Do you tap the pickguard/pickups when you play?

[8barlouie]

I guess I hit the strings fairly hard, but in addition to that, the pick taps down on the pg and/or pickups when I play. I really notice it when I’m playing in do not disturb volumes. Mind you, I’m not asking if this is bad technique, or how to stop it. That train left the station a long time ago. I’m just curious if anybody else does this.

 

[Wrong-Note Rod]

sometimes I hit them I guess. Probly more with my strat because of the middle pickup. I never noticed, I guess it doesnt make enough noise to bother me.

My picking hand fingernails sometimes tap against the pickguard, that can get loud, but its also sort of musical in a percussive kinda way

 

[Chikubi]

On my Tele, I often hit the guard in the open area under the high E, but have never really hit the neck pickup or the guard directly below the strings.

On my Gretsch 12-string I don't think I hit the pickguard much if at all as it has no scratches or anything on it, unlike my Tele.

 

[schmee]

Yes, it's a part of a technique I couldn't change if I wanted to. Kind of percussive picking and also that "pinch harmonic" thing I do a lot. More on the strings for me though. My right index finger tip nail is beat to hell and black after a gig.

 

[AAT65]

Oh yeah. My plectrum is rattling off the scratchplate (as we say on this side of the pond), the body, the pickups all the time!
Here’s my Shergold Masquerader after just a couple of months:

That nice brushed-silver finish on the Bakelite scratchplate neatly cross-hatched with my picking / strumming marks!

 

[Obsessed]

I hit the middle p'up of my strat with the pick constantly. Nothing I can do about it, because it is based on where I palm mute. Sometimes it aggravates the heck out of me and sometimes I don't even think about it. Oh, and trust me, I have adjusted the height of that p'up more than all of the others collectively.

 

[SixStringSlinger]

I don't do it now (at least, I have no reason to think I do), but I seem to remember that happening a lot on my old Squier Strat (my first electric guitar). Whether that had to do with some aspect of the guitar or its set-up, or my relatively newbie technique at the time, I couldn't say.

It never really bothered me, though. It was just a thing that happened.

 

[Minimalist518]

When I bought my guitar I switched out the cheap white five-hole single-ply guard for a brand new black/white/black eight-hole. Judging by the scratches on that guard now, I’d have to answer, “All the time.”

 

[JL_LI]

When I first got my Gretsch Anniversary, I heard clicks from a source that I couldn't place. It turned out that the clicks were caused by the strings coming into contact with raised pole pieces. I don't have the problem any more. What's changed? I have the pole pieces set to a more reasonable height. I dropped the treble side of both pickups. I'm using heavier strings. I play mostly finger style now so my right hand is up over the strings much higher than when I used a flat pick for everything. My flat picking has actually improved as a result. I never was much of a strummer, but most of my strumming now is more controlled and often done using my thumb. Almost everything about my playing has more subtlety now than when I was using arm and wrist motions to strum chords. Even leads. I do muting with fingers on my left hand more often than with the heel of my right. Maturity? At 68, it's about time. Don't you think?

 

[TeleBrew]

Yeah, my picking hand fingers often tap and brush against the pickguard (left hand, in my case). Sometimes when I'm playing at home, especially during the winter when it's extra dry out, I'll hear static as my fingers brush the pickguard.

 

[Cesspit]

It's one reason I like the Tele, there's nothing to hit. I sometimes hit the middle pick up on the Strat but it's never been a problem.

 

[soulgeezer]

I have one of these:

Although, mine is a 1957. That pickup is located in the worst possible place for me, as I hit it with every pick stroke and, being a P90, it might as well be a microphone amplifying the loud and annoying click every time my pick hits it.

It's a nice guitar. I wish I could play it more. But, the pickup location is a deal breaker for me. If it weren't a gift from my uncle (he was a studio musician in the 1950s and mine is the actual guitar that the Lou Monte song "Roman Guitar" was recorded with), I'd probably sell it off. But, the sentimental value is too great, so it just sadly sits in its case. Oh, well... What ya gonna do?

 

[raysachs]

I hit the pickguard sometimes when I'm strumming my acoustic pretty hard. On my electrics I rarely do, if ever. On my PRS, though, I often hit/tap the neck humbucker when I'm picking. Something about where the leg-cut is located on that guitar that when I'm sitting, the cut is farther forward than on my other guitars and, thus, the guitar is a bit farther back than I'm used to, and my natural picking position puts me right over the neck pup instead of between the two. I often hear a little tap-tap coming through the amp and it usually takes me a second to realize what it is. Never had it happen on any other guitar I've ever had. And it's the one thing I'm not crazy about on that guitar, which is otherwise so close to perfect it's a little scary...

-Ray

 

[The Angle]

Yes, and being a recent convert to the Telecaster, it really surprised me the first time it happened. It sounded like there was a woodpecker on the side of the house. The humbucker-equipped guitars I was accustomed to all have a lot more room under the strings than the Tele has. Once I confirmed it wasn't 'phoning into the pickups and coming out the amp, I decided "oh well" and forgot about it.

 

[schmee]

I have one of these:

Although, mine is a 1957. That pickup is located in the worst possible place for me, as I hit it with every pick stroke and, being a P90, it might as well be a microphone amplifying the loud and annoying click every time my pick hits it.

It's a nice guitar. I wish I could play it more. But, the pickup location is a deal breaker for me. If it weren't a gift from my uncle (he was a studio musician in the 1950s and mine is the actual guitar that the Lou Monte song "Roman Guitar" was recorded with), I'd probably sell it off. But, the sentimental value is too great, so it just sadly sits in its case. Oh, well... What ya gonna do?

Yeah... you better send it to me! Seriously though, those P90's sound best moved down from the strings, not sure if you have any way to do that, but even 1/4" is not out of the question.... I had a 59 ES225 with the dual pickups. Wish I hadn't sold it. I have a '51 LG2 Acoustic I think I'll sell and get another 225!

 

[jhundt]

yeah, I do that. I also make a whole lot of extraneous noise tapping on the body with the ring finger of my right hand while I am picking or plucking with the other fingers. It's an annoying habit I developed over the years, don't notice when the guitar is not plugged in but with an amp and microphonic pickups it can be pretty bad.

 

[SweetClyde99]

I struggle with 3-pickup guitars for this reason. I had a 3-pickup Les Paul that drove me crazy until I finally got rid of it. I now have a Strat and Tele with SC middle pickups that I drop all the way down just to clear them out of the path of my guitar pick.

 

[Nubs]

Must be a lefty thing cuz I do it often also. I don't notice it most of the time, but I will catch myself doing it once in a while. Since I'm still working on my technique, I suppose I could train it out of me if I wanted to.

I don't want to.

 

[Alamo]

Just stop it when your fingers are bleeding, ok?

 

[ebb soul]

I had beat the expoxied cover of my Lawrence middle strat pickup till it broke.