Guys with 3-Humbucker Guitars

[hamerfan]

A middle pickup tends to disturb my kind of playing. With my picking technique i tend to collide with the humbucker ring or with the staggered pole pieces on strat style guitar. Neither i feel the need of a third kind of tone. Just my 2 ct.

[ItsaBass]

The A-series of the Teye guitars are all triple buckers, and some known players use those guitars.

My biggest gripe is that its so difficult to have a useful wiring with 3 pickups, on a les paul, if you don't want to mod it like crazy. IMHO a 3 pickup les paul is ONLY useful with a 5 way superswitch (so the middle position is always neck+bridge, not only middle) with assignable volume pots, like Teye guitars. That 3 way toggle with the 4 pots is just useless with 3 pickups, and Really, I've tried it all.

For 3-pickup guitars, my favorite switching is the basic original Stratocaster-type 3-way switching. You can either have the neck pickup alone, the middle pickup alone, or the bridge pickup alone. I don't often care for the "in-between" settings.

[orpheo]

For 3-pickup guitars, my favorite switching is the basic original Stratocaster-type 3-way switching. You can either have the neck pickup alone, the middle pickup alone, or the bridge pickup alone. I don't often care for the "in-between" settings.

it depends, I think? if you want that quacky thing, you need that middlepickup...

[tonello]

I use the three humbuckers excessively on my custom HHH Gibson SG. For the pups, I use a JB (SH-4) in the bridge, Duncan Custom (SH-5) in the middle, and a Distortion (SH-6) in the neck. The three blend together to give you a sound that's great for mids, and combined with my MXR pedals, it's a metal machine. The wiring pattern is 3 volume pots, one master tone pot, and on/off toggles on each pickup. Easy to manipulate and ultra high output. Hope this helps you in any way. Keep on playing.

[Varg]

I dont see the point in putting something like a Custom in the middle. There is no way that sounds as good as the bridge JB for metal rythm and soloing, OR as good as the neck Distortion for metal soloing.
So whats the point?

[Jessie's ghost]

Only four of my guitars even have middle pickups:

1.) a single-coil (DiMarzio Breed, in an Ibanez JEM)
2.) a stacked hum-cancelling single-coil (DiMarzio YJM in a Strat)
3.) an active single-coil (EMG SA in an Ibanez RG270DX)
4.) a side-by-side single-coil-sized humbucker (Duncan Hot Rails in a Jackson Soloist)

And I don't use them much. If anything, they get switched on in parallel with the neck pickup (or just a coil from each) for Strat-like tones. Sometimes I play the Hot Rails in humbucking mode, by itself. It's a nice jazz sound, surprisingly -- just the right amount of clear and warm. But as Rick mentioned, it doesn't sound anything like the Hot Rails that's in the neck position of that same guitar.

Contrast that with the eight guitars of mine with H-H configuration. I'd rather have that and a three-way switch, or a Super Switch. I pick between the pickups a lot, and sometimes a middle pickup does get in my way. Aesthetically, I like to see some pickup-free guitar between the neck and bridge.

[blueman335]

My biggest gripe is that its so difficult to have a useful wiring with 3 pickups, on a les paul, if you don't want to mod it like crazy. IMHO a 3 pickup les paul is ONLY useful with a 5 way superswitch (so the middle position is always neck+bridge, not only middle) with assignable volume pots, like Teye guitars. That 3 way toggle with the 4 pots is just useless with 3 pickups, and Really, I've tried it all.

+1. That's another factor; factory wiring on HHH's. It's pitiful. 6 coils lined up in a row, and you only have a 3 way toggle. If you had push-pulls for coil cut on each PU, you could pair up different combinations of coils and get something interesting.

On my SG Custom, I have the bridge HB wired for coil cut and phase (on it's own dedicated volume and tone). The neck HB and middle P-90 share a blend pot for volume and a push-pull tone for coil cut. I think there's around 30 PU combinations, plus infinite blending with the the independent volume control/blend pot. Is this overkill? Yes. Certainly much more than the vast majority of players would want. It's at the other end of the spectrum from factory wiring, which offers so little.

[gvis]

I dont see the point in putting something like a Custom in the middle. There is no way that sounds as good as the bridge JB for metal rythm and soloing, OR as good as the neck Distortion for metal soloing.
So whats the point?

Because he likes it and you, who very likely hasn't even tried it in his exact setup and for the sound he wants, do not think you would. Of course those pups won't sound the same as they do in the bridge or neck positions, but to say they don't sound as good is completely subjective and not a reason to avoid trying it, if you're open to such changes and like tonal options. However, it is reasonable to advise someone not to expect a pup in the middle to give the same tone as it would give in other positions.

My point is that if you don't agree with it, you either 1) haven't even tried it, or at least tried the exact setup others have found useful, and are ok with just relying on what you've read about it and making speculations about it 2) you're just not the type who likes a lot of options and variety, and that's fine, or 3) you've tried it and the tone or physical position just isn't for you, and that's fine.

The tones I get by mixing the neck and middle while both are in parallel or mixing the parallel middle with the series bridge are unique, without any kind of weird characteristics, and are like having a second guitar, only now I don't need one to get that tone (which a second guitar with standard positions wouldn't provide anyway). Without it, it doesn't exist on this one guitar. What could be better? I know, setting both neck and middle to single and blending them, to get a clearer, more open sound, etc.

When I get tired of that, I just revert to using just the bridge in series alone or just the neck in parallel alone, which are what I use the most, simply because they respond better to high gain, which is the gain level I spend the more time in. If I spent all my time playing clean or mildly dirty, I'd actually spend more time on the neck and middle with this guitar.

All of my options are noticeably different, so I'm very pleased with it. Does this mean every new guitar I get will go this route? Maybe, but only if they use a plastic pickguard and have a large cavity like the Parker does.

My next project is a warmoth solist with basswood body, maple top, and mahogony neck. It will use just two humbuckers (likely a PATB2 in the bridge and, gasp, a JB in the neck; not sure yet) because the electronics cavity is smaller than the parker, I don't want to drill it larger, and the pup mounting includes a plastic rim box that plastic pickguards don't require, meaning an extended edge to get in the way; I have just enough clearance with the Parker where the middle doesn't bump me.

[blueman335]

My point is that if you don't agree with it, you either 1) haven't even tried it, or at least tried the exact setup others have found useful, and are ok with just relying on what you've read about it and making speculations about it 2) you're just not the type who likes a lot of options and variety, and that's fine, or 3) you've tried it and the tone or physical position just isn't for you, and that's fine.

I, and some others here, would fall under your categories 2 and 3. We've tried middle HB's, weren't impressed (and it certainly didn't justify trying a number of different HB's in the middle slot), and instead prefer other ways to get our PU/tone variety.

[post toastie]

yes. i have an original PAF in the middle of my Mustang. it along with the Schaller S6 single coil in the bridge screams. i like the middle position because it's not as shrill as the bridge position, but not as muddy as the neck position. perfect.

it's not mounted dead center - it's actually just a little closer to the bridge than dead center.

[orpheo]

it took me literally years to find out I like a superclean middle pickup, and low output at best. the lower the output, the quackier the tone, strangely enough. on a les paul, anyway.

[AlleeCat]

First, let me say everyone likes different set up types. A year or so ago, I did a mod on a Ibanez I had lying around. I put in 3 HB's, A Invader bridge pu in the bridge position, a Pearly Gate bridge in the middle position, and a Pearly Gates neck in the neck position. I also used 3 Triple Shot pick up rings. And used 3 on/off/on switches for on/off phase reversal.

I love this setup!!!

I get many different tones with the combination of parallel/ series and out of phase modes.

Yes I do us the middle position by it's self. And get great tones series or parallel.
The PG sounds much different from the Invader (as we all know the Invader has a ceramic magnet). No mud, no harsh high end, nice and smooth. And combine the Invader with the PG in the middle pure Rock!!!

The results are my avatar.

Don't know if this for everyone, but I dig all the tonal combinations possible with this set up!!!

Love the Triple Shots!!! Thanks SD.


AlleeCat