How do you use pickups positions?

inliner · 09-01-2010, 03:21 PM

I wonder what do people use different positions for...
What do you use for strumming, rhythm picking, soloing? How does it depend on the style you play etc. Do you switch during a song?

Up till now I never used bridge pickup because it sounded so irritating to my ear (maybe because of cheap stock pups on my Affinity). But now I tried it over some crunchy loud backing and it seems quite good for cutting through.
I mostly play soft music, like contemporary christian, some easy jazz, old-school blues etc. So I mostly use neck pickup for soloing and position 4 for rhythms, sometimes middle for some funky stuff.

peskypesky · 09-01-2010, 03:32 PM

i used to only use the 1 and 5 positions. neck for rhythm and bridge for solos. now that i have better pickups installed in my guitars, i've fallen madly in love with the 4 position and also am really digging the 2 position. so very Stratty.

Strat-toter · 09-01-2010, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peskypesky

i used to only use the 1 and 5 positions. neck for rhythm and bridge for solos. now that i have better pickups installed in my guitars, i've fallen madly in love with the 4 position and also am really digging the 2 position. so very Stratty.

I love the 1-2-4 positions especially with my new pups...I kinda dig the number 2 pos as well pesky...never did before.

houseguitarshop · 09-01-2010, 03:54 PM

I use position 1 the most with position 5 the second most used,

I do use all positions though.

depending on the style and sound depends on what I use the position for.

If I have a full sounding rhythm then I solo with position 5, if I have a tawny rhythm then I solo with position 1.

I sometimes use the middle position 3 for rhythm, positions 2 and 4 I use sparaticly when the other positions arnt getting it done.

I use position 1 when I have overdrive turn on

horax · 09-01-2010, 05:10 PM

I really dig position 69.

Had to be said.

AllroyPA · 09-01-2010, 05:24 PM

@inliner ... do you know about the tone mod where you can link your bridge pup to the neck tone pot so you can change the ice-pickyness they tend to have?

inliner · 09-01-2010, 06:44 PM

@AllroyPA
never heard of it, do you know where I can read about it?
Anyways I'm waiting for new GFS pups to come, will see how they sound. Hopefully I won't need to mod it

5thumbs · 09-01-2010, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AllroyPA

@inliner ... do you know about the tone mod where you can link your bridge pup to the neck tone pot so you can change the ice-pickyness they tend to have?

Blender mod, i have it on all my strats i love the bridge p/u with a little neck rolled into it So Sweet.

kevinpaul · 09-01-2010, 11:26 PM

I like the bridge p/u for lead and both for back up. The neck p/u for jazz. Ask me in two days and I will have it screwed up.

Had to be said.[/QUOTE]

AllroyPA · 09-02-2010, 06:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by inliner

@AllroyPA
never heard of it, do you know where I can read about it?
Anyways I'm waiting for new GFS pups to come, will see how they sound. Hopefully I won't need to mod it

I looked but can't seem to find the thread, maybe some others can help... other than 5thumbs recommendation, you can link up your bridge to the same tone your neck-pup uses.

YeahDoIt · 09-02-2010, 07:27 AM

I like position 1 (neck pickup alone) best when practicing by myself. When I jam with other people then I experiment with other pickups and tone controls to get a sound that I like. The room can have acoustics that change the sound too. Things sound different when I listen to recordings. I adjust in the studio to get a good recorded sound.

Retroman1969 · 09-02-2010, 11:55 AM

I also use mostly #1 because I play primarily jazz and blues, but sometimes it sounds too muddy to me so I'll switch to #2 to clean up the sound a bit.

Nigel T. · 09-03-2010, 05:52 AM

Depends on the sound that I am after. As most of what I do is sort of overdriven I prefer the bridge pickup, but I frequently move the switch to another position. On single coils I like the neck and middle pickup for clean stuff; when playing HH guitars like Les Pauls I normally set the switch to the middle for clean stuff.

Sparkfire · 09-03-2010, 08:00 AM

I really use them all but 2 and 4 seem to get the most workout.

edandis · 09-03-2010, 09:33 AM

I use mainly 1 & 3, but after adjusting the pup heights I'm liking 2 & 4 as well.

66musicmaster · 09-03-2010, 11:15 AM

I think the mod you;re looking for is one I did a while back. I can't remember the title or anything, but look at my profile and sort thru the post by me? It's simple - soldering in a jumper on the switch I think was all there was to it. And it really makes me happy. I like most all the p/up positions, but the bridge pup is still my least favorite. 3,4, and 5 are better. 4 is probably my "go to" position for most of the bluesy stuff I play.

Randy

66musicmaster · 09-03-2010, 11:18 AM

http://www.squier-talk.com/forum/squ...-mod-idea.html

There it is. Or at least my idea. There's even a locked thread about it where folks got upset with Pesky for recommending it... I didn't see that one till after it was locked. Heck, it was just an idea I had that I hadn't seen on here or the other strat forums I go to.

Good luck and back to the topic now....
Randy

adamjn · 09-03-2010, 01:00 PM

All of the above. I use 2 a lot when I'm practicing and I love the middle pickup alone for slide.

BillStickers · 09-03-2010, 01:12 PM

I use every setting and have at least one riff or song that suits each of them, either alternating in a piece or layered in one.

Although I have 2 Guitars with 36 unique combos each... so I'm more than spoilt for choice... maybe my SOZ Mod is overkill

inliner · 09-10-2010, 02:11 PM

I installed new GFS pups and now neck and middle sound absolutely the same!

Can you think of any reason why it happens?
I don't think it's normal. I mean the sound is good, but they should sound differently.
I can only hear the difference when playing above 12th fret because neck pup has very unique sound there.

iWishIcouldPlay · 09-10-2010, 02:16 PM

2 and 5 are my favorites. I use them all.

edandis · 09-10-2010, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by inliner

I installed new GFS pups and now neck and middle sound absolutely the same!

Can you think of any reason why it happens?
I don't think it's normal. I mean the sound is good, but they should sound differently.
I can only hear the difference when playing above 12th fret because neck pup has very unique sound there.

I don't know why they sound the same, it could be the wiring. How do the other positions sound. Is the 4th position kind of hollow sounding? Before you take the pickguard out try adjusting the pickup heights, I have the neck very close to the pg on the bass side and a little higher on the treble side. My mid pickup is set a little higher than the neck and the treble the same height as the neck. The highest is the bridge pickup.

I hope this helps. It's better to start here than cutting the strings to take a look under the hood.

Teleblooz · 09-10-2010, 03:07 PM

My Strat is an HSS with a Tele pickup in the neck position. For most rhythm work I use either the neck alone (#5) or the neck/middle combo (#4). If I need to cut through the mix for a lead, I'll usually go to the bridge alone (#1), or occasionally bridge/middle (#2). I almost never use the middle pickup alone - just as a "blender" with the two outside pups.

Stratatattat · 09-10-2010, 05:13 PM

depends on the sound i'm after...although i really wanna put a tone blender into my next project.

blues4me · 09-11-2010, 12:00 AM

[QUOTE=horax;20144]I really dig position 69.

Rotfl

I really dig 68 too.. that's when you owe'em one.

I use 5 for rhythm and bluesy solos. 4 & 2 for crunch and power chords. 1 for hot lead or high gain.

Sparkfire · 09-12-2010, 05:39 PM

Am I looking at my switch backwards? Is the bridge 1 or 5. Or maybe my switch is upside down. I thought 5 was the bridge. I know where it is anyway. lol The stat says its 5. Its all the way to the rear. lol Maybe I can swap it out for an "H" style shifter for a 5 speed.