Neck or Bridge: Which pickup are you pickier about picking?

[MVI]

Re: Neck or Bridge: Which pickup are you pickier about picking?

I don't generally play out of the bridge much, probably b/c I tend not to like the harsh, brittle, tough-to-control sounds that I get there - even for raunchier rock. For blues especially, getting a really touch-sensitive sound out of the bridge is tough for me. I'd rather play a Tele from the neck, or "middle" position to get brighter, edgier sounds.

 

[atrumluminarium]

Re: Neck or Bridge: Which pickup are you pickier about picking?

well it kinda depends. I generally emphasize more on the bridge because it's more sensitive to harmonics and has more sustain yet the neck has a cleaner sound meaning that open string noise comes out less and the harmonics "squeal" less making them sound almost like ordinary notes.

so it's basically about the genre that you play, I personally am saving for a bridge SH-8 invader for the crazy riffs and palm muting and a neck SH1B or a Slash SAPH-2B (I know that it's a bridge pickup but it has crazy sustain but because of the position and low output, keeps the noise to minimum)

AL

 

[arellanon]

Re: Neck or Bridge: Which pickup are you pickier about picking?

My bridge pickup is almost always used for rhythm parts. I like it's biting crunch and lack of mud. And my neck pickup is often used for leads or for other melodic parts of songs.

Yes. Same here!

:beerchug:

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Neck or Bridge: Which pickup are you pickier about picking?

Yes. Same here!

:beerchug:

Yeah. It is almost never that I will play a full chord using a neck pickup. Mostly single note parts or two-or-three string melodic parts.

I believe that Esquire-type wiring (single bridge pickup and a 3-way switch for tone presets, one of which is adjustable, and one of which is a no-load setting) is the best pickup/control setup. You always get the clarity of a bridge pickup, regardless of what switch setting you are using. You don't have to balance multiple pickups. You don't have the quiet and balls-less in-between position/s getting in the way, and no position goes unused. It is kind of uncanny how perfect Leo Fender got it from the start, right down to the no-load switching, which is a common modification today, since most guitar makers still don't give their guitars that feature. Everything after the Esquire was just icing on the cake...and what delicious icing it was!

I've thought about doing a take on the Esquire wiring that offers more variety of preset tones, using a Vari-Tone-like switch. Three way switch. One no load. One hooked up to a tone control. The third to engage the Vari-Tone, with six settings, each using different caps and resistors to attenuate certain frequencies...and maybe some sort of built-in treble booster as one of the Vari-Tone settings.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Neck or Bridge: Which pickup are you pickier about picking?

85% of the playing is chord work, so most of it is made with the neck alone or both on in a HB guitar.

In a strat, I use either the neck alone or middle+bridge for rythm playing and chord work, the middle for arpeggio work and some bluesy OD Leads and the bridge alone for the remaining leads.

I basically EQ the rig to the rythm work, the lead work belongs to either another channel or another preset if it's a modeler.

I've been lately using a Mustang III for live situation in small venues and I couldn't be happier, as it keeps my ridiculously expensive boutique amp in the studio, where it belongs.

HTH,

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Neck or Bridge: Which pickup are you pickier about picking?

Im pickier about having my bridge pickup right but I already know the sounds i like so I usually dont search much for one. The neck pickup i can get along with having a much less than perfect one I might try more neck pickups but being the position is less important to me its usually an after thought.

 

[darthphineas]

Re: Neck or Bridge: Which pickup are you pickier about picking?

always been a fan of the JB for full-size hum bridge. have tried many other Duncans in this position and always end up with the JB, with a one or two differences in certain guitars.

took me a while, but I discovered the Full Shred neck position has become my go-to for full-size hum neck. went through the '59 and the Jazz in the process.

always been a fan or the Hot Rail for single-size middle and neck. but it hit me a few years ago how some older Kramer gutiars like the NightSwan and the Sambora put a JB in the middle position. the way I use the middle position, I've been slowly (almost too slowly - lol!) replacing middle position pickups that are marked "neck/middle" with "bridge" pickups. seems to work well for my applications.

 

[Crane]

Re: Neck or Bridge: Which pickup are you pickier about picking?

Before looking at the results, I would have guessed bridge by a landslide.
Why ? -

I own 3 Strats and 2 dual HB guitars.
The bridge is thinner and more harsh on every guitar (compared to the neck pickups).
Of course, I don't play any metal which may have biased my notions.