Middle PUP-only Fender?

B

BadAspen

New member
The guitar I learned on was a Stratocaster and I've always really liked the middle pickup to the point where I don't feel the need for any of the other positions. Sure they are convenient, but I feel by adjusting my picking location, attack, as well as introducing hybrid or finger picking, I can emulate the other 4 positions well enough without even touching the switch.

It may seem like a weird idea, but if you were to design a guitar that only had a middle pickup a volume and a tone, how would you do it? The big contenders I have are modding a Squier Mustang so that it only has a middle pickup, but I would likely have to buy a blank guard and rout it myself. I could also go with a Strat, but that feels a bit plain.

Also I think I'm going to go with a 5-2 because it seems like a decent all arounder, but I'm open to suggestions.
 
warmoth can also do custom pickguards.

thank you BadAspen. I thought I was the only one who thinks the mid is the most natural, neutral sounding SSS position.
 
Mincer said:
It is the one position I can do without. On my Strat, I have the #3 position as the bridge and neck together.
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me too!! at least in one of my strat, and the middle is lowered at pickguard level , it results in a sound closer to the one of a jaguar with both pickups on rather than a middle tele.

Anyway, back on topic I won't feel the need of getting rid of the other two pickups for aestethic reasons , if the problem is to quickly find the middle position it's easier putting the middle on first position of the switch, eventually lowering the 'unused' pickups to prevent strings pulling.
I've seen guitars with a single middle (I think Tomo Fujita uses regularly one for example) but they look, ahem, not so good, if not ugly
 
esandes said:
warmoth can also do custom pickguards.

thank you BadAspen. I thought I was the only one who thinks the mid is the most natural, neutral sounding SSS position.
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Bare in mind the Warmoth Mustang is not exactly the same body type as a Fender Mustang and I've heard their pickguards aren't interchangeable.

Some of the early semi-hollows (ES-330TC is the only one I could find on Google) had only a middle P90, so it's an idea not entirely without precedent.
 
mustangs are short scale and dont sound much like strats to me. i do love the middle strat pup though
 
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