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purpose and tips for using toggle switch between pickups


phefner

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[cool] I have recently bought a sheraton and my research was inconclusive as to why there are two pickups and what are the practical usages of these pickups. For instance soloing, rythym, jazz, rock, etc. I have seen players on YouTube switch while playing both semis and regulr hollow bodies and it was always peculiar to me. Any help would be greatly apreciated
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Generally, bridge pickups have a brighter, sharper sound, and neck pickups have a more mellow bassy sound. This is because of their locations, and the sounds they put out when amplified are quite different. People switch between them because of the different tones that can be produced by them, and further tonal changes can be affected by adjusting the tone and/or volume control for each pickup.

 

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phefner

 

I am new to electric guitar, but have experience with classical and acoustic guitar. From that, I know that varying where I pluck or pick will produce different sounds. On a classical, closer to the bridge produces a more metallic sound, and on the other side of the sound hole is a sweeter, mellower sound. With the pickup selector, it is all about getting different sounds based on 1) position, and 2) type of pickup (single coil, humbucker).

 

I am a real newby, but I can give an example of what I was doing last night with my Dot. I was attempting to play some "She's So Heavy/I Want You" (Beatles). For the She's-So-Heavy chord arpeggio part based on Dm, I was using the bridge pickup for a sharp sound. For the I-Want-You solo part, I switched to the neck pickup for a smoother sound.

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A few suggested settings you might want to try:-

 

-If you have separate volume controls, the neck pickup could be turned down in volume and the bridge pickup set to full. If you subsequently set the amp to the point where the sound is clipping (breaking up in to distortion) with the bridge pickup only, you can then use the selector switch to move between a clean sound on the neck to an overdriven sound on the bridge. Light and aggressive picking styles, respectively, will help to keep the difference between the two even more apparent.

 

-Just because the selector switch says 'rhythm and treble' it doesn't mean that the neck pickup can't be used for leads! You might prefer the thick, warm tone from the neck pickup on full volume for your leads, using the bridge pickup on a lower volume for rhythm parts. You could additionally turn the bridge tone down so that the rhythm parts aren't too harsh/trebly in comparison to the lead tone.

 

-If you have a very bright neck pickup like a Seymour Duncan Jazz and set the amp to break up at any volume, you can use the neck pickup on a lower volume for distorted rhythm parts and then switch to the bridge on maximum volume for screaming leads.

 

-For an Eric Clapton 'brown sound' use the neck pickup with the tone turned all the way down.

 

-For a heavy metal tone, just use the bridge pickup with volume and rhythm controls all the way up and high gain on the amp.

 

-In between tones are interesting too. You can experment in the middle position with the two pickups set at different volumes/tones so that one dominates the other but gives a completely different tone compared to their individual sounds.

 

Alan

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