I'm quite a newbie to the electric guitar - having played acoustic for about nine months - and felt particularly newbish last night when I was fiddling with the control knobs/switches on my Squire Tele Custom II.
So did a bit of a search on the forums here but couldn't find too much explaining the controls. Maybe folks are too embarrassed to ask. :oops: :P
I've downloaded a Fender Telecaster manual (haven't yet found the exact manual from Squire online yet) but it's slightly different to my model. The manual talks about a rhythm pickup (humbucker) and rear lead pickup, which from the diagram appears to be a single coil pickup.
Anyway, I now understand that the 3-way selector switch can be set to either the front or rear pickup, or both. I also understand that the knobs are for volume and tone.
So after all that I guess my question is this:
:?: What is the purpose of selecting one pickup or the other (particularly in my case where two humbuckers are present)?
:idea: Also, any other useful information you may have on this topic would be appreciated, if not for other electric neophytes who maybe too embarrassed to ask what these knobs/switches are all about.
Thanks in advance. 8)
From little things big things grow - Paul Kelly
I'm no expert but what I know is the neck pickup or rhythm pickup is warmer and richer sounding.
The bridge or rear/lead pickup should be more twangy or brighter. This assists the tone of the guitar when playing leads since you usually want them to stand out from the rest of the music....(unless you've heard Wes play one....wow....(J/K, Wes :wink: ))
You can further "tweak" the sound to your liking by adjusting the tone knob on each pickup and/or using the pickup selector switch to change tones (pickups) quickly.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, anyone. :oops: :)
Bish
"I play live as playing dead is harder than it sounds!"
I'm no expert but what I know is the neck pickup or rhythm pickup is warmer and richer sounding.
The bridge or rear/lead pickup should be more twangy or brighter.
Ahh, of course. I think you just helped a lightbulb turn on in my head. :idea:
So pickup position is to an electric as the strumming hand position is to the acoustic! On an acoustic strumming more over the sound hole gives that warmer feel, but strumming near the bridge is a brighter sound.
I think what was confusing me was that I was thinking you had to strum over the particular pickup that was being activated. :oops:
Thanks for the quick response, Bish. :)
From little things big things grow - Paul Kelly
Besides the physical location of a pickup, its electrical characteristics affect the tone, too. Bridge pickups, whether humbucker or singlecoil, are usually the "hotter" of two or "hottest" of three. That's generally expressed as the pickup's DC resistance in ohms. For example, the GFS "Crunchy PAF Zebras" I'm going to install in my Memphis LP copy measure 13.2K ohms (kilohms or kilo-ohms; 13,200 ohms) for the neck, and 13.8K for the bridge. Toasty. 8)
Once you start really listening to your sound, you'll get a better understanding how changing between the different combinations of pickups, tone and volume adjustments can have on your sound and playing style.
joe
Check it out also. While playing the guitar, select one pick up over another, and play between both pick ups. See what you like or what sounds better for you. Then play with the tone knobs. I personally leave mine turned to ten but that's my preference. But you can check it out...see how it adjusts the sound and what you like. Depending on the type of music you like or want to play you can select different tone or pick up settings.
"I use heavy strings, tune low, play hard and floor it. Floor it, that's a technical term." - SRV
So pickup position is to an electric as the strumming hand position is to the acoustic! On an acoustic strumming more over the sound hole gives that warmer feel, but strumming near the bridge is a brighter sound.Yep. That works on an electric guitar too, btw, in addition to the tone you get from the pickup. You can get some nice feeling into a melody by messing around with the position of your picking hand. I quite often play noodly 12th fret+ stuff an octave down and pick from about the twelth fret, very interesting 'wooly' tone, almost like putting a blanket over the front of the amp :)
wow great question!!!! I just always crank everything up.
This is a good question.
You just have to experiment with your pickup selection, volume, and tone controls. There is so much you can do with them. And it is all a matter of personal taste. The tones you prefer and like might not work for me an vice versa.
Personally, I probably use the Bridge pickup 90% of the time. I just like the tight sound, especially using overdrive and distortion. But there are times I prefer the Neck pickup, especially when using a clean tone to get close to an acoustic guitar type tone.
I tend to turn tone around 7-8. I don't like harsh, clanky tones. I like the notes to sound just a little rounded off.
But that is me. :D
Your Volume control can be very useful. One technique especially used by early electric guitarists is to really crank your amp up until it overdrives and distorts. But then the guitarist would turn Volume down to around 5 (halfway). The overdrive will clean up to get clean tones out of the amp. Then, to get an overdrive for rhythm or a lead solo, the guitarist will turn Volume up to 10. Now you can get a crunch overdrive, or a singing distorted lead tone. I like to do this myself.
You can also get some cool effects with a Volume control. Turn Volume down a pick a note (or chord), then smoothly turn Volume up. You can get an organ or violin type effect. It also can be used to get a backward guitar type effect like Hendrix's solo on Are You Experienced. With a little practice you can get really good with this effect. Lots of fun too.
And you can almost get a Wah pedal effect by turning your Tone controls up and down very quickly.
So, experiment and find tones and effects you like. There is no right or wrong to this.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
wow great question!!!! I just always crank everything up.
I wouldn't adpot this technique, rather read what Wes said. You don't always have to crank the knobs to get a good sound. I made a post about a week ago, (can't remember what thread) where I talked about how I usually turn both the volume and tone down to around 8. It helps keep the high end from becoming to much, and helps with clarity. If I want an overdriven rhythm, I use both pickups, with the volume on the neck turn down to about 6 or 7.
Play around with different combinations of settings. You don't always need all four knobs up on 10.
Paul
Vacate is the word...Vengance has no place on me or her...Cannot find a comfort in this world.
Excellent responses folks! And thanks for not laughing at my seemingly newbie-ish question. :D
I would never have thought you could get so many effects from using your volume and tone controls in various ways. This has really opened my eyes.
I'll have to play around a bit more now and try some of the effects Wes has mentioned.
Thanks again! 8)
From little things big things grow - Paul Kelly
Excellent responses folks! And thanks for not laughing at my seemingly newbie-ish question. :D
I would never have thought you could get so many effects from using your volume and tone controls in various ways. This has really opened my eyes.
I'll have to play around a bit more now and try some of the effects Wes has mentioned.
Thanks again! 8)
Don't worry about your "seemingly newbie-ish question." Control adjusting is a very unappreciated and often-times overlooked technique. It's not easy to get the right effect when doing the swells as Wes mentioned. Nor is it easy in findign the right settings for pickup combinations. It's all about finding what works for you, and what you think sounds good.
Vacate is the word...Vengance has no place on me or her...Cannot find a comfort in this world.
