The possibilities of the mid position

[Uffe Steen]

Hi SG friends
Im a new SG player, new to the forum here, and works a lot with the mid PU position.
It might have been up here , but I would love to hear your experience with it.
Where and how do you use it ?

 

[MR D]

Hi SG friends
Im a new SG player, new to the forum here, and works a lot with the mid PU position.
It might have been up here , but I would love to hear your experience with it.
Where and how do you use it ?

I've been hangin on the Middle Position a lot lately, and a P-Up w/A5 Magnet ('61R, BB Pro, Whole Lotta HB'er etc) in the Neck Position and one w/an A2 Magnet in the bridge ('57, '57+) produces a NASTY-A$$ Tone in the middle toggle pos., IMO....I set a couple of SG's up like this after hearing a suggestion from a Guy that works in the CUSTOM Shop suggested it, altho he was working with a Custom-Bucker w/A3 Magnet in the bridge. He did say to beef up the Tone any quality P-Up w/A5 magnet in the Neck position will do the trick .Glad he mentioned it, I was. So, '61R & '57 been doin it for me lately.

 

[Decadent Dan]

I’m usually 10 on the bridge but if I go middle, I’ll have the neck around 7-8 to add fullness without swamping the bridge.
I’ll also sometimes drop the neck tone when using a wah pedal to get a warmer range of throw.

 

[Rusty Chops]

I’m usually 10 on the bridge but if I go middle, I’ll have the neck around 7-8 to add fullness without swamping the bridge.
I’ll also sometimes drop the neck tone when using a wah pedal to get a warmer range of throw.

Same here, minus the wah pedal. My CryBaby was used for ONE song a few years ago, in the middle of the second set, on “What A Night” the Four Seasons hit.

 

[An Abiding Dude]

Hi SG friends
Im a new SG player, new to the forum here, and works a lot with the mid PU position.
It might have been up here , but I would love to hear your experience with it.
Where and how do you use it ?

Another fun tone to play around with is what Clapton called the "woman" tone. Its when your on the neck pick up and roll the tone knob down to next to nothing (somewhere between 0-3 if you can hear a difference). It creates this muted yet warm, singing tone. It could be and interesting experiment to have the neck in the woman tone setting and then see if you can find a nice blend with the bridge pickup?

 

[Rusty Chops]

Another fun tone to play around with is what Clapton called the "woman" tone. Its when your on the neck pick up and roll the tone knob down to next to nothing (somewhere between 0-3 if you can hear a difference). It creates this muted yet warm, singing tone. It could be and interesting experiment to have the neck in the woman tone setting and then see if you can find a nice blend with the bridge pickup?

I’d expect the bridge pickup tone to be sucked down by the neck pickup’s tone circuit too.

 

[pancake81]

You guys are inspiring me to mess around with it. I will be completely honest, all my ACDC/Classic Rock sound comes from the bridge pickup. The exception being maybe some Cult covers. When I go to blues or rhythm playing I jump over to the neck only pickup. But rarely do I play mid position. Will have to give it a go tomorrow.

will post back some perspective after I dig into it!

 

[Spiral]

I neglect it a little on my humbucker guitars, but I often use it on a Strat. Not sure why that is

 

[Westernrider]

Many centuries ago, when I got my first Gibson, an old double pickup ES - something! Part of my lessons was learning to play the guitar. I was learning to read music with the Mel Bay guitar lesson books, and my teacher had me using both pickups and middle position while playing the exercises.

Learning to use the volume and tone controls in conjunction with amp opens up worlds of tone.

Here are a couple of videos that help get the message across:

 

[Biddlin]

I twists the knobs and flicks the switch until I hears somethin' I likes.

 

[Neil from Ottawa Canada]

My favourite tone is middle position with the coil split pulled up. Very sweet cleans there. PUs are 57s.

 

[DrBGood]

I’d expect the bridge pickup tone to be sucked down by the neck pickup’s tone circuit too.

If that happens, your neck pup is too high. Most people have it too high, don't feel singled out.

Here's how I adjust mine aso middle position has that sweet tone.

I set the bridge pickup (pole) height to about 1/8" or ±3mm distance from the bottom of the unfretted strings. If it sounds good, I leave it there. Too hot ? Go ½ turn of each screw at a time to lower it where I want it. Test clean AND with dirt/OD. Once I have that one at the sweet spot, I go to the neck pup.
ANY neck pickup will sound boomy if adjusted too high.

Neck tone has to be different from middle position. Many people have the neck pup adjusted so it gives the same tonality as middle position. Not good. Neck pup has to be adjusted so middle position gets a quacky or almost acoustic tone. You'll know what I mean when you get there. So, I raise the neck pup until it starts to sound boomy. Notes will seem to be overwhelmed with too much bass. Now I lower it a full screw turn and compare it to middle. If it sounds the same, the neck pup is still too high. I go on until I hear three different balanced tones out of the two pup.I tell you, my two humbucker equipped guitars have their neck pickup buried lower than their plastic rings and they sound clear and musical.

That is a fun thing to do. Take your time and you will find the sweet spot for each pickup.

A screwdriver is the easiest, fastest, cheapest and by far the most efficient way to a good tone. You might replace your pickups a dozen times, if you put them back at the same height as the last ones, the problem will persist.

I mostly end up having my neck humbuckers buried lower than the plastic ring. For P90, they're never too low. Most are about 1/8" from the surface of the guitar.

SG


LP special
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[plankton]

You guys are inspiring me to mess around with it. I will be completely honest, all my ACDC/Classic Rock sound comes from the bridge pickup. The exception being maybe some Cult covers. When I go to blues or rhythm playing I jump over to the neck only pickup. But rarely do I play mid position. Will have to give it a go tomorrow.

will post back some perspective after I dig into it!

This is pretty much how I do things too. I've messed around with different knob settings in the middle, and sometimes it's something I can use. But that bridge pickup just gives me what I need most of the time.

 

[Uffe Steen]

Thanks for all the fine answers. Please keep them coming !

 

[Rusty Chops]

 

[Uffe Steen]

View attachment 45513

 

[Go Nigel Go]

"Aiming high" are we?

 

[Rusty Chops]

"Aiming high" are we?

The mind is willing but the fingers are slow and confused

 

[DrBGood]

The mind is willing but the fingers are slow and confused

In the business, we say dazed and confused

 

[Go Nigel Go]

Oh yeah, been there often. I actually like to spend a lot of time myself in the zone of trying things beyond my current skill set. It may not result in sounds that are immediately what I was going for, but even if I never hit the mark I get something useful out of the attempt.