What is the MIDDLE PICKUP of a Guitar Really For?

[@wilssantos2]

There's a reason why Eddie Van Halen was so obsessed with getting a humbucker on a strat - it's stronger than the single coil, but sounds more mellow than on a Gibson. It's the eternal Hard Rock sound, and I truly prefer it over the SSS configuration. On another note, the middle pickup seems to me it's the closest to a regular acoustic guitar, but on a solid body. Final note: you sounded like Jerry Cantrell with the wah :)

[@ABN_Sound]

is he playing a song at 8 min, and if so, what song

[@TaartjeMetSlagroom]

@@ABN_Sound he is playing a song called ‘Slow dancing in a burning room’ by John Mayer

[@vincentjackson3472]

Haha awesome. Stoked I wasn't the only one thinking he sounded Cantrell-esq with the wah going. Great vid big T. Also. You're a shit hot guitarist.

[@wilssantos2]

Wow, thanks for pinning my comment! Big honor! :)

[@ABN_Sound]

@@TaartjeMetSlagroom thanks, your name seems afrikaans, dankie meneer 😂😂😂

[@TomoFujitaMusic]

The Middle Pickup is for me!!

[@ZaneDalton]

Love your newer vids!

[@hussledupgamejam]

It's the guy with a strat that only has a middle pickup!!

[@down813]

For me, it's either the bridge or the neck pickup.

[@Herfinnur]

Me too!

[@VodkaSelekta]

@@hussledupgamejam My strat actually has three middle pickups on it

[@RJRonquillo]

Feck those are great sounding pickups! (and guitar)

[@onevoiceinc]

You have chops, too, by the way.

[@NoJobRob]

And guitarist 👌

[@CarloCalcaterra92]

*peckups

[@nazmoking3171]

And RJ should know! By the way RJ, your Guild Starfire video convinced me to get that guitar with the 3 P90’s and 6-way selector and I love it!

[@TheOdieD3]

HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa

[@Jona_The_Than_D]

They sound great, would love to buy one **sees price tag** This squier is more my style

[@russellhayden82]

Squiers are great guitars actually.

[@eoin474]

@@russellhayden82 yes of course they are ! 😁

[@Xuxixnywhwj1725]

@@russellhayden82 just need some adjustments...then boom you are ready

[@ccaa7674]

I love my squiers

[@bluepedalsrock9271]

You know it’s going to be 💰 when they don’t list the price on the website.

[@Pericles777]

The middle is the “quack”, the neck is the “hoot”, the bridge is the “tang”, the 2nd and forth are just blending the duck with either the orange drink or the owl

[@CoryA2503]

I love how this makes perfect sense to me, yet if you said this to anyone other than a guitarist, you'd sound out of your mind

[@mediocreguitarist8276]

Well send me to space because I prefer the tang

[@bluesdealer]

I always considered the out of phase positions to be “quack” lol

[@creamydistortion]

Precisely!

[@j_freed]

It’s the Space Age Drink in the First Pozzish…. 🍊

[@MusicisWin]

What's your favorite position of an S-type guitar? wHeN iT's iN mY hAnDs

[@4wardfr3ak23]

Probably neck/ neck and bridge, something early Dire Straits inspired

[@bronsonjohnson9019]

I’m down for any position with that Paoletti. Lol

[@GK-yf8mg]

That's what she said

[@colescroggins2896]

Not sure why but I love the sound from my bridge pickup. I’ve got a humbucker instead of a single coil. Not sure what it is but the bridge pickup just really speaks to me when I’m playing.

[@Lowkeyhiman]

I haven't still played an electric guitar :'(

[@krustdogg131]

I honestly believe a strat with the hss combination is the most versatile of the of the guitars! You can just do everything from blues to jazz to metal to country

[@wilhelmtheconquerer6214]

Agreed! Throw in a double locking tremolo system with piezo saddles as well and there's nothing you can't do on it

[@PixelFastFood]

No question about it. altho I've seen someone who replaced the middle single coil with a p90 and that was almost as versitile and so sick for more rockish stuff

[@koehnmailand6821]

My first guitar was a fender HSS strat and I love how versatile it is

[@j_freed]

Ya we know this from tne 80s … I was there.

[@debuhokontra2006]

there is yamaha that can do a lot of tone from humbucker to single coil , there is demo in NAMM

[@joshkw2328]

tyler is living his childhood through the pickups, him stealing candy bars and someone putting his bike in a crash compactor.

[@guitawrizt]

PTSD for sure with this guy.

[@trebmaster]

Sounds like he was the guy putting a kid's bike in the trash compactor.

[@Tone2town]

Tyler never cease to amaze me. Yes, those pickups sound sick!

[@bednar23]

That must be the first relic guitar I've ever liked. That's supremely pretty.

[@lukas6610]

Yeah man it looks so good its probably extremely expensive since they dont want to show the price on the website

[@IfUfindthisURlost]

Agreed. Never seen much point in 'artificial' aging and adding dings etc. Fine if it is through natural usage and has 'meaning' to the player, but otherwise it's like buying an expensive pair of ripped jeans????. However, that worn look with the blue and gold is the nicest I've seen.

[@claesvanoldenphatt9972]

@@IfUfindthisURlost yeah the color contrast caught my eye. Most ‘relic’ guitars just look fake old to me, like those jeans, bogus or ersatz. This axe is has such artistic material application, with the brass and torrified maple. Looks expensive.

[@nathanbrisebois8756]

Not a fan of the "distressing" on the body but that gold sparkle pick guard is real purdy

[@theoo5657]

damn, tyler has been proving himself of even a better guitar player than he already was

[@mexstrat96]

My first thought too!

[@danedgar1539]

"Just guitar into amp".......but with a 10 thousand dollar overdrive between them

[@liamcristello2591]

Me, a month ago: I need a new guitar Tyler, a week later: Strat vs. Tele vs. Les Paul comparison Me: 👀 Me, last week: Ok, settled, bought a Strat Tyler, now: Strat position comparison Me: 👀👀👀

[@jadevladi880]

That's the world of guitars for ya, and Tyler just fuels the fire lol

[@reinarddarren8536]

69 like lmao

[@OriginalKingRichTv]

Welcome to the strat family

[@andrewkoastephens210]

That’s super funny! I just assumed everyone agreed that the single coil bridge pickup was *THE STRAT SOUND* Replacing that with a humbucker seems an awful shame. For me that’d be like removing the best tonal crayon from the Strat crayon box. The humbucker is too much like the middle pickup I just never have occasion for that voice. It lacks the spine tingling, icy nails of death a single bridge pu has. I guess it all depends on context and which heroes you have. I’m not a electric blues guy. I like it fine and respect it, but have zero interest in playing it. Surf, Spaghetti Western, 60s instrumental is way more my bag.

[@lukaskuipers7791]

The strat bridge pickup sound is kinda overhadowed by the telecaster imo

[@thezeek2745]

So wrong.

[@pharmerdavid1432]

@@lukaskuipers7791 Totally different, except in my Robert Cray inca silver strat with flat-pole bridge pickup (middle and neck are staggered), which sound like no other strat bridge pickup I've ever heard, but not a telecaster sound either, yet better than the usual strat bridge pickup sound - fatter, warmer, more musical...the entire Cray pickup set in the Mexican version may be the best sounding strat pickups I ever did hear - they are really good, and I'm not the only one singing their praises!

[@Bikewithlove]

You’re 100% right. The whole point of Rivers Cuomo’s HH strat, for example, is an expression of his love of the Cali surf-rock look, but with his 80s metal influence by using DiMarzio and Seymour Duncan humbuckers - the point being that it’s the WRONG thing to do to a strat (lol!) I’m not too into the surf/spaghetti sound for my own writing, though it’s a great sound for music and Dave Gilmour and U2’s Edge are but two my favorite guitarists. I just bought a strat kit & a Seymour Duncan humbucker for the bridge, and to be honest it was a very difficult decision because I can definitely feel the absence of the strat bridge pickup in my life. My Fender player Telecaster does it all all for me, and I’m exceted to finally accommodate the Weezer/Trevor Rabin/Eddie Van Halen within, but one day when I have some money to burn the first thing on my list is a straight-up American Fender Strat.

[@stinkypinkeee5085]

I have a SD Hotrail on my bridge...I can't imagine anything else on my Strat...

[@mattdyck9931]

Used to be neck pickup only for me. Lately it's been fairly even between all of them. I think part of it comes down to learning to use dynamics and subtlety better. As we become better players, we learn to use other sounds in ways that are pleasing to our ears.

[@xamislimelight8965]

Same. Used to be bridge only, you know typical speed metal guy. Now if a guitar doesn't have options, i don't entertain it. Plug-n-plays (as i call them) have some benefits and such. But as a bedroom player, the more things my guitar does now, the better lol

[@kamealex]

Curiously enough, I find the middle pickup pretty userful when using a loop pedal. It's a nice background sound if you are just relying on layers and layers of guitar sound. Nothing too bulky or screamy.

[@lglg64]

I know this comment won't reach a lot of people, but for the ones who read it I want to let you know: where you place your picking hand adds way more than you'd expect.

[@virgomunoz]

The middle pickup is honestly my favorite part of a strat. Has the dirtiness of the neck position and the gnarlyness of the bridge. Absolutely beautiful.

[@scotthowes1869]

Can't beat the middle pickup for funky rhythm. I've used 2 and 4, but 3 is by far the best for that. It has just enough treble to cut through and not get lost and it pulls back the bass from the neck pickup so you don't lose it in the woof.

[@OslerWannabe]

Yeah, but the morning after playing you got fur on your tongue, feel like crap and call in sick.

[@stevehughes275]

The best sounding strat is Blackmores tone and technique

[@clust11]

The best for you

[@krisersn3092]

The best style is Lil Wayne's tone and technique

[@ItsRyan265]

@@krisersn3092 prodigious

[@unacuentadeyoutube13]

Malmsteem and Hendrix have a good tone too. Hendrix had a particular bridge pickup sound, since it was upside down and the magnets on the low E are closer to the bridge

[@kospandx]

Blackmore and Malmsteen really knew how to use the middle pickup, alright.

[@Zwampert]

I found myself paying more attention to the split positions after getting into popular math rock bands like polyphia or chon, and I’m sure many can relate. Bought a charvel hss guitar after watching Rick Graham as well, and since then it’s been my favorite guitar tone-wise.

[@werthedead]

Polyphia is not math rock

[@alonewanderer4697]

@@werthedead math rock but the challenge was shifted from weird time signatures to uncommon playing positions and arrangements

[@burnedmyfoot]

I like to think of pickups as different vowel sounds. Neck is "O", middle is "A" and bridge is "E". Am I wrong?

[@mccarney4207]

That’s… actually accurate as hell lol

[@ThomasHendrickson]

Bridge is more “ang” middle is more “eh” to my ears

[@TheReaper10123]

I actually think of it kind of like how voice teachers explain voice projection. Head Mixed and Chest. The bridge is your head: nasal and sharp The neck is the chest voice: full and loud, but maybe lacking nuance or flexibility The middle and the other positions are just a blend of those on a gradient, if that makes sense. That’s how I visualize it anyways

[@patrickfoster4586]

Interesting...and I think you may be right. I spend probably 85% of my time on the neck pickup- OOOh nOOOO!!

[@j_freed]

I will buy the vowels. You’re a very cunning linguist!

[@emilkharisov7031]

I've played in a wedding 6 piece band, so there was not a lot of room to experiment but (for me and in this context) neck is usual position for rhythm parts and little solos, middle is for slow jazzy songs and bridge is for more "aggressive" rock songs. In-between positions are great for layering yourself behind band-mate with sick solo. Also, for my specific context, I wasn't using volume knob and had to do all dynamics with hands. It was interesting but being able to crank amp volume and fully control performance with volume knob or pedal is liberating

[@photoshopcafe]

Tyler in every position, "It's xx yelling" Guess who likes aggressive guitar?

[@johncrafton8319]

I personally prefer the out-of-phase sounds of 2 and 4 (when wired that way). The honk and quackiness define the S-type for me.

[@Buffrt66]

I'm not into "Relic" guitars, but the finish on that one is totally awesome. Loved the tones you were getting.

[@timothymorrismusic]

The ignorance of the middle pickup has always baffled me, that's where I spend about 80% of my time on a Strat.

[@MarcCoteMusic]

Same.

[@id3m589]

The "boring" middle pickup was intended to be the "normal sound" in 50's music, as far as Leo and George intended. The bridge even had no tone knob. It was so loud and fuzzy and popular - because it was loud, that amp designers started to make amps sound darker to rectify that. Microphones were also pretty bad at picking high frequency content, and tape and analog recording path didn't exactly contribute. It's why so many vintage amps sound so bright. That's how we got to treble boosters in late 70's for humbucker equipped guitars - the recording and PA technology just got better, and guitar players started to prefer darker amps and guitars.

[@sirspongadoodle]

vintage amps dont really sound like anything, tube amps are just presets on a theme... speaker and cabinets do 100% but not tube amps.

[@jcbaber7521]

That "U2" piece was so freakin good. I wish you would do a video just on that. Like a more detailed breakdown on that technique, setup, everything really. I just want to loop that part & keep it playing.

[@franciscolima331]

Check rick beato's videos on u2, he breaks down the edge's playing

[@HoosierDaddy_]

Yes. Beato does break it down well.

[@rayperve]

is that an actual U2 song, what's it called?? *I don't know much about U2

[@jcbaber7521]

@@rayperve no, it was a U2 style piece of music.

[@triledink]

I use the middle pickup for really 80s sounding chorus + reverb/delay clean sections.

[@tonycullotta8528]

thats what i use the middle picup for nile rogers sound also

[@youssefmostafa6262]

Fun Fact: Not a lot of people know this but Slow Dancing in a Burning Room by John Mayer was actually recorded using the middle pickup not the middle/neck or neck pickup!

[@MikeTaffet]

I think a bunch of Hendrix stuff too

[@danielleelizabeth9417]

A lot of people who I know who saw Clapton okay live says he uses the middle. I do lately to when playing his stuff and it sounds closer to his work when using the middle than not.

[@j_freed]

It’s a more direct sound with less frequency cancellation.

[@RanterInShades]

I pretty much use the middle selection whenever I’m playing on a clean setting or when I’m wanting a dirty blues sound.

[@Swithyyyy]

I used to be a punk rock kid who only used a Strat with a hot rails bridge pickup with volume on 10 but recently upgraded the middle and neck pickup and added a coil tap to the bridge...my options are endless 🤘

[@mirata7748]

bro ngl having triple humbuckers guitars plus coil tap is basically tone heaven lol

[@unacuentadeyoutube13]

@@mirata7748 they are not hambuckers and they are not coil splits (I think that's what you inderstood by coil tap)

[@woooyeahfunkytime4088]

i feel that, all my guitars just had a bridge pickup for so long but i recently re-wired the neck pickup in and i was missing out lol

[@zakkmylde1712]

I play metal and grew up playing metal, so humbuckers preferably actives or really really hot passives have always been my thing. However the neck sound on a strat and the bridge and neck sounds of a tele are sex for the ears and I have one of each on my stand for when the blues feels right.

[@bearhogg]

@@mirata7748 bruh i knew you would be here

[@Th_RealDirtyDan]

Dude your playing has DEFINITELY improved over the last year or so. Keep it up!

[@RobChappers]

Bro this was really interesting man, I have always just wound the middle pick up down as low as possible and then occasionally used it for funky rhythms or as a “back burner blender” for my neck pick up. This video has made me consider other options so thanks man :-)

[@justin48914]

Aren't you the guy from kdhs video?

[@lukemagiera3356]

Wouldn't you say......."this video was really size"?

[@ItsChapa_]

@@justin48914 would you not say that people deserve a second chance? People do change after all.

[@joonapuurunen5602]

@@justin48914 he is.

[@djencode]

@@justin48914 kdhs is a leech that mines internet drama for clicks without having any real talent at all.

[@joshuamessenger]

Since I usually play with high gain on the bridge humbucker, I lowered the middle pickup as far down as it would go to get a "cleaner" sound without having to roll off the volume.

[@ribhubhattacharya78]

Nobody looks at Tyler's editing skills or camera angles , I appreciate those

[@vix144]

I have a Poaletti Nancy Leather !! I want your backing tracks.. Tyler awesome playing … 🤘.

[@marcusstrymon693]

Wow man what really stands out in your playing are those unbelievable good sounding expressive parts like 0:19... Man that is so insane, also the bends, the whammys, the screaming. This seperates truly expressive and great guitar playing from mindless shredding. Dude seriously you are one of the most skilld guitarplayers that i ever saw. Thanks for that awesome content.

[@rocknrollmouseuk]

Middle position is probabilly my fav sound on a strat - middle and bridge are my two most used positions, rarely us 'inbetween' positions (sorry they don't appeal), neck only tends to get used late at night, when I want full but mellow sound.

[@nikosthebluesfan8481]

You need to get Yourself a Gilmour type strat or one with a mini toggle switch. That’ll get u 3 more pickup positions making 8 (really 7 but you’ll get neck and middle in phase which brings juice but cleaner)

[@randaji]

Or replace that extra tone knob you never use with a blend knob and add just the right amount of the Neck or Bridge pickup to any position.

[@Xray-Rep]

In my opinion it doesn't matter which pickup or which pickup combo you use. If you are an accomplished experienced guitarist, the music you make will sound awesome regardless of the hardware you select.

[@Spongebob-lf5dn]

I like how Tyler puts effort and creativity into every solo, some other guitarists sound pretty repetitive & uninspiring.

[@BOOGiNS]

"some other guitarists"... Afraid to be specific? Nick Johnston, ichika nito, Buckethead, David Gilmore... So many better guitarists to listen to than him. Simp much?

[@absolutscheisse4483]

@@BOOGiNS bruh relax he's just trying to complement him.

[@RichardDeBerryOfficial]

@@BOOGiNS Bro got offended over a compliment. Sad. It's not a contest either, so there really is no 'better' guitarist to listen to.

[@sirspongadoodle]

@@BOOGiNS those that you listed are pretty gay

[@sirspongadoodle]

i like his solos however god damn does the shilling for prs and the bs about tonewood/pickups make me angry... like he already has the money he really doesnt need to lie as much as he does... and he is blatently lying too as he is friends with glenn fricker who has debunked pickups and tonewood.

[@julleboy90]

Just startet playing guitar, hope i can jam like you one day. You play werry cool😃💪👍

[@nizodizo9549]

This is interesting. I always go for the middle pickup on every strat that I pick up.

[@dirkda2451]

yeah i've to really appreciate the middle pickup i switch to the when i want more bite but you can get soo much out the middle pickup alone very under appreciated the has become such a cliché

[@jakubnowak649]

I'm not a big fan of a Strat look, but I would sell my soul for that guitar

[@havyavahaagnihotri6982]

Me too bro😅

[@wornstrat5517]

Paoletti guitars never cease to amaze 🤤

[@_w6ve_]

Why did you take down the 'Types of girlfriends in a guitar store' video ? Reply if anyone knows.

[@darthmater691]

Yeah I saw that too glad it wasn’t just me who noticed

[@_w6ve_]

@@darthmater691 yeah but why did he take it down? Its been a while he did a vid with his "girlfriend"

[@bo-xmusic6940]

I like the sound of the middle pickup on a strat, it combine the thick kinda bluesy sound of the neck pickup with the sharp tone of the bridge pickup.

[@NBTKDA]

Interesting point about the neck pickup being associated with rhythm playing. Dave Murray was my major influence in guitar so I've always looked at it as a primarily lead pickup and the bridge as rhythm.

[@kyteluna]

You should do more stuff like this! It’s very educating!

[@alancosens]

You're right, that guitar sounds amazing. And Dude, you're playing is just wonderful.

[@delgrandephotos]

the solo in the end made me feel like i was entering the gates of hell, it was amazing, i loved this video. and the only thing tayler flexes in this channel is his incredible skill. love you man

[@bmann792]

Yeah, I'd love to know the backing track

[@msowairi5207]

Is that an original solo on the bridge pickup? If it isn’t can someone tell me it’s name it sound familiar

[@jacobfurst4266]

Man lately I’ve been in a rut playing trying to learn solos but more precisely instead of kinda noodling through them, and watching you play this video just really made me realize how polished you are in technique and also how experienced at sorta improvising things. Very awesome.

[@ryleyverbeek44]

Bridge-middle. Mark Knopfler. Nuff said

[@eliasprodger]

That solo at the beginning was 🔥🔥🔥

[@stefannicola4032]

“the neck pickup is used for rythm” Cool informative video tyler, but we’re gonna take it from here

[@atonofspiders]

Lol

[@andrecastanheira1334]

That strat is gorgeous

[@ygslyn6732]

Personally I think it’s fugly but to each their own

[@kitten-whisperer]

@@ygslyn6732 it is definitely ugly. The roasted neck looks nice but the rest is garbage looking. Reliced guitars always seem to look like absolute trash.

[@ygslyn6732]

@@kitten-whisperer yeah the neck is alright, and I kinda like the multi piece pick guard and the sorta anodized material but holy shit that body is ugly as hell

[@Tone-Oz]

It looks cool, like it has a story to tell. If anything I prefer a one piece pickguard.

[@MakeBeautifulChoices]

Great video, great concept. You listen to Jeff Beck for 45 seconds and realize how tragically underutilized YOUR guitar actually is. This kinda info definitely makes a difference

[@sethkaicer319]

Chris Farley informed music is win that he would end up living in a van down by the river!

[@jayyoungmusic919]

The middle is good for position 4 or using chorus. That’s it

[@DobDog151]

I’ve owned a Mexi Strat for 20 years and pretty much only played in middle position. Not sure why, just preferred that sound.

[@Exspazament]

I miss my mexi strat.

[@creamydistortion]

Same here... My Mexican strat is a '97. Over time, the middle pickup has really changed to a perfect tone, the neck is too muddy, the bridge is great as always... I use the middle perhaps 80% of the time...

[@demanibrown6762]

@@creamydistortion can't go wrong with that position 2 tho

[@creamydistortion]

@@demanibrown6762 Yes, that's a great sound.

[@Dirge4july]

It’s for being in the way of your pick.

[@timwhite5562]

I've played a Strat 80% of the time for 25 years, it's only been in the last 5 that I've REALLY got a lot of use from the middle pickup. What did it, besides finding the RIGHT middle pickup, it was rewiring it into basically a "Nashville Tele." The 5-way does nothing in the middle position, and the other 4 is like the 4-way Tele; Neck, neck/bridge, bridge, neck/bridge in series. The neck tone is wired to do the tone for the neck and bridge. The second tone is replaced with a blender pot, that I wire the middle pickup to, then directly out. It doesn't go through the volume of tone control, just the blender out. I use a push pull so I can just cut the pickup out. This way, you can adjust the volume of either the neck/bridge, AND the middle pickup. Usually they're all on the same volume, it REALLY expands the usefulness. As for a singlecoil in the bridge, I cannot disagree more. True, the stock strat with the bridge pickup is limited, but I never keep them stock. At the very least I usually will change the tone controls. I find they usually 1- use WAY too high a capacitor value, so it rolls off too many high frequencies. This usually results in 3 settings: fully open and Bright, a bit warmer, total mud. Lowering it to a 0.22 can make it much more useful. And/or 2- they use a pot with a bad taper. This results in hot-spots where it goes from changing at a smooth balance, to just dropping right out. Beyond that, sometimes changing it to a high-pass filter like the "grease bucket," can make it much more useable. Fender market it is "rolling off highs without increasing bass." Well it's a passive electronic circuit, so you're never adding anything. But normally the tone first rolls off highs, but the more you turn it down, the lower the frequency range it starts to remove as well. So once you get below 7, you start to lose upper mids, but the low-end remains, making it sound like it's added bass. The high pass will compensate by rolling off just a little bass too. You can adjust the bass to treble ratio however you want it. You can get a straight humbucker sound out of a singlecoil, albeit with less output so you may need to use a boost. But you can get things from a singlecoil with a high pass that you can't with a humbucker, which can work especially well in conjunction with the other pickups.

[@matthewmjb6860]

👏👏👏 I actually read the whole thing. For the most part, I agree with you, especially the tone knobs rolling off high then mid and singles having better high output than buckers.

[@timwhite5562]

@@matthewmjb6860 so you're the one that made it to the end? LOL. Yeah, using the lower cap value really can help that since the lower the value the narrower the frequency range is effected. I find a . 022 affects all the treble frequencies that I need to be able to roll off, but leaves the rest intact. Thanks.

[@mal2ksc]

@@timwhite5562 I had the ability to switch tone caps for a while, using a push-pull pot. I used this to A-B test between .022 and .033, and between .033 and .047. Like you, I decided to go with the .022 because it's easy enough to cut even further with EQ, but not so easy to try to boost frequencies that have been lost. I rewired to run all pickups through the same Tone control (which, if pulled, drops out of circuit entirely -- it's exactly the same setup as when it was choosing tone cap, except one of them is now missing) and put a Bass control (shamelessly lifted from G&L ASAT designs) in place of the other, since I have all "hot rails" pickups and they can be a bit bass-heavy. I usually leave this around 9, rarely roll it below 7 (or things get really thin), and have the option of turning up to 10 when I want to increase distortion without a huge increase in apparent volume. All the extra bass gets lost in the mix, but it still pushes the amp nicely. I tried splitting the hot rails, but using them in single coil mode sounds worse than the $5-for-a-set-of-three single coils that came with my kit, and those are already ridiculously noisy. They're OK when not split though (the noise problems are certainly solved), and with the bass rolled off they don't immediately scream "mini humbucker!"

[@JRJigsawyer]

This is very interesting. Can you tell me what you mean by neck/bridge in series? Is the grease bucket a .22 cap itself? And the blend knob for the middle pu- that's basically a volume for that pu that doesn't run through the tone control and it's a push/pull so you can just take it out of the circuit? Just trying to understand, I really want a strat but the problems you highlighted are ones I agree with and would want to address through kidding once I get one. Thanks!

[@sirspongadoodle]

please please please please please please please please FUCKING please stop thinking that there is such thing as the "right" pickup, pickups with even light overdrive sound identical... not my opinion its a fact, check out spectre sound studios video on pickups for the proof.

[@cfs3428]

10:05 I CAN SE YOU PLAYING BUT ITS NOT REALY COMMING THROUGH IN MY RIGHT EAR.

[@alexthebuilderman352]

hey Tyler I'm kind of stuck in a rut I'm suck in between playing scales and the same old riffs what do you recommend

[@Ben-wm9vz]

Learn new riffs, challenge yourself with song you are less familiar

[@wesleywallace101]

Agreed with the guy above…if your attention span is short and learning a whole new song is difficult, learn a short section that you like…explore new styles. If you’ve been primarily doing rock stuff, explore some r&b…you’d be surprised how introducing yourself to a new style can really open up more of your playing Also, listen to more music/guitarists! The stuff you listen to is vital!

[@jameshickson8174]

Make your own riffs.

[@Aakarsh1068]

I like to keep switching up stuff, you know. Try learning sections of a song and then move on to some other section in a different song. Loop over to the previous song again in a while after you've gone through several other songs. Helps in developing technique and keeps the monotony away.

[@thehound2161]

Beauty. Top shelf vid here folks.

[@paolettiguitars]

A great ride on our Loft Series!

[@jonathanwright8802]

Let's all remember that Iron Maiden is strat-powered.

[@JumboJimbo015]

Ah yes the middle pickup! To me it’s more of the SRV sound than the other pickup positions. That “Pale Eddy” guitar’s pretty nice as well. 😜

[@raytorvalds3699]

lol, "Pale Eddy" was a good one. I actually laughed out loud on that one. Cheers !

[@Alfgunnarp]

Awesome! Could you do the same for H-H guitars? I rarely use the mid. pos. on a Gibson, I might be missing out...

[@ThePurpleAndRed]

yeah, but this is an hss style strat, the “real” strat is sss.

[@rickw5024]

@Music is Win How would all three pick ups sound? Let's see a vid on that and the Bridge & Neck together.

[@sirspongadoodle]

LIKE PICKUPS... fuck sake nobody ever actually does research on what they spend money on... guitar pickups ARE NOT EQUALISERS meaning they have no effect on tone, glenn fricker from spectre sound studios has already done a few videos on this subject... and guess what the results are... no, tonal, difference.

[@antoonhermans8953]

Excuse me , but every strat player knows you have to turn down the tone knob on a strat while playing the single coil brigde pick up and it will sound great , so no need for a humbucker pu there . Humbuckers and P 90 pu's don't belong on strat's and tele's , they are for gibson like guitars , in my humble opinion anyway's , i know there are a lot off guitarplayers who will disagree : )

[@maxsalmon1573]

*Laughs in Charvel*

[@ramsonk]

it's me, i disagree

[@wilssantos2]

I 100% disagree haha. The humbucker on a strat-type guitar is the hard rock sound, which is not possible on a single coil (and sounds different on a Gibson)

[@antoonhermans8953]

@@ryanijyu533 thanks , so far , 2 votes for original strat pu set up , 2 nay sayers in the comments : )

[@antoonhermans8953]

@@wilssantos2 i understand , but for me a strat is not an hard rock guitar , the super strat's for the 80's / the van halen strat mod's are like , mmmmm , i don't know what to call them , frankenstein's ? : ) maybe i am to much of a purist , but for me fenders are single coil guitars ( although offcourse a P90 is also a single coil , wich is one off my favorite pu's , but then on an lp/sg or an ES 330/335 ) .

[@robohippy]

Jeff Beck seems to get entirely different sounds out of his strats..... In part because he uses his thumb and fore finger, and not a pick.

[@DaVaii]

I have a strat-type guitar, that is actually H-H-S setup, i think that is pretty rare. And I use that middle humbucker quite often 🙂

[@nathanbundy5651]

H-H-S are actually fairly new to the market, hence why you don't see many. Within the last 10, maybeeeeeee 15 years

[@user-of9ut1hd9q]

The middle pick up is really for giving positions 2 and 4 their special quack. A strat would just not be the same without it

[@sydwynd]

I've had plenty of HSS strats and never liked that you get a volume drop off from position 1 to 2 (bridge to bridge middle). I went back to SSS strats and like it much better. My preferred sound is the bridge and middle together. I get plenty of the strat sound I like with some punch with gain.

[@tije_vdp]

10:05 anyone know what this song is called?!

[@hiddenself]

Great video! I got installed DiMarzio Fast Track 1 at neck and this is my go to sound, to the extent that I hardly use other pickups :) And I've never played a Strat that had better sound than mine.

[@docpruettmusic5684]

I scratched my strat but I am sure it's ok

[@lee8org]

This is very subjective ...I own two Fender Stratocasters SSS one American and Mexican And Godin SD with HSS setup and love them all. Each of them behave diffenently.......plus some more guitars with HSH setup ...

[@daniel_naaden]

i love using the middle pickup for solos, typically, and then flip them into positions 2 and 4 when i need the hiss to die out.

[@Jaspertine]

back when I had a Strat, the middle pickup was my go-to for clean tone. Even now, I use a Tele, and my go-to for clean tone is both pickups on.

[@raytorvalds3699]

Tele clean with both pickups on is a beautiful thing. I love (and do) that too.

[@sunburstshredder]

Surprised you didn't mention "Sultans of Swing" for the bridge/middle tone. Edit: you mentioned using your fingers for a Knoffler type tone, so I guess that counts

[@pepe_raina3877]

Jokes on you. I don't have an amp.

[@richardgallo3155]

That strat sounds so good… Wow! Tell me more about it…. it’s so good 😎

[@sirspongadoodle]

no it doesnt... any guitar with the same STYLE of pickups will sound identical... stock pickups or seymour duncans it will sound the same so long as its the same style (meaning humbucker or single coil) this isnt my opinion either check out spectre sound studios video on pickups...

[@Javier-qk7ms]

IMHO the problem is most of us Strat players tweak our sound for the neck pickup as the overall sweetspot but that makes it automatically the other ones to just move away from that and that is pat of why lot of people hate the bridge pickup in its own. If you tweak your sound to the middle pickup as your rhythm/core sound going the bridge won't be that bad, or you can always use a single coil like Duncan SSL-5 to tame the treble yet keep that open sounding single coil vibe.

[@lone-wolf-1]

Dude was closer to heaven than to earth. Funny guy! „Where did you pull out your finger out that bird bro??!“ 😂

[@lone-wolf-1]

Dude was closer to heaven than to earth. Funny guy! „Where did you pull out your finger out that bird bro??!“ 😂

[@jacobdougherty9918]

Now I gotta go trade my Les Paul for a strat

[@brachcooper4203]

Dislike... your intro... ya didn't even switch pickups...stayed at bridge the whole time... im a huge fan...but c'mon man... Andy James switches back and forth constantly and you can hear the difference... :P... not hating...try harder

[@area859]

Wow the tones from that guitar are AMAZING. Classic fender tone ..SRV, ETC...Noooice

[@johnwozniak9279]

But wait!!! The Strat middle-pickup-position did have at least one very well-known rockstar champion! Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead played exclusively in the *middle-pickup-position* on his guitars: "Alligator", "Wolf", and "Travis Bean." All 3 were 'SSS.') "Tiger" was 'HHH'... but they were coil-tapped to switches on the guitar... and he always just used the middle bucker in single-coil mode. Now, if you follow the chain of dominoes... we might as well add Trey Anastasio of Phish to this list too, since he really just copied Jerry's setup. ***** The More You Know *****."

[@creamydistortion]

I use the middle pickup 80% of the time... It's sounding better now that it's aging (25 year old strat)... I almost never use the neck. Bridge for leads & Gilmour sounds.

[@exltd001]

The bridge middle isn’t that useful. Rewire so you have bridge-neck. I do it this way 1. Bridge 2. Bridge-neck 3. Neck 4. Neck-middle 5. Middle

[@ibtihajtahir9987]

3:42 that's a fake kiss sound

[@xlRainlx]

Blues/Jazz/Rock guitarists be getting all crazy with their pickup uses. Meanwhile us death metal guitarists have the neck pickup just for show lmao.

[@dougmacbride6527]

...Dire Straits (Mark Knopfler) Sultans of Swing solo was performed with the middle Strat pickup...

[@HollowDesert]

I love the middle pickup. Especially mixed with the neck. Thats my favorite position.

[@havyavahaagnihotri6982]

W pfp🗿

[@conordyer2307]

i notice people often eq the high and low frequencies on their guitar tracks to emphasise the middle frequencies to sit in the mix better anyway so they dont compete with the drums or bass, and the middle pickup inherently has more middle frequencies without having to mess with eqing too much due to its position so its always a really good pickup for recording multi tracked guitars , might not sound as inspiring as other positions on its own but definitely the perfect pickup for sitting in the mix.