I never use the middle position on my Strat. What to put there?

[Diego]

I've noticed that 95% of the time I play my Strat either on the neck or bridge pickups alone.
On rare ocassions I use the quacky 2/4 positions. The middle position? Never.

I imagine there's gotta be something I can drop there that could make it interesting for me.

Maybe a hotter pickup with rolled off highs and a blast of mids and low mids, like I've just stepped on a boost pedal or something.

Or maybe I should just replace the 5-way switch with a 3-way for the sake of simplicity,
and keep the middle pickup disconnected and sunk low on the pickguard.

What would you do?

 

[JeffB]

Re: I never use the middle position on my Strat. What to put there?

Im not a quack fan...my current strat middle is 8k, a5, formvar..sounds glorious mixed with a low 7k bridge and 6k neck. I posted a clip a couple weeks back....much of it was the middle pup, but suspect most folks would guess I was using the neck. I keep my strat pups low in the guard..keeps overwounds from sounding too muddy or smooth, but they still sound very big and powerful

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: I never use the middle position on my Strat. What to put there?

Does your Strat have the American Standard wiring, where the bridge pickup shares a tone control? If so, try the following: Rewire it to "vintage" wiring, where the bridge pickup has no tone control. (Or if it already has the "vintage" wiring, just leave it.) Then put the switch in between the middle and bridge pickups and roll down the tone control for the middle all the way. Play it hard near the bridge saddles. Awesome cocked wah tone that still has bite and definition, from the wide-open bridge pickup being in the mix. Even if you never use the middle pickup by itself, IMO it's worth having it just for that tone.

 

[JeffB]

Re: I never use the middle position on my Strat. What to put there?

Does your Strat have the American Standard wiring, where the bridge pickup shares a tone control? If so, try the following: Rewire it to "vintage" wiring, where the bridge pickup has no tone control. (Or if it already has the "vintage" wiring, just leave it.) Then put the switch in between the middle and bridge pickups and roll down the tone control for the middle all the way. Play it hard near the bridge saddles. Awesome cocked wah tone that still has bite and definition, from the wide-open bridge pickup being in the mix. Even if you never use the middle pickup by itself, IMO it's worth having it just for that tone.

That was one of Rory Gallaghers most used tone tricks.it does sound good with some gain.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: I never use the middle position on my Strat. What to put there?

If I were you I'd explore the middle pickup, it's easily one of the most overlooked tones in guitar!

That said if you just can't be bothered with it leave the pickup that's in there in there and change the switch...a super or mega switch will let you wire it so that in the middle position you are using the neck and bridge pickups together...

 

[Diego]

Re: I never use the middle position on my Strat. What to put there?

Does your Strat have the American Standard wiring, where the bridge pickup shares a tone control? If so, try the following: Rewire it to "vintage" wiring, where the bridge pickup has no tone control. (Or if it already has the "vintage" wiring, just leave it.) Then put the switch in between the middle and bridge pickups and roll down the tone control for the middle all the way. Play it hard near the bridge saddles. Awesome cocked wah tone that still has bite and definition, from the wide-open bridge pickup being in the mix. Even if you never use the middle pickup by itself, IMO it's worth having it just for that tone.

Totally forgot about this one. I actually use that trick for solos a lot. More than I first mentioned.
I have the tones wired to neck and bridge, so the 2/4 positions still do the cocked wah sound, I use it normally with the middle-bridge pups. Love it.

Still, I imagine I could get that with a 3-way and the neck/bridge pups... right?

 

[JOLLY]

Re: I never use the middle position on my Strat. What to put there?

I'm completely the other way around. When I play a Strat, I probably use the two and four positions 95% of the time.

 

[Gypsyblue]

Re: I never use the middle position on my Strat. What to put there?

If you never use the middle pickup, get a Schaller Mega Switch. In the middle setting you'll get the neck and bridge pickups together, like the middle setting on a Telecaster.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: I never use the middle position on my Strat. What to put there?

I'm completely the other way around. When I play a Strat, I probably use the two and four positions 95% of the time.

I use the 2 and 4 and bridge positions alot...I very rarely use the middle alone,but it's needed for those 2 and 4 position tones..

I do find that I really like the Tex Mex middle pickup alone though..

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: I never use the middle position on my Strat. What to put there?

Still, I imagine I could get that with a 3-way and the neck/bridge pups... right?

I don't know. I've never tried it. Might sound similar as long as you have your bridge tone dimed. But I'd imagine it would be a little bit muddier than bridge+middle.

 

[bungalowbill]

Re: I never use the middle position on my Strat. What to put there?

I don't care for the middle pup by itself either. I use a superswitch to get the neck and bridge at the same time in the middle position.....ala a Telecaster.

 

[tonello]

Re: I never use the middle position on my Strat. What to put there?

Put a p90 in it.

 

[Artie]

Re: I never use the middle position on my Strat. What to put there?

One of the cool things about using a guitar in an unusual way, is that it opens up all kinds of interesting new wiring possibilities. For example, if I was using my guitar as you are, I might move the middle pup to the neck position, (so b/n remain humbucking), and wire both of them to a standard 3-way switch. Use a master vol/tone. Then use the left-over tone hole to mount a switch. Let it select back and forth between the 3-way and the middle pup direct.

Now put something interesting in the middle . . . like a Cool Rails.

Just a thought. :scratchch

 

[papersoul]

Re: I never use the middle position on my Strat. What to put there?

I love, love the middle pickup. The 2 and 4 position on a strat sound huge and massive and full for clean and crunchy rhythm!!!!! Start using it!!!!!!!

 

[LtKojak]

Re: I never use the middle position on my Strat. What to put there?

I've noticed that 95% of the time I play my Strat either on the neck or bridge pickups alone.
On rare ocassions I use the quacky 2/4 positions. The middle position? Never.?

Diego, the question here is WHY you don't use it...?

Maybe is the kind of music you play?

In my case, that's my favorite position for arpeggio work... until I changed my selector with a Schaller 105S, which give me the following combinations:

1: neck only
2: neck-middle
3: neck+bridge
4: middle+bridge
5: bridge only

The tele-esque position #3 became the second most recorded position.

HTH,

 

[Kam]

Re: I never use the middle position on my Strat. What to put there?

Bottle opener.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: I never use the middle position on my Strat. What to put there?

Like you Diego, I never used the middle pickup alone very much, though I spend a lot of time in position #2 (bridge + middle). Two things have changed that.

First of all, I sold my 1960 Strat in 1990 after a divorce. A couple of years later I went looking for a new Strat, but wound up buying a new G&L Legacy. I've become a huge fan of G&L--after all, G&L was Leo Fender's last guitar company, and he came up with some great improvemnets over his original designs. One of them is his Pasive Treble and Bass control system. It allows you to have control over the bass and treble (not just a treble roll-off); and it it global, meaning it works on all pickups in every switch position. It's a really good system for dialing in the middle pickup--I still don't use the middle alone a lot, but I certainly have been using it more and I've been much happier with the tones I get from that pickup. BTW, the PTB seems to work even better on the G&L guitars that have hotter pickups--like the Comanche, S-500 and the Legacy Special.

I like the vintage Strat tones of the stock Legacys, so I don't do a lot of pickup swapping in these guitar. I bought one used Legacy a few years ago, and it came to me with Duncan Texas Hot Antiquitys. I doctored it up a little more, and replaced the standard TH middle with a RW/RP middle, and then replaced the bridge with the hotter Custom Bridge Antiquity. The warmer tones of the Antiquitys in this ash-bodied Legacy are really something special. Don't get me wrong, I still love the snap and quack of my Legacys with stock pickups, but this one definitely has a different flavor. I do find myself using the middle pickup alone more on this guitar. Normally, I'd use either the bridge or the neck or position #2 for my solos, but the middle pickup alone in this guitar works great for solos. If the bridge is a little too edgy or bright; if the neck is a little too sweet or dark--the Antiquity middle seems just perfect. Without a doubt, the best middle pickup tone I've ever gotten from a Strat-bodied guitar.

I'd never give up the middle pickup on a Strat, because I love the position #2 quack so much. Unfortunately, I can't really make a pickup recommendation to you, only what works for me, but I hope this helps.

Good luck in your quest.

Bill

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: I never use the middle position on my Strat. What to put there?

+1 for the non-standard selector switch idea to offer neck + bridge pickups in the central position.

Another alternative is for the centre position to combine two single coils in series. (Kinda like the Fender S-1 circuit.) In series, electrically out-of-phase would offer a Brian May Red Special type tone. (One of the scratchy ones!)

Kudos to Kam for his suggestion.

IMO, the vacant pickup cavity is exactly the right shape to hold a savoury dip so that you can snack while you strum. My personal choice would be Dave's Gourmet Ghost Pepper chilli sauce to liven up chilli dog sausages.

 

[wolf5150]

Re: I never use the middle position on my Strat. What to put there?

Positions 2 and 4 on a Strat are simply beautiful if you have the pickup choice correct.
One awesome tone I got from Guthrie Govan is to roll down the tone pot when in pos 2... cocked wah glory !! ( I only have volume and 1 tone on my Strat )
Mid position works beautifully on its own for " shaft " style funk wah rhythm, don't dismiss it.

 

[gripweed]

Re: I never use the middle position on my Strat. What to put there?

Wayne Kramer put a humbucker in the middle position of his Strat.