Middle Pickup position.

[41144]

Simple Q, does anyone by default use the middle pick-up position on either a Tele or for that matter a Strat (regarding Strat I do mean middle not 2 or 4!)?

Personally... Tele is neck everytime unless I want to use, Fuzz in which case I'll use Bridge , Strat is Neck and or pos. 2.
ie Would never dream of using the mid-switch position.

 

[ASATKat]

Simple Q, does anyone by default use the middle pick-up position on either a Tele or for that matter a Strat (regarding Strat I do mean middle not 2 or 4!)?

Personally... Tele is neck everytime unless I want to use, Fuzz in which case I'll use Bridge , Strat is Neck and or pos. 2.
ie Would never dream of using the mid-switch position.

Let's hear that baby over one of the many backing tracks we play to in this sub forum,

 

[Axegrinder77]

I prefer my tele bridge usually, and I like the mid and neck as well. Had a 4 way installed, but don't like that one (series I think?)

On my Strat I like neck and bridge equally. Neck/mid occasionally. Mid pickup rarely.

 

[Jensen]

On my t-style guitar I usually use the middle position. Perhaps my way of describing it would be the best of both worlds. The two pickups are rather different. Combining them does not take any of their greatness away in my opinion.

I sometimes dial my amp in to suit the neck or middle pickup alone but I usually end up finding that the middle position is a little more to my liking. In most cases when I find a sound I really like on the neck pickup even with no redialing of the amp I usually find the middle position sounds better. On my Les Paul I also end up using the middle position quite often.

On my s-style I actually do use the middle position. While I am often on the neck or in position 2 or 4 the middle also gives me a good "cut-through" sound a little brighter than the neck pickup. I never understood why some people seemingly do not like it. Neither do I understand why some people do not like the neck pickup on a tele much. Anyway the sound depends partly on how you play the guitar. And apart from having different tastes in sound we also play differently.

 

[SixStringSlinger]

I like the middle position on my Tele for country-type stuff that doesn't have to be so cutting or twangy. The sort of thing that's mostly lives on the low end of the low strings. It's also good for comping on soul and the like.

On my Strat I use the middle pickup... well, when the neck is too necky and the bridge is too bridgey. It's warmer than the bridge but not as full as the neck. Go figure, it's in the middle.

I don't use the in-between positions on my Strat much. I'll use them if I'm trying to cop a tone to cover a specific song, but I rarely gravitate toward them myself. In parallel, anyway. The in-between positions on my American Deluxe with the S-1 switch engaged (so in series) make for a nice tone for when I want something closer to a humbucker tone.

 

[Killing Floor]

I play my neck a lot. But I have series-parallel wiring for mmmmm,nasty

 

[blowtorch]

Middle position most of the time, whether it's tele or 2 bucker deal, and also those rare times I'm stratting

I play rhythm like 75% of the time, unlike you hotshots who just wait til it's time to play the lead

 

[Dan German]

Depends what I’m playing. I switch often enough that I wouldn’t want to try to put a percentage on any of the positions, and my 5 way tele switch complicates things, because I have extra “middle” and “neck” positions to choose from. I would say that I use middle as much as neck, or nearly so.

 

[howardlo]

Middle position on my Teles 90% of time.
Middle pickup alone on my Strats, never.
Positions 2 & 4 90% of the time. Mainly 4.

But I only play clean so that may figure into it.

 

[Fuelish]

My Tele has 2 humbuckers, and, yeah, I play the middle a lot. Even more so with my 2 humbucker guitars that have dual volume and tone controls to balance them . Rarely do I play bridge only on any guitar, anymore.....total 180* from when I was young.

 

[DougM]

I used to use the middle more than I do now, but a LOT of blues players use it on their Strats, including a pop/rock/blues player with the initials EC. You can see in this video that he starts on the middle pickup, switches to the neck for the first solo, then at around the four minute mark, he switches back to the middle and stays there to do the final solo.

 

[Jay Jernigan]

If I had 21 combinations, I would try to figure out a way to make use of all of them, at least once.

 

[JL_LI]

My FCS ‘69 Stratocaster is my #1. I play clean, sometimes pushing to the edge of breakup. I use the guitar to accompany my vocals playing mostly finger style. I don’t play in a band. I use my Strat more like a folk singer uses a Martin.

My Strat is a little different. I reversed the neck and middle pickups so position 1 is bridge, loan 2 is neck and bridge, posn 3 is neck, posn 4 is neck and middle, and posn 5 is middle. I use the middle alone most of all. The neck and middle is very warm with an acoustic like character. I occasionally use the neck alone with the brightness tamed by an equalizer. I use the neck and bridge as I use that combination with my Telecaster. I play the bridge pickup with a flat pick for twang and attack. Having these choices makes my Telecaster seem somewhat limited. My Gretsch has its own unique suite of tones so it’s not a good comparison. My SG has its own sound as well. I play my Gretsch and SG with the pickups blended but with the balance set as needed.

I think we buy guitars to meet our needs and select pickups and set volume, tone, and balance for what we need for each song. All of my guitars can be used for what I play but are also great choices for other genres. I think what we attribute to pickup selection has as much or more to do with our amplifier, settings, use or non use of pedals, and playing style, finger picking or flat picking among them.

 

[notroHnhoJ]

Strat middle pickup=all the time.
Tele middle position= just about never.

 

[stormsedge]

I play middle abt as much as the other positions...more probably on my S than my T, since the S has 3 middle options.

 

[suave eddie]

Jerry Garcia rarely strayed from the middle pickup.

 

[Chiogtr4x]

I use all pickup settings on my Tele,
( 3-way switch/'modern' wiring)

And on my Strat, I use all except.#4 ( I just find it weak clean, and not useable dirty)

LOVE the middle position on a Strat or Tele.

The middle setting on a Strat is just a great well-balanced and direct tone for R&R, Rockabilly, blues rhythm and lead, Surf, and Dead. Love it clean, moderate OD, with Reverb or Slapback

 

[John O]

I’m a middle man on tele or asat by default 80% of the time, just love the mixture of tones. On strat or Comanche I’m usually on 2 or 4, depends on the song or the mood, but do use middle on these for crunchy rock rhythm parts or occasionally a solo when I don’t want real bright.

 

[Telecaster88]

I play the Tele middle position almost all the time now, yeah, it's the best of both worlds to me. Fuller, less brittle than bridge alone, smoother than neck alone.

That said, I played the Tele bridge almost exclusively for like ten years. It's a great sound too, but middle's where I'm at now.

On a Strat I like middle a lot for rhythm stuff, and neck for solos and single note lines etc. I use position two a lot for chiming arpeggios with a touch of bite to them.

 

[Alex_C]

I use almost all positions on both start and tele style guitars. Position 2 on the strat the least. I guess I need to learn more funk...