Should the pick usually be over the middle Stratocaster pickup?

[kgk]

If my understanding of Chris Brooks is correct, one should roughly keep their pick over the middle pickup of a Stratocaster-like guitar, moving one’s arm as necessary (from the shoulder) to keep this alignment. I never thought much about what I was doing before, and his idea seems great, but now I keep on hitting the actual pickup (it’s HSH in my case, but the S is pretty high). So I would have lots of options, including

• Aim for just above or below the middle pickup
• Lower the middle pickup for more space
• Just smash into it, so what
• Make sure not to go in too deep (what I’m currently attempting)

Thoughts? I assume that this wouldn’t be a “problem” on a HH guitar, just HSH and SSS.

[Fossegrim]

That’s where most play, actually right immediately after it towards the neck side of the pickup. It’s conveniently the exact position where the palm can rest near where the strings exit the saddles for a good staccato muted tone as well and has a good compromise regarding string tension. Keeping it straight string to string in that place is debatable though - it all depends how you actually pick, and there are plenty of accomplished player that have an arc to their picking.

That said, most people that do this (me included) have their middle pickup lowered pretty far down for that very reason. I don’t use it (middle pickup) much so it’s no bother to me.

[kgk]

@Fossegrim

That said, most people that do this (me included) have their middle pickup lowered pretty far down for that very reason.

Oops… apparently I can’t do that on my Ibanez RG! So I’ll just try not to smash into it for now, and see what happens…

[Fossegrim]

Why? I have all of mine low in the rg’s I have. They have foam stuck to the bottom for that reason,

[Twangsta]

For me it’s about tone, sounds different bridge to neck pickup. For example try picking over the neck pickup when in the neck position, sounds nicer to me on my HH guitar, bright and more balanced. But if your playing on the lower strings you could modulate the tone by moving closer to bridge if want a less wooly tone, maybe for single note riffs on the neck pup.

Country telecaster players tend to play closer to bridge to enhance the twang. SRV played closer to neck often as you can see from the scuff marks.

'Knee High & Risin' The Hi-Jivers NASHVILLE BOOGIE (bopflix sessions) BOPFLIX

Not the typical shred fest but I find his picking position rather interesting for a strat player.

edit: What I’ve noticed a lot of the strat players play near the neck pup and beyond for chordal rhythm bits. Eric Johnson, SRV, etc.

[jptk]

I have lowered the middle pickups on three of my guitars for this reason. Get it out of the way!

[joebegly]

My beater strat (had it for the last 30 years) gets lots of play time. I almost never use the middle pickup BUT it’s always in the way of my picking. I never once thought to just lower the damn thing. The sad part is, I’m worried about myself. The fact that I’ll put up with something that’s even only mildly inconvenient, for 3 fucking decades (!!!) when the fix is so simple…I just don’t have words anymore lol!

It’s no wonder guitar has always felt “hard” for me even though I can play lots of things that are somewhat advanced. There’s probably a ton of stuff I just “put up with” and accept it. There’s almost an easier way in most cases though. And that’s one of the huge differences between our heroes and average Joe’s like me. The great players find the happy path. Oh well. At least I always enjoy myself while I’m playing

Thanks so much for this pro tip. I may not live to see another 30 years but at least this cheapo strat will feel more comfy for whatever I’ve got left

[kgk]

@Fossegrim

They have foam stuck to the bottom for that reason,

Oh, I thought its pickups were effectively screwed down! I might try to move it if the “just don’t hit it” approach doesn’t pan out.

@Twangsta

For me it’s about tone, sounds different bridge to neck pickup.

You are 100% right as the amplitude of the Fourier components change a lot depending on where you pick! Also there are pinch harmonics that require exact locations. But for now I am trying to have much more uniformity where I squeeze out random variations that I make for no good reason.

@joebegly

I almost never use the middle pickup

I thought it was commonly used in conjunction with the neck and bridge pickups, but rarely by itself?

@joebegly

The great players find the happy path.

Then explain to me why many of the greats put a guitar on their right leg!

[Fossegrim]

@kgk

@Fossegrim

They have foam stuck to the bottom for that reason,

Oh, I thought its pickups were effectively screwed down! I might try to move it if the “just don’t hit it” approach doesn’t pan out.

They are usually suspended by neoprene foam stuck to the bottom of the guitar route.

See pictures below of most of my guitars with a middle pickup. Some are ibby’s that have the body mounted pickups like yours. The blue and pink one was hard to get a shot of because of how reflective the finish looked.

@joebegly

I almost never use the middle pickup BUT it’s always in the way of my picking. I never once thought to just lower the damn thing. Lwhen the fix is so simple…I just don’t have words anymore lol!

Im afraid I don’t have any words now either.

[WhammyStarScream]

same as others, I personally just remove the middle pick up.

The pick should be where ever you feel most comfy.

Take marty for example

Marty Friedman - Guitar Audition For Megadeth

[kgk]

@WhammyStarScream

Take marty for example

Wow, that hair is not merely big, it is massive! Regarding his pick, it seems that he has a line right around the 24th fret, and this suggests that he’s likely smashing into the neck and the pickup. But, there is something “strange” about this… so, I did a bit of research, and got this quote:

“Subconsciously, I don’t like the sound of muted notes.”

I agree with @Fossegrim that there is a lot of flexibility from keeping the pick around the middle pickup, particularly if one likes to turn muting on/off (as I do). You’re right that one should move this line according to their hand shape, etc., but I’ll likely start there and see how things work out for me.

[Frylock]

On a rear-routed Strat style guitar, I don’t even like the “potholes” left by the mounting screw gaps above and below the middle pickup when it’s been lowered. I sometimes like to let one or more fingers glide along the top of the guitar in that area, and any physical obstacle other than a modest screwhead annoys the hell out of me. Nowadays, if I’m going to buy a guitar with a middle single-coil pickup, it has to be mounted to a pickguard in the style of a front-routed Strat, so I can adjust it nice and flush to the front of the guitar with no gaps. I wish younger me had figured out that preference earlier in the guitar journey. Not a fan of vintage-stagger pole pieces either.

[WhammyStarScream]

This is pretty cool too

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zf7EXqiYD7s

[kgk]

@Frylock

mounted to a pickguard in the style of a front-routed Strat

Leo Fender really was a genius.

@WhammyStarScream

This is pretty cool too

Yeah, Les Paul was a beast! You’re right, he does strum all over the neck. I was trying to find out how thick his pick was, but failed to get any real information.

I was curious if I’d see him being more conventional, and there are some example of that as well, but he seems to be changing the location to change the tone, see this.

[Fossegrim]

@kgk

Leo Fender really was a genius.

He was a business man. If there had been cheaper/easier/faster way to do anything else that’s how the strat would have looked.

[kgk]

Everybody selling guitars is a businessman. Leo was a guitar genius as well.

[Fossegrim]

Serious though, while the two things in general are not mutually exclusive, his #1 main concern was production costs. That was pretty much the driving factor (and arguably the ingenuity) behind most of the design and decision making (including the bolt on neck design), and pretty much the mission statement behind the formation of the “instruments” company from his radio repair shop to begin with. It was mostly born from pragmatism.

Fender was a radio repairman with great business acumen and his hand on the pulse of a potential developing market. Was he a genius? That’s debatable. Did he exhibit great ingenuity to the market? Absolutely! Again not mutually exclusive, but also not necessarily the same thing either. He also had a lot of flops as well.

Same with Jim Marshall. Right place, right time and saw an opportunity. That doesn’t necessarily make someone a genius per se, but it can make you lucky.

@kgk

Everybody selling guitars is a businessman.

Don’t think I would go that far. Some aren’t even good salespeople.

[WhammyStarScream]

I think the cheapest easiest fastest way to do a guitar is with a square body with one pickup, like a cigar guitar.

The strat has some art to it in my opinion, and the baretta even more so.

[Fossegrim]

@WhammyStarScream

The strat has some art to it in my opinion.

It’s not a question of that at all. That’s part of the package.

[WhammyStarScream]

Maybe its just beauty through efficiency then