Middle position twin humbucker

Coldsummer

Coldsummer

Experienced
I hardly ever use the middle position on a twin humbucker equipped guitar. Would like to know when you more experienced players would use both pick-ups together? Does anybody actually use this position, please be honest.
 
On my ibanez guitars that have dual hum and 5 position switch (my favorite configuration) theres a position where both middle coils are on that sounds kinda like a start that's really nice for cleans. The petrucci eb's also do this.
Even the middle pos of a h/h without coil splitting can be a nice effect but not in a lot of songs. (clean to mid gain) IMHO :)
 
the clean tones are with this pup selection cos it can be surprisingly "Stratty"





these were the guitars used

33995_460520844815_4248617_n.jpg
 
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they are lefty customs and are the only two like it in existence
made by Morgan Guitar Works in the UK

they're not Gibson scale, they're the same scale as a Strat..
in fact, they are only V's due to the body shape.. in all other respects the sound / feel more like super-strats..

alder body, west coast flame maple neck, African ebony boards, stainless jumbo frets
Bulldog pups, Floyd Rose, Steinberger tuners

they are "the dog's nuts"
 
Stuff like Lynyrd Skynyrd works well with both humbuckers at once. Anything that's rock with a touch of twang. And if the song calls for a single-coilish tone, and hums are all you've got, your only choice is the middle position.
 
Interesting, thanks guys I never really associated the mid position with more 'stratty' single coil sounds, I will try that out today.

NeoSound - Yes of course, my JP-6 has been my main axe for several years and the middle setting is specifically voiced to sound thinner. I believe it has a capacitor in the circuit to give it more of an acoustic voice. I was thinking more of the standard mid position voicing found on guitars like LP's or indeed my Musicman Axis.

Clarky - Absolutely loved those clips but again, I think the middle position on those beautiful Morgans must be voiced differently as they aren't the tones I would normally associate with both humbuckers on (or are they, maybe its just me?).

As I'm getting older I like a bit more twang with my rock so I think I might spend a bit more time in the middle!

Cheers guys.
 
the pups do have their own voicing and they're not coil tapped.. and the guitar has no tone control..

if you were to compare them to Di'Marzio, the bridge pup is like a Breed but tighter, the neck pup is like a PAF Pro but with better definition
they were voicings I ask for when Bulldog designed the pups for me..

the V6 only has a three way switch, so it only creates three tones..
but they are very distinct and very usable..

I tend to use the bridge selection for riffing and high-gain soloing
the centre selection for clean funking
the neck selection for the warm hi-gain solos and pretty much all other clean stuff [that needs more body]

funny really.. when I was originally setting about those clean funky tones my first port of call was my Strat
but then I tried the Morgan V6 and was seriously surprised at how much better it was...
the centre selection seems to have the basics of the Strat out-of-phase tone, but with a bit more 'stuff'

who'd have thought that a supposedly single minded shredder's V could out funk a Strat..
and in the clean tone is the Hiwatt blended with [of all things] a JCM800 / 1960a
this seriously shouldn't work.. lmao...
but it did...
 
Using the middle selection on the switch really depends on the guitar for me. On a 24 fret guitar the physical location of the neck pickup is different than a 21 or 22 fret guitar and this is the differences I have observed, for my taste at least.
I have a couple of Ibanez JPM’s 24 fret and a MM BFR all 24 fret all guitars, in the middle position take’s the inner coil of the neck and inner coil of the bridge and sound real good that strat like sound, the neck pickups on by themselves (full humbucker) sound good but not great to me. The BFR has a push pull pot so in the middle position it can give both humbuckers full on, at one point and time had also rewired one of the JPM’s to do the same thing (ironically before I had the BFR) again it sounds good but not great.

My Les Paul’s on the other hand, middle position sounds great, neck position sounds great. Neither one of these guitars are wired to split coils so I can’t comment on that. Basically some guitars miss the sweet spot on the neck pickup in the pursuit of those extra two frets. But there again that’s my taste.

Also with the Les Paul’s I like to blend the picks in the middle position since there are separate volumes for each. However keep in mind all of my guitars have treble compensators installed in them, I like to ride the volume on all of my guitars.

For those who may not know, this way when I turn down the volume on the guitar I don’t lose the highs also. Some guitars are way worse than others my BFR was the worst offender go below 8 and the sound turned to mud.

John
 
6L6C said:
On a 24 fret guitar the physical location of the neck pickup is different than a 21 or 22 fret guitar...Basically some guitars miss the sweet spot on the neck pickup in the pursuit of those extra two frets.
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I agree. The "traditional" spot for the neck pickup is right where the 24th fret would be. This position gives a sweetness and roundness to the tone that you don't get if you move the pickup forward to accommodate a 24-fret neck. (The traditional position also makes it pretty much impossible to get a 5th-fret harmonic on the neck pickup of a Strat. :) )
 
ahh.... my V6 guitars are 24 fret.... you can see from the pics..
and to my ears the centre selection is really nice..
that said, I don't know if the fact that it's a 25 1/2" scale rather than a 24 3/4" scale makes much [or any] difference..

I would imagine though that pup choice would make quite a difference..
 
clarky said:
ahh.... my V6 guitars are 24 fret.... you can see from the pics..
and to my ears the centre selection is really nice..
that said, I don't know if the fact that it's a 25 1/2" scale rather than a 24 3/4" scale makes much [or any] difference..

I would imagine though that pup choice would make quite a difference..
Click to expand...

Oh yeah it all comes into play, and of course what you prefer.
The sweet spot of your choice my not be the sweet spot of my choice.
But one thing for sure I like your clips!!
But question? Is that middle position with both humbuckers full on no coil tapping or is one of the pickups reversed wiring or anything like that?

John
 
clarky said:
I don't know if the fact that it's a 25 1/2" scale rather than a 24 3/4" scale makes much [or any] difference..
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It makes a difference, though I think pickup selection can make a bigger difference. A longer scale results in more string tension, which makes for a crisper, tighter sound and feel (or "brittle and clinical," depending on other factors, including your personal tastes and where your tone was at to begin with). A shorter scale makes for a looser, warmer tone and feel (or "duller and flubbier"—again, depending).

One of the factors that made EVH's tone stand out in his early days was the fact that he was pretty much the first big name to use high gain with a long-scale guitar. That gave him an extra dose of definition, which helped highlight his speed and accuracy.
 
6L6C said:
Oh yeah it all comes into play, and of course what you prefer.
The sweet spot of your choice my not be the sweet spot of my choice.
But one thing for sure I like your clips!!
But question? Is that middle position with both humbuckers full on no coil tapping or is one of the pickups reversed wiring or anything like that?

John
Click to expand...

aah yes of course... taste plays a huge part..
thanks dude.. I have to say that I'm quite pleased with they way those recordings worked out..

there's no coil tapping or phase reversal going on [pretty sure about that]..
just 2 hb's together
 
Rex said:
It makes a difference, though I think pickup selection can make a bigger difference. A longer scale results in more string tension, which makes for a crisper, tighter sound and feel (or "brittle and clinical," depending on other factors, including your personal tastes and where your tone was at to begin with). A shorter scale makes for a looser, warmer tone and feel (or "duller and flubbier"—again, depending).

One of the factors that made EVH's tone stand out in his early days was the fact that he was pretty much the first big name to use high gain with a long-scale guitar. That gave him an extra dose of definition, which helped highlight his speed and accuracy.
Click to expand...

I so know what you mean about brittle v tight and warm v woolly..

and of course, when it comes to tone, it is the sum of all the parts..
and some parts have greater / lesser impacts.. but they all add up..

so with respect to those clips, here are the parts..

guitar:
alder body, the neck joint is set, flame maple neck, ebony fingerboard, stainless steel frets
Floyd Rose, the springs are muted
strings are Ernie Ball Power Slinkies [11 gauge, but I've changed the wrapped strings to a 30, 40, 50] tuned to D standard
tension wise, with this tuning they feel like '9 and a smidge' for a set of 9's tuned concert
the difference though is that the strings have more mass <-- not really sure what the tone implication of this is, this setup was all about getting the feel right..
pups are by Bulldog, not tapped, no tone control

overall, the V6's are very tight and quite bright
 
I have to say, Clark, I don't know many people who put as much thought into their tone as you do. All that attention to detail shows in your exceptionally well-crafted tones.


clarky said:
...the difference though is that the strings have more mass <-- not really sure what the tone implication of this is, this setup was all about getting the feel right..
Click to expand...
More string mass means more metal passing through the pickup's magnetic field. That means hotter output, with all the attendant tone changes that entails. More mass also means more sustain, much like a truck is harder to stop than a bicycle. :)
 
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