Middle position HB? what do you use?
- Thread starter Snoogles
- Start date
freefrog
Well-known member
Except if the guitar has a non typical strings spacing, it makes no difference. A 3 PUs Les Paul of the Norlin era has the same T-Tops in BMN positions, for instance.
But the answer depends on the sound wanted, depending itself of the specs involved and on how the mid pickup is wired.
So: in which kind of guitar do you want 3 humbuckers and what kind of tone do you want from them?
But the answer depends on the sound wanted, depending itself of the specs involved and on how the mid pickup is wired.
So: in which kind of guitar do you want 3 humbuckers and what kind of tone do you want from them?
Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
I don't know what your playing style is, but middle pickups in Strats or Ibanez RG's almost always feel like they get in the way of my picking if they're set too high, so I like running them low. In that case, I find a hot-ish pickup might be worth considering if you're like that too.
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You could always run something like a Secret Agent- designed to go underneath a pickguard.
Teleplayer
Active member
It depends on your goal, but my suggestion is to use a moderate output neck pickup like Suhr SSV. Otherwise nothing hotter than a SH-1b.
freefrog
Well-known member
To me, even the hottest humbucker might do the job if wired in parallel.
But again, it depends on the sound wanted, not evoked until now.
That said, a testimonial: I've a 3 PUs guitar (initially HH) whose added mid pickup is a powerful silver foil single coil (mini-hum sized). As it has the inductance of a regular Gibson HB, I can obtain from it the same kind of tones than from a 3 PU's Les Paul in position 2.
I can also make the sound closer to the 2d position of a Strat by enabling a dummy coil / choke in parallel with the pickups.
The same kind of tonal tuning can be done by taking in account the specs of the pickups involved and applying a wiring adapted to these specs.
If two standard or underwound HB'shumbuckers are used in bridge and mid position, splitting each of 'em while they're in parallel should open to Fenderish tones (and maintain humbucking operation in two cases among 4 possibilities of split, if the wiring is properly designed).
If the bridge and mid slots host two powerful HB's, fitting each of them with a series/parallel switch should allow to go from fat greasy sounds to bright tones with various nuances in between (and humbucking operation in any case).
Again, it's a question of tonal desires and wirng design...
But again, it depends on the sound wanted, not evoked until now.
That said, a testimonial: I've a 3 PUs guitar (initially HH) whose added mid pickup is a powerful silver foil single coil (mini-hum sized). As it has the inductance of a regular Gibson HB, I can obtain from it the same kind of tones than from a 3 PU's Les Paul in position 2.
I can also make the sound closer to the 2d position of a Strat by enabling a dummy coil / choke in parallel with the pickups.
The same kind of tonal tuning can be done by taking in account the specs of the pickups involved and applying a wiring adapted to these specs.
If two standard or underwound HB'shumbuckers are used in bridge and mid position, splitting each of 'em while they're in parallel should open to Fenderish tones (and maintain humbucking operation in two cases among 4 possibilities of split, if the wiring is properly designed).
If the bridge and mid slots host two powerful HB's, fitting each of them with a series/parallel switch should allow to go from fat greasy sounds to bright tones with various nuances in between (and humbucking operation in any case).
Again, it's a question of tonal desires and wirng design...
