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Which Strat pickup setting do you use?

darthvedder81darthvedder81 Posts: 688
edited July 2005 in Musicians and Gearheads
For clean I like the neck or middle pickup, but all my overdrives sound "kazooey" unless I use the bridge pickup. The tone just doesn't jump out and it sounds muddy and bad. Anyone else notice this? On the other hand sometimes using the bridge pickup with overdrive sounds too tinny but it's better than any other alternative.

I never use the out-of-phase settings. Yuck.
So this life is sacrifice...
6/30/98 Minneapolis, 10/8/00 East Troy (Brrrr!), 6/16/03 St. Paul, 6/27/06 St. Paul
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • mccreadyisgodmccreadyisgod Bumfuq, MT Posts: 6,395
    I'm a 2-4 player. Which means I love those yucky out-of-phase settings you refer to. Go listen to Mark Knoffler.
    ...and if you don't like it, you can suck on an egg.
  • who's_pearljam?who's_pearljam? Posts: 2,104
    Maybe it's only MIG and I that use those yucky 2-4 settings!



    Oh, and maybe Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton,,,etc :D
    Those are the settings that let you make your guitar speak and emote,,,, in blues anyway!


    The neck is great for some rhythm stuff or clean jazz, and a nice hot bridge is great for lead.
    Be kind, man
    Don't be mankind. ~Captain Beefheart
    __________________________________
  • darthvedder81darthvedder81 Posts: 688
    who's_pearljam? wrote:
    Maybe it's only MIG and I that use those yucky 2-4 settings!



    Oh, and maybe Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton,,,etc :D
    Those are the settings that let you make your guitar speak and emote,,,, in blues anyway!


    The neck is great for some rhythm stuff or clean jazz, and a nice hot bridge is great for lead.

    All those guys had hot rodded guitars (with the exception of Buddy maybe) though. Out of phase on a off the shelf Fender sounds like shit.
    So this life is sacrifice...
    6/30/98 Minneapolis, 10/8/00 East Troy (Brrrr!), 6/16/03 St. Paul, 6/27/06 St. Paul
  • HailHailVitalogyHailHailVitalogy Posts: 5,222
    ive never played a regular mexican strat or american strat...i have a fat strat so i dont know if i have an extra setting but i have 5 positions

    clean:
    position 5 bottom tone 10 middle tone 5 volume 10
    position 4 bottom and middle tone 10 volume 10 (i use that for my hendrix/jazzy style)
    rarely i use position 1 bottom tone 10 middle tone 6 volume 10

    Dirty/OD
    position 1 bottom tone 10 middle tone 5.5 volume 10
    position 3 bottom tone 10 middle tone 7 volume 10
    position 5 bottom tone 10 middle tone 6 volume 10 (i use with little OD/Dist for a mellow sound)
    2003: Uniondale, MSG x2 | 2004: Reading | 2005: Gorge, Vancouver, Philly | 2006: East Rutherford x2, Gorge x2, Camden 1, Hartford | 2008: MSG x2, VA Beach | 2009: Philly x3 | 2010: MSG x2, Bristow | 2011: Alpine Valley x2 | 2012: MIA Philly | 2013: Wrigley, Charlottesville, Brooklyn 2 | 2014: Milan, Amsterdam 1 | 2016: MSG x2, Fenway x2, Wrigley 2 | 2018: Rome, Krakow, Berlin, Wrigley 2 | 2021: Sea Hear Now | 2022: San Diego, LA x2, MSG, Camden, Nashville, St. Louis, Denver | 2023: St. Paul 1, Chicago x2, Fort Worth x2, Austin 2 | 2024: Las Vegas 1, Seattle x2, Indy, MSG x2, Philly x2, Baltimore, Ohana 2
  • mccreadyisgodmccreadyisgod Bumfuq, MT Posts: 6,395
    darthvedder81 wrote:
    All those guys had hot rodded guitars (with the exception of Buddy maybe) though. Out of phase on a off the shelf Fender sounds like shit.


    Jimi and Clapton both had stock pups on their guitars (until recently with Clapton, that is). SRV used a slightly overwound pup, just a tad modified, but hardly hot-rodded. Keep in mind you're making a value judgement... so, even if you don't like it, there are plenty of people who do. Like me and Bob.
    ...and if you don't like it, you can suck on an egg.
  • HardtoImagineHardtoImagine Posts: 48
    i have a set of texas special on my strat. I like 2 and 4 position they are very funky, altho the neck is proabaly my favorite tone, and the middle with the tone knob down half is great too. i sometimes get annoyed with the bridge , it can be tinny sounding sometimes. that said the bridge has its place too.
  • darthvedder81darthvedder81 Posts: 688
    mccreadyisgod wrote:
    Jimi and Clapton both had stock pups on their guitars (until recently with Clapton, that is). SRV used a slightly overwound pup, just a tad modified, but hardly hot-rodded. Keep in mind you're making a value judgement... so, even if you don't like it, there are plenty of people who do. Like me and Bob.

    Touche. But the stock pickups on the Strats those guys were using were all early-60's pre-CBS guitars. That's a little different than the 2003 American Deluxe I have.
    So this life is sacrifice...
    6/30/98 Minneapolis, 10/8/00 East Troy (Brrrr!), 6/16/03 St. Paul, 6/27/06 St. Paul
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    darthvedder81 wrote:
    Touche. But the stock pickups on the Strats those guys were using were all early-60's pre-CBS guitars. That's a little different than the 2003 American Deluxe I have.


    not exactly.

    Hendrix's tone he's most known for came after the CBS buyout. (late 67) Late 60's big headstock, bright pups. mind you they came before CBS had a chance to really screw up things but there's a big difference between the big headstock strats and the pre 65 strats. neither is wrong or incorrect, my favorite era is pretty much 1959 to 1965

    check out the Kinman Woodstock AVN's for that hendrix tone, non aged magnets.

    Also early 60's guitars used 3 way switches unless they were modified to 5 way.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • who's_pearljam?who's_pearljam? Posts: 2,104
    You have to remember that it isn't just the pickup and the amp that make the sound!
    You can get a pretty decent sound out of any strat or stratlike guitar. You have to get the eq's right, but more importantly, your hands have to know what to do! You Can refine it by getting different stuff, but the basic tone is there, in any pickup.
    One thing those guys DID have was an ear to sit in Manny's music, or wherever, and go through their stock and pick out the guitar that had the mojo, but when they were shopping, it was mostly post CBS stuff. Same with Stevie Ray,,,, his guitar early guitars weren't modded, he just picked the ones that sounded like what he wanted.

    Hendrix in the early stages was pretty much stock stuff, Regular Strats, SG's, Les Pauls.
    I saw him twice, and it wasn't the dazzling effects that did it. Mostly he played a Strat, (But Les Paul, too) and giant stacks of Marshall amps and complete control and feel.

    He was one of the first ones to have all those amps turned up full tilt, and to wrestle and control the tubes and feedback into amazing music.



    Same with Clapton and Cream. ES-355, Les Paul,,, Wah Wah, Marshall. That was it. None of it modded,, just turned up!!!
    Later on I saw Clapton / Derek And the Dominoes at the Fillmore,,, his Brownie,, stock Strat - Wah Wah- Marshall. Breathtaking.
    Be kind, man
    Don't be mankind. ~Captain Beefheart
    __________________________________
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    who's_pearljam? wrote:
    You have to remember that it isn't just the pickup and the amp that make the sound!
    You can get a pretty decent sound out of any strat or stratlike guitar. You have to get the eq's right, but more importantly, your hands have to know what to do! You Can refine it by getting different stuff, but the basic tone is there, in any pickup.
    One thing those guys DID have was an ear to sit in Manny's music, or wherever, and go through their stock and pick out the guitar that had the mojo, but when they were shopping, it was mostly post CBS stuff. Same with Stevie Ray,,,, his guitar early guitars weren't modded, he just picked the ones that sounded like what he wanted.

    Hendrix in the early stages was pretty much stock stuff, Regular Strats, SG's, Les Pauls.
    I saw him twice, and it wasn't the dazzling effects that did it. Mostly he played a Strat, (But Les Paul, too) and giant stacks of Marshall amps and complete control and feel.

    He was one of the first ones to have all those amps turned up full tilt, and to wrestle and control the tubes and feedback into amazing music.



    Same with Clapton and Cream. ES-355, Les Paul,,, Wah Wah, Marshall. That was it. None of it modded,, just turned up!!!
    Later on I saw Clapton / Derek And the Dominoes at the Fillmore,,, his Brownie,, stock Strat - Wah Wah- Marshall. Breathtaking.


    trouble is now they all have to be because they've had 50 years of accountants trimming a bit here and there to make the bottom line more attractive while cutting quality.

    All that being said, I want the new Clapton 335 and I love the American Deluxes.

    Everything I want is hella expensive.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • Pearl Jam and toastPearl Jam and toast Posts: 4,475
    jimi was the master at using the alternate settings for perfffecccttttt tone.

    i dont own a strat, but i like the one right before the least treble... 4th position?
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  • dont_go_on_medont_go_on_me Posts: 877
    i rarely use the 2-4 settings.

    pretty much always 3-5...


    that could be my problem...i rarely experiment with different settings.
    "I'll do whatever the song dictates - if it doesn't need a real lead, then I won't do one. But if it does, then I'll fuckin' go off." - Mike

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