doc taz]

Originally posted by CowbellAllen:

I can't stand the sound of my guitars with the bridge pickup on...it drives me nuts. I'm a neck pickup guy all the way. The bridge sounds too nasally for me, kinda like an untrained oboe player.

(Hmm, I've never heard oboes in GWAR... )

 

Really? If it's a Paul you're playing through, you could put the tone at about 6 or 7. That yields a nice, warm tone, with still enough treble for solos. No wonder I like Allan Holdsworth's lead tone. I think he does this, as the bridge pickup is used a lot with both his distorted and clean sounds. Hardly oboe sounding in his case, more like a french horn, or even a bit theremin-like. Not to mention, he uses .009-.042 strings, yet his tone is hardly thin sounding by any means.

 

Also, on a two pickup guitar with two volume knobs, having both pickups on at varying volume levels makes for a nice, full bodied tone.

[BiC]

Mostly the bridge for my rhythm playing. I will move to the neck for my clean strumming and finger picking.

 

Peace

[Teahead]

Originally posted by Dr. Taz:

On a two pickup guitar with two volume knobs, having both pickups on at varying volume levels makes for a nice, full bodied tone.[/QB]

Yeah Taz, I know what you're saying here. There's a real resonance from my Les Paul in the middle position, not as dominant in specific tonal areas as single selections, but a very full almost acoustic tone that you cannot get from the neck or bridge alone.

Also, I always keep my bridge tone around six or seven, mainly to even out the difference in changing from the neck position, and because it's just too cutting to my ears otherwise. Problem is, with my Tele, I can't have the tone "Pre-Rolled" to allow for my switch... So, I had both pickups wired in series and a four way switch installed, and I use that instead lazy I know, but I was raised that way.

 

So far it seems a pretty even split on the number one choice favourite position, good to see the law of averages is alive and well. I expected at least some Gibson/Fender trends to appear, or even a split between young bridge lovers and older 'Vampirish' neck biters! No offense intended of course, just my unreasonable prejudices coming to the fore. Good to hear the preferences, more, more, more!

[strat0124]

Originally posted by Tedster the Salsa Shepherd:

I like doggie sty...ooops....

Yeah Ted.....but I hope and pray you're drivin!!!!!!!

[Wes from Wpg]

I am kinda biased now that I put a Seymour Duncan Hot Stack in the bridge of my Strat last week. The novelty hasn't worn off yet, so I have been using it almost exclusively.

 

I generally switch around though, to get the right sound for what I'm playing. I have to admit though, until I put the HS in I used the middle position more than the bridge. Now that I have the new PUP, I have concentrated more on tweaking the amp settings to get the best sound out of it.

[jlh]

It depends upon the guitar I'm using and for what.

Tele, G&L ASAT Special - bridge mostly neck for a more jazzy or mellow tone.

Strat - all over the place, but I like the middle one a lot.

Anything with 2 humbuckers - middle position with the neck pickup volume rolled off just enough to increase the brightness a bit.

Jamie

[Caevan O’Shite]

Originally posted by Geenard:

Originally posted by Tedster the Salsa Shepherd:

"I like doggie sty...ooops...."

"Yeah Ted.....but I hope and pray you're drivin!!!!!!!"

Silly Geenard, you can't play a guitar and drive!

 

Especially with a doggie in the car, he'll spill your drink!

[demarc]

When I was young I liked Gibsons over Fenders for how they played, and I thought bridge pickup was the one!

 

Now that I am older, and actually own a strat(copy), I can appreciate the other pickups, though I still can't give up that bridge humbucker sound for raw emotion, at least for my emotion, when it's raw.

[Teahead]

Originally posted by Caevan O'Shite, who 8 the Pilgrims.:

Originally posted by Geenard:

Originally posted by Tedster the Salsa Shepherd:

"I like doggie sty...ooops...."

"Yeah Ted.....but I hope and pray you're drivin!!!!!!!"

Silly Geenard, you can't play a guitar and drive!

 

Especially with a doggie in the car, he'll spill your drink!

This is why you left a bedroom full of gorgeous women to go pick up in a bar!

Just kiddin' you knows I loves ya!

[Caevan O’Shite]

I'd plead the Fifth, only someone's emptied it already! (Mebbe it was th' dawg...)

[Lee Flier]

I'm with Geenard, I rarely stray from the bridge pickup. Sometimes I will go with the middle position for a rounder cleaner tone, but if I do I usually back off the volume of the neck pickup a bit so that the bridge still dominates. I almost never play the neck pickup by itself. On my Les Paul, the volume and tone controls are always on 10 too (except for the aforementioned times when I'm using the middle position). I use a volume pedal, and my fingers, for the nuances.