Strat positions

['59]

I'm new to the SSS Strat world and was wondering what the traditional use for each position 1 through 5 was, and what types of EQ curves are generally idea for each position?

All I know to begin with is that 2 and 4 don't usually cut through as well.

[zionstrat]

Welcome to stratland.. of course a lot has to do with style of music and the rest of the signal chain, but there are quite a few generalities.

Start with the neck pick up. It easily provides a warm driving tone for lead and a relatively thick rhythm sound that is still significantly more articulate than a humbucker on a 24.75 guitar. It's my favorite crunched position on a strat.

Position four is your first "quack" position... As you noted, it can be less powerful but if adjusted correctly, it provides the quacky somewhat nasal cutting tone that can cut through a mix on lead. And for the same reason it is my 2nd favorite rhythm position because one three and five are louder for soloing. This is my second favorite crunched position on a strat.

For me, most of the time the middle pickups purpose is to create that quack between the middle and the neck and the middle in the bridge and positions two and four. It can be a somewhat boring pickup at times by itself. It tends to be very clean, with an almost acoustic sound and I have used the middle pickup to get a clean chorus acoustic kind of tone many times.

But the middle pickup can also be very useful. I have one strat where it does provide great quack in two and four, however it also acts as a good lead and rhythm pickup that falls directly in between one and five. So it's a bit of a trade-off but you can get a very good three position with the right pup.

Two, once again is quacky, the bright version of quack in number four and it's famous for clean leads with knopfler Clapton Albert Lee, , pretty much anyone who loves strats. It's my primary clean rhythm position, because you can really dig it hard without overloading.

Crunch with two is pretty biting, which can be very useful to cut through or to create stab rhythms.

The bridge pickup on a strat can also be useless at times. Of course it is creating the quack in the second position, so it is crucial. But on many strats it is the least useful pickup by itself. It can be bright and not balanced with the rest of the set.

However, once again I have a strat that has a wonderful one position and still quacks as well. And just to give kudos to that strat, it really does well with light crunch getting an almost PAF like AC/DC tone.

As far as EQ, I play lots of different styles with lots of different EQs so not sure I can connect any to a specific position.

['59]

Ah, so that's where HSS comes from? You get the best sounding humbucke position but only losing the arguably worst sounding Strat position?

[zionstrat]

Yep :-) with the right pickup, you can get a great 2 position by splitting the humbucker and pairing it with the mid pickup. Many five position switches will do this automatically.

And then you got the humbucker for humbucker stuff :-)

But this doesn't mean SSS sucks... Like I said I have a couple of strats that do well in all positions, and I don't know if it's psychological or what, but they do feel a little more stratty then my HSSs.

[Mincer]

HSS has other compromises, though. You lose the best sounding humbucker position (to me). Also, you have to be more careful about pickup choices, as it is easy for the bridge humbucker to overpower the other 2.

['59]

I don't see anything wrong with the bridge pickup overpowering the other positions. Usually I use my Strats (bear in mind I haven't had a SSH or SSS in a while) for lower gain tones, and having a humbucker to boost me into a mild amount of crunch is a plus for me.

[zionstrat]

Yep, if you solo off the bridge, a bridge HB can definitely scream.

My favorite HSS as a JB in the bridge. So it splits perfectly wonderfully in a second position and beautifully quacks.

And I like the power of the JB, and as long as I'm careful with the mid-range, it's a good example of the flexibility of an HSS.

On the other hand, I recently wrote about a time when I intended to use my hss, but ended up with my SSS strat and it perfectly covered everything from countryish to AC/DC.

Again, a lot of this has to do with the signal chain. In the SSS scenario it turns out that I was using a modeling amplifier and could make a few last second tweaks. On a tube gig, I might not have been as lucky.

[Mincer]

I don't see anything wrong with the bridge pickup overpowering the other positions. Usually I use my Strats (bear in mind I haven't had a SSH or SSS in a while) for lower gain tones, and having a humbucker to boost me into a mild amount of crunch is a plus for me.

Some people really like that imbalance. Some really hate it. I don't generally solo with the bridge pickup (maybe 40%), so I would rather have them all about the same volume, but with more tonal differences.

[IMENATOR]

IMHO:

1. Positions 2 and 4 sound better with clean or mild overdrive, great for chords but not that much for single notes.
2. If you find bridge too thin for crunch/lead try an SSL-5, SSL-6 or STK-S6 (Noiseless), David Guilmour bridge sound that works with gain but Is good too for cleans.
3. Neck is great from edge of breakup to lead.
4. In general a Strat is scooped. I perdonally like adding mids in the amp for a balanced crunchy rythm that has lots of dynamics and articulation while still punchy. If I want clean edge of breakup I roll the volume back or if I want high gain/lead I engage an OD with bump un the mids.

[uOpt]

On a Stratocaster the neck position is more useful than many think. For example the Smoke on the Water riff, along with many other Blackmore licks, is played on the neck pickup. You would never do that on a Les Paul.

[GuitarStv]

The neck is the most used position on a strat for me. Nice for rhythm chording and lead stuff. Bridge is fine with gain, but often needs some work to tame the brightness - this is why I prefer an overwound strat bridge. Bridge + mid is great for sparkly funk thing and neck + mid is a nice slightly mellower clean rhythm thing. I don't like either two pickup options with lots of gain. Don't really use the mid position on it's own.

['59]

Some people really like that imbalance. Some really hate it. I don't generally solo with the bridge pickup (maybe 40%), so I would rather have them all about the same volume, but with more tonal differences.

Yeah, the Strat I did have with "single coils" weren't really single coils except by name only. I had a P90 in the neck, a QP in the middle, and a P90 in the bridge, which I later replaced with a Custom 5. Only had a 3 way switch too. Maybe with traditional single coils the volume difference would become more bothersome

[Mincer]

I tend to use the neck, and neck + middle the most, either dead clean or TS-level of OD.

[donaldr]

The neck is the most used position on a strat for me. Nice for rhythm chording and lead stuff. Bridge is fine with gain, but often needs some work to tame the brightness - this is why I prefer an overwound strat bridge. Bridge + mid is great for sparkly funk thing and neck + mid is a nice slightly mellower clean rhythm thing. I don't like either two pickup options with lots of gain. Don't really use the mid position on it's own.

I always rewire the bridge pickup to its own tone knob.

[beaubrummels]

I'm new to the SSS Strat world and was wondering what the traditional use for each position 1 through 5 was, and what types of EQ curves are generally idea for each position?

All I know to begin with is that 2 and 4 don't usually cut through as well.

Some examples

Position 1 (at 2:14 and 4:37)

Position 2

Position 3

Position 4

Position 5