Help me decide which pickup...

Hey fellow telephiles-
I picked up a Fender Nashville Body, and I was wondering if anyone has had a euphoric experience using a particular middle pickup.
Help me decide which pickup I should throw on the guitar. I know that they come with tex mex. I have a set of Keystones in the bridge and neck position.
I have been offered a set out of a 96 Nashville, but as I have never worked with or played a Nashville on a steady basis, I am wondering if there is a difference between the Japanese version or the American?

Any help at all let me know.

Man, the middle pickup on my Stratocaster has become my favorite setting after installing the Rene Martinez set from Mojotone. Before I found my Highway One Tele I was looking at the Nashvilles with the intention of replacing the middle pickup with a Rene Martinez. They're worth checking out:

http://www.mojotone.com/guitar-parts/Rene-Martinez-Texas-Guitar-Whiz/Rene-Martinez-Single-Strat-Pickup

Just make sure you choose "Middle" under the style menu. I'm sure you'll get more suggestions but wanted to throw this out there. I absolutely love them on my Strat.

Thanks Kub-
They really sound nice. On the possible list. :smile:

Put a Fender Twisted Tele in the neck position and a Lollar Blackface in the middle position. I think you'll like the tone.

I missed the part about the Keystones, so forget about the Twisted Tele & get the Lollar Blackface for the middle pickup.

Thanks C335. I will look at them.

Man, the middle pickup on my Stratocaster has become my favorite setting after installing the Rene Martinez set from Mojotone. Before I found my Highway One Tele I was looking at the Nashvilles with the intention of replacing the middle pickup with a Rene Martinez. They're worth checking out:

http://www.mojotone.com/guitar-parts/Rene-Martinez-Texas-Guitar-Whiz/Rene-Martinez-Single-Strat-Pickup

Just make sure you choose "Middle" under the style menu. I'm sure you'll get more suggestions but wanted to throw this out there. I absolutely love them on my Strat. I find the Strat M too squirelly sounding since its on the second node of the 13th harmonic. Does your recommendation tame that ? or just make it better for what it is, ie , it brings out something good that other p/ups don't ?

I don't mean to be a pill, Teleterr, but is there some reason you think it matters which node of the harmonic a pickup is located on? Whichever node of the harmonic the pickup is on, it will still cancel the harmonic. Besides, who wants to hear the 13th harmonic? Secondly, you do know that the nodes/harmonics will change position depending on which fret your on. Even if you moved the pickup, the harmonic structure would still change with each fret. That's not even accounting for the slight shift from each string's intonation. Various harmonics will get canceled, or accentuated as you travel up the neck -- except for at the bridge pickup, where things will remain much more constant. It's like trying to determine the phase-cancellations of a room, which also change with listening position -- kind of pointless. Not really helpful in this scenario.

I'd think it's really more about the overall tone balance, than about which natural harmonic the pickup is on. A full-bodied (not fat) pickup with mellow highs should generally even out the tone in the middle position providing a full rich strummed rhythm sound. Whereas, you can usually get away with, or even specifically choose something a little sharper sounding for the neck.

I've always had a tendency to lower the bass side a tad on the middle pickup. I kind of like the sound of it like that, and the combined positions are less boomy. Whatever works for you. I have a sweet 50's style Wilde L200SM that does the trick, but something a little "broader" sounding would be nice. I'd avoid anything sharp sounding.

I have Dlx. KS's in the neck and bridge and a Custom Shop Texas Special Strat middle.

Naturally the KS's sound stellar and the TS with those is just great. Very Strat and the bridge and middle combo (pos. 2) is my FAV-O-RITE

Also, install a push/pull tone pot to get the neck and bridge, you GOTTA have that too.

I don't mean to be a pill, Teleterr, but is there some reason you think it matters which node of the harmonic a pickup is located on? Whichever node of the harmonic the pickup is on, it will still cancel the harmonic. Besides, who wants to hear the 13th harmonic? Secondly, you do know that the nodes/harmonics will change position depending on which fret your on. Even if you moved the pickup, the harmonic structure would still change with each fret. That's not even accounting for the slight shift from each string's intonation. Various harmonics will get canceled, or accentuated as you travel up the neck -- except for at the bridge pickup, where things will remain much more constant. It's like trying to determine the phase-cancellations of a room, which also change with listening position -- kind of pointless. Not really helpful in this scenario.

I'd think it's really more about the overall tone balance, than about which natural harmonic the pickup is on. A full-bodied (not fat) pickup with mellow highs should generally even out the tone in the middle position providing a full rich strummed rhythm sound. Whereas, you can usually get away with, or even specifically choose something a little sharper sounding for the neck.

I've always had a tendency to lower the bass side a tad on the middle pickup. I kind of like the sound of it like that, and the combined positions are less boomy. Whatever works for you. I have a sweet 50's style Wilde L200SM that does the trick, but something a little "broader" sounding would be nice. I'd avoid anything sharp sounding. One would think that key would effect the tone of a p/up due to your point , but it doesn't due to vibrations in the wood or whatever reason. Playing in different keys never makes the neck sound squirelly or the middle deep and hollow. Note a p/up closer to the nut than the N position will sound middlish. Its not picking up thru the magnet. Placing the magnet under an Harmonic actually emphasisis it. I have a uniroute Strat and moving the p/up along the strings brings out whatever Harmonic its under. You raise a good point for a string mounted on a perfectly ridge mount, but a guitar has lots of other stuff going on.

Anyway, kubiakl. What about that p/up made you like the middle or were you always a fan ?

The node point is where a harmonic is canceled. The antinode is the peak of the harmonic. The pickup would half to be at the antinode of a harmonic to accentuate it. Either way, it will change depending on where you fret, so what's the point of trying to do that for the middle, or neck position?

Most people don't have the option, or inclination to bother routing out and customizing a pickguard for a questionable improvement. Don't you think Leo already figured out that stuff way back when? I think it's more a matter of a pickup that isn't sharp sounding, and a capacitance load that doesn't emphasize the harsher harmonic range. Lower capacitance is usually the answer. What is squirrelly anyway? unpleasantly phasey in some way?

Yeah, I'm saying there is too much going on in the vibration to determine the tone along the whole string by attempting to cancel or accentuate certain harmonics at a given point. Perhaps you've found a more ideal spot to place a middle pickup? I'd be curious what that might be, and how it would translate in a mix? Weird tones often fit well in a mix, whereas smooth warm tones can get lost, or create mud.

"The node point is where a harmonic is canceled. The antinode is the peak of the harmonic. The pickup would half to be at the antinode of a harmonic to accentuate it." Yep, that was my theory too. Reality says otherwise. Hook up a free p/up and have someone move it along as you play on a guitar w no p/up to interfere magnetically. The sound will get big on nodes containing octave harmonics.2,4,8. By your idea they should be weak. If you do harmonics on an acoustic they are the strongest. The same is true p/up placement wise. The magnet on any 7+ odd harmonic gives a weaker tone. Again this shouldn't happen if the harmonic node doesn't dominate. 3,5 come thru fairly strong because more string moves than the higher odds.Again a fairly strong acoustic harmonic site.6 is sort of medium w odd/even phase effects, weaker fundamental.

Are you saying that the magnetic field interferes with the harmonic, so it doesn't actually get accentuated, but modulated? Makes sense. I guess that could happen, depending on the strength of the field. Interesting that the 6th harmonic creates phasey effects. Perhaps the field induced modulation at the 6th harmonic is strong enough to somewhat dampen the fundamental? Interesting. Perhaps your pickups are set too high? It does get complicated in any case. I set my middle pickup low. That may be why I don't have those issues. Some pickups, like Lace Sensors and my Wilde NF series have moderated fields. That probably alleviates the problem.

Anyway, kubiakl. What about that p/up made you like the middle or were you always a fan ?

I'll be honest with you, I don't know enough about harmonic nodes to really be sure what you're saying. But here's my full thoughts:

Before the Rene Martinez set I was using the American Standards that came stock on the guitar. With those I rarely strayed from the neck position pickup - the bridge was too thin and pingy sounding, and the middle was just useless and dull. Occasionally I would use the bridge/middle combined if I wanted hum cancelling, but otherwise I left them alone.

After switching out for the Rene Martinez set the neck pickup is the one I switch to least, and pretty much only when I'm playing cleaner sounds. For greasy blues tones I use the middle and for twangier sounds the bridge. Gone is the thin bridge and the dull middle. Even strumming chords on the bridge pickup sounds good - NEVER would have done that with the stock pickups.

The middle pickup is a great mix of the other two. Less twangy, a little more mellow than the bridge, but not as round and deep as the neck (though it has more than decent bass output). So when I want an overdrive blues sound I usually go for the middle position. It's clearer with heavier drive than the neck position but more full than the bridge.

So to sum up - hated the middle position before. Use it more than any other position now. :grin:

Hope this helps! I'm sorry I couldn't answer the question directly, but Mojotone.com was great about answering my questions before I purchased them. Shoot them an e-mail and maybe they'll know.

I'll be honest with you, I don't know enough about harmonic nodes to really be sure what you're saying. But here's my full thoughts:

Before the Rene Martinez set I was using the American Standards that came stock on the guitar. With those I rarely strayed from the neck position pickup - the bridge was too thin and pingy sounding, and the middle was just useless and dull. Occasionally I would use the bridge/middle combined if I wanted hum cancelling, but otherwise I left them alone.

After switching out for the Rene Martinez set the neck pickup is the one I switch to least, and pretty much only when I'm playing cleaner sounds. For greasy blues tones I use the middle and for twangier sounds the bridge. Gone is the thin bridge and the dull middle. Even strumming chords on the bridge pickup sounds good - NEVER would have done that with the stock pickups.

The middle pickup is a great mix of the other two. Less twangy, a little more mellow than the bridge, but not as round and deep as the neck (though it has more than decent bass output). So when I want an overdrive blues sound I usually go for the middle position. It's clearer with heavier drive than the neck position but more full than the bridge.

So to sum up - hated the middle position before. Use it more than any other position now. :grin:

Hope this helps! I'm sorry I couldn't answer the question directly, but Mojotone.com was great about answering my questions before I purchased them. Shoot them an e-mail and maybe they'll know. Cool. I'll write them. I've never found a middle I liked. The ones that kind of mask the sound give a "dull" tone like you said. So your p/up brings out hidden goodness. Nice.