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What's your favorite pickup type and position?


davie

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Hey guys,

Just curious on what's your favorite pickup type and position to use. (eg. neck tele, etc.) and any particular reason why?

When I was younger I had a thing for strat single coils, but nowadays the only thing I really use is a bridge humbucker in my strats, which I use for both rhythm and lead/riff styles. Probably due to a change in taste, from clean sounds to a more overdriven sound.

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My favorite is a Telecaster neck pickup, which is why I will probably never own an Esquire. I’m not really a jazzer but I like that tone . I have Fender vintage noiseless in one of my Teles. The neck is very nice sounding, unfortunately the bridge is lame but I keep them just for that neck PU 

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13 hours ago, gardo said:

My favorite is a Telecaster neck pickup, which is why I will probably never own an Esquire. I’m not really a jazzer but I like that tone . I have Fender vintage noiseless in one of my Teles. The neck is very nice sounding, unfortunately the bridge is lame but I keep them just for that neck PU 

Cool. I actually used to own a tele that had the Fender vintage noiseless as well. The neck pup was nice, but apparently the bridge pup doesn't have the same bite as a traditional tele bridge pickup. iirc, I liked the middle position a lot too.

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2 minutes ago, davie said:

Cool. I actually used to own a tele that had the Fender vintage noiseless as well. The neck pup was nice, but apparently the bridge pup doesn't have the same bite as a traditional tele bridge pickup. iirc, I liked the middle position a lot too.

Yes, the middle is nice , too bad about the bridge. I tried swapping in a standard single coil bridge but it did not pair well with the neck. 

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10 hours ago, davie said:

Nice. Never had a chance to play those. What kinda guitar do you use them in?

They came stock in a Cort (yes, Cort...) Sunset 1. Cort's take on the discontinued Gretsch spectrasonic (more or less same, but much better looking imo. A brilliant guitar, nothing to upgrade (well, maybe pots, but I never checked that). Tonepros roller bridge, Bigsby, semi hollow, tusq nut, yada yada. Looks great, love it, sound somewhere twixt a Gretsch and a Ric.

I hunted all over for this, found it at NW Guitars (NW England? Didn't know). I live in Thailand & tried to visit US once a year... called them up, paid for it unplayed (also for only $599). That guitar in demo is my guitar. I checked serial numbers in a different video, Ha! They do pop up on Reverb sometimes...

 

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favorite? None...because so much depends on what I'm playing [I'm pretty darned eclectic], and which guitar. For the past 7 years or so I have immersed myself into a thinline tele with 2 P90s...but I would not want a P90 on, say, my Danelectro 12 string...there, the lipstick p-up is nigh on perfect. I have enough guitars to know there is no one best pickup. The neck minihumbucker [Gibson] on my Epi AlleyKat is definitely special, but so are my '57 classics on my ES135, the DiMarzio SDS on my strat [bridge], the Fralin bridge p-up on my Tele copy...each serves a specific purpose...none is 'better' than the others in the final analysis. But this is why there are so many p-ups on the market.

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On 4/13/2022 at 11:48 PM, gardo said:

Yes, the middle is nice , too bad about the bridge. I tried swapping in a standard single coil bridge but it did not pair well with the neck. 

Yeah. the noiseless-type pickups don't seem to combine well with standard pickups. My HSS strat has Fender SCN noiseless single-coil pickups in the neck and middle positions, and the bridge+middle position is the worst sounding position, I don't even use it..

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On 4/15/2022 at 10:46 AM, daddymack said:

favorite? None...because so much depends on what I'm playing [I'm pretty darned eclectic], and which guitar. For the past 7 years or so I have immersed myself into a thinline tele with 2 P90s...but I would not want a P90 on, say, my Danelectro 12 string...there, the lipstick p-up is nigh on perfect. I have enough guitars to know there is no one best pickup. The neck minihumbucker [Gibson] on my Epi AlleyKat is definitely special, but so are my '57 classics on my ES135, the DiMarzio SDS on my strat [bridge], the Fralin bridge p-up on my Tele copy...each serves a specific purpose...none is 'better' than the others in the final analysis. But this is why there are so many p-ups on the market.

Good take. Eclectic taste will definitely yield a wide array of preferences, for sure.

Personally, I'm more of a minimalist, it helps keep my OCD at bay.. lol. I really only have and use 2 electric guitars.

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Two go to toans.

Neck, bright as possible with slight drive.

Bridge, full on for crunch, way down for Dumbly singing. Tone from max ground to less, depending on clarity preference.

Well, three ish but I'm a guitarer not a mathmetician.

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Back when I first started playing electric (late 60s) with experience and gear choice limitations You would dial in whatever sounded good. Typically pushing the limits to match the loudness of a live drummer.  You’d be lucky to have a decent amp no less pedals that weren’t readily available.  Today the gear limitations simply don’t exist like that.  Not only do you have accessibility to decent quality low cost instruments but nearly endless pedals and amps.  Anyone who can’t find a multiple variety of decent tones simply isn’t trying very hard or lacks the experience.  
 

playing live doing cover tunes in a band should force a player to seek out the best tones for the role you’re playing  I know I spent countless hours helping others to dial up the right sound Dow whatever songs we played. You quickly learn everyone cannot dial up lead tones and expect to be heard when playing with other guitarists.  Even in a trio with a single guitar you still have vocals to be considered.  If a bridge pup selection doesn’t mask the vocals go for it.

Typically I would tame the rhythm back when I’d sing so both could be heard equally. Leads had a higher energy level so you wouldn’t be sucked into a sonic hole in the soundscape during a solo. 

The experience I gained recording teaches you much about these finer details. Playing live you can get away with a lot especially if you use a good sound man doing all the tweaks.  You only need a sound that allows you to play well. Recording you have to target the right tones from the start because you learn there are definite limitations to how much you can tweak tracks and still sound as good as good as possible.  
 

 

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I think I've recently started having another tone epiphany..

Lately been playing a lot on my strat using the neck-only and middle-only single coil positions. It seems to slot in perfectly to the sound and style I currently want in my songs.

My HSS Fender Strat was just sitting in my closet for past few years, and only just recently took it back out again. Since then I was mainly playing my HH Yamaha style-strat..

I guess some playing styles really do work better with certain guitars.

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