Oh hey — I hope you’re all safe, well, and having a good day. In a strange, roundabout way, this question — although about gear — does kind of come back to picking technique!
I recently downsized my guitar collection from 9 models that I collected over 25 years to just 2 that I’m truly happy with. One of them is a Schecter Sun Valley Super Shredder (Sustainiac model in Blue Reign), and I’ve had the fretboard professionally scalloped.
I’m almost completely happy with this guitar — but there’s one issue I’ve never been satisfied with on any guitar I’ve ever owned or tried: pickup selector placement.
I play almost exclusively shred material (Jason Richardson / Michael Angelo-style stuff), so my picking hand barely moves. I anchor heavily and don’t strum in big arcs. On every guitar I’ve tried (MM Majesty, Les Pauls, my RGs/JEM, etc.), the pickup selector sits somewhere along the natural strumming arc. That makes perfect sense for most players — they only need to move their hand a few inches, the whammy bar clears the switch, and it helps prevent accidental changes during strumming.
But I don’t really strum, and I rarely use the trem bar. I also like to change pickups on specific notes mid-run. Because of that, I have to break my hand position significantly to reach the switch, which feels disruptive.
On this Schecter, I only use the bridge and neck pickups. I never use the middle position, so I’ve considered reducing it to a 2-way switch to simplify things. All the other tonal options and clean sounds I might chase are covered by my other guitar.
I’ve thought about having a custom scratch plate made so I could relocate the switch closer to the pickups — closer to my picking-hand fingers. Since I don’t use the trem much, clearance wouldn’t be a huge issue, and there’s basically zero chance of me accidentally switching pickups given how I pick.
More generally, is there a faster or cleaner solution than flicking a traditional blade switch? (If this were the year 3026, I’d almost love something capacitive where just touching it would trigger the change! xd) I’ve been looking into micro switches, but my concern is that they might be just as stiff to flick — or even harder — given the smaller surface area.
I know I could just make do with what I have, but it’s been a 20+ year thorn in my side, and this guitar is so close to being perfect for my playing style.!
(Please excuse the terrible PS mockup!)
