In your opinion, is having a single in a H-S-H redundant?

[Top-L]

Yes but if I want good quack then if I lower the middle pickup its gonna sound too thin. Trust me, I have tried this before and that is why adding a second volume control is in my radar. If I want good quack want to crank the volume for the middle pickup, if I want less gain I will back the volume of the middle pickup. For most humbucker when you split it it is already thin sounding so if you lower the middle pickup the quack is too thin, or at least that has been my personal experience so far, maybe I need to try higher output humbuckers for which split seems to be better.

Another thing you might be able to do, that probably easier to manage, is just add a resistor to the middle position of the switch, so that the volume is lower when in the middle, that way you would still get full volume quack in 2 and 4.

You would only have to switch to the middle, not turn a knob and switch every time you want clean.

This might take a superswitch, but I bet if you ask some people around here could advise.

You could get a few 50K Ohm resistors and wire them in series until you get the sound you want.

 

[IMENATOR]

Another thing you might be able to do, that probably easier to manage, is just add a resistor to the middle position of the switch, so that the volume is lower when in the middle, that way you would still get full volume quack in 2 and 4.

You would only have to switch to the middle, not turn a knob and switch every time you want clean.

This might take a superswitch, but I bet if you ask some people around here could advise.

You could get a few 50K Ohm resistors and wire them in series until you get the sound you want.

Sounds hard to fine tune. I really prefer the idea of volume knob for the middle pickup because I can set it to clean or dirty rhythm once and forget about it for the rest of the song. hey Positions 1 and 5 would be high gain, 2-3-4 would lower gain. Just flick the switch, I would not use notch positions for high gain ever. It is easier to turn a knob that adding/removing resistors, maybe a trimpot but then I prefer the knob easy to reach. But hey, it was just an idea, your idea could work for him anyways.

 

[Securb]

I could never find the right single for my H S H, one of the forum brothers gave me a Lawrence ML250 around 7 years ago and it has been in there ever since.

 

[Mincer]

A side note, I do like how the Steve Morse Y2D does the HSH setup, with the middle single right against the bridge pickup. It is out of the way of my pick and fingers.

 

[Top-L]

Do you own that guitar? Nice!

 

[Mincer]

No, but I've played one. It tends to solve the issue I have with HSH guitars, and is really pretty, too.

 

[Securb]

It is out of the way of my pick and fingers.

I think we get it in our mind the middle pickup is going to get in our way. The more time I spent with my HHH Les Paul the less I notice the middle pickup and when I am in the zone I don't even notice it is there. I love that guitar.

 

[Mincer]

I think we get it in our mind the middle pickup is going to get in our way. The more time I spent with my HHH Les Paul the less I notice the middle pickup and when I am in the zone I don't even notice it is there. I love that guitar.

All I need is for my nail to be bent backwards a few times for me to be a little shy about digging in with a pickup there.

 

[Top-L]

My pinky often touches the end of the middle while anchoring but it doesn't really impact my playing. Sometimes the pick hits the pole pieces...and that doesn't really impact me much either.

It could be a problem...but never really is.

I don't like the look of it. And don't like how many middle sc guitars come with a standard or proprietary 5 way instead of a 3 way with push pull.

5 way with superswitch, high end ibby is another story.

 

[Jack_TriPpEr]

I recently wired a 2 pickup guitar with a Half Out Of Phase option, which added enough "Position 2 / Position 4" type quack when the 2 pickups are combined to make me feel i don't need a middle position singlecoil to get quack. I would concede that the results are not 100% "as authentic" as what you would get with a middle position singlecoil, but i felt it was more than 80% there, which is good enough for me. I also wired in a Master Bass Cut control on this guitar, and tweaking that control, i felt gave me on one end a Position 2 type sound and on the other end a Position 4 type sound.

I too am one of those types of players that feel a middle position singlecoil gets in the way of my strumming.

So if you're willing to put in the work to install a Half Out Of Phase option and a Master Bass Cut option, my vote goes toward the middle position singlecoil being an unnecessary feature.

I brought a HSS guitar home recently, and comparing the Position 4 tone on that to the Half Out Of Phase tone my modded SS guitar yields, I have to take back what i wrote earlier. The tone that the Half Out Of Phase tone yields is definite and unique, but it's not a quack either. I thought maybe I just needed to to try a different cap value so i once again went through my stash of capacitors on-hand , from 0.001uF to 0.068uF, but none created a quack. Now i would characterize the "sound" that the HOoP mod adds is more like an acoustic-strum type enhancement, than a quack.

 

[Bogner]

those Morse guitars are fantastic. I regret selling mine

 

[Mincer]

those Morse guitars are fantastic. I regret selling mine

I would love one. Possibly my next. My Music Man that I play is based on his (sort of), and he signed the headstock of mine.