IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
|
Posted on Feb 03 2015 01:21 AM
RaistMagus wrote:
IvanP wrote:
For me, the middle pickup on a Strat is where I am 80-90% of the time when playing surf music. It was also the most commonly used pickup setting by the Strat masters of yore: Hank Marvin, Dick Dale, Jim Skiathitis and Theo Penglis of the Atlantics. Between the middle and neck, you're pretty much covered for most of what you need. You can easily play surf music without ever using your Strat's bridge pickup (though it IS nice to have that option on occasion).
That comes as a surprise to me, I thought that Hank Marvin and Jim Skiathitis used the bridge pickup most of the time. Everyday I learn something new! 
Well, I've studied the old recordings in great detail, and to my ears, both of those guys used the middle pickup on the majority of their recordings. With Hank, here's list of some of the Shadows' early ('60-'62) songs where he used a middle pickup:
Quartermasster's Stores
FBI
The Frightened City
Back Home (half middle, half bridge)
Kon Tiki
36-24-36
The Savage
Gonzales
Find Me a Golden Street
Theme from a Filleted Place
Sleepwalk
Dance On
Shindig
etc.
Jim did use the bridge pickup quite a bit, but I believe that the Atlantics' two big songs, Bombora and The Crusher, have him on the middle pickup, as do many of their other songs. I have to admit it's sometimes difficult to judge with those old recordings....
So, yeah, that's my take on it!
— Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube
|
djangodeadman
Joined: Jan 25, 2007
Posts: 1568
Brighton UK
|
Posted on Feb 03 2015 01:35 AM
Paul Johnson uses a Strat with a humbucker in the bridge position.
I'm learning that the middle pickup is my favourite sound on my newly-acquired Strat.
— Los Fantasticos
|
RaistMagus
Joined: Mar 30, 2011
Posts: 388
Copenhagen
|
Posted on Feb 03 2015 03:35 AM
|
Skiltrip
Joined: Mar 09, 2014
Posts: 92
New York
|
Posted on Sep 10 2023 06:09 PM
A thread worth resurrecting.
I do a lot of different music with my Strat, and it's my favorite playing guitar. I bought it as an SSS but made it an HSS to get max versatility out of it. I always struggled with the bridge pickup while playing surf anyway. It often got really harsh, especially through a spring tank. Often used the middle and neck pickups anyway, so now I can also do fatter gainier parts as well just by flipping to the bridge.
— Guitarist for Northern Tides from Hudson Valley, NY.
Northern Tides on FB
Last edited: Sep 10, 2023 18:10:04
|
Redfeather
Joined: Jul 30, 2016
Posts: 896
|
Posted on Sep 11 2023 01:15 PM
I swapped the neck and middle pickups in my surf strat in their pickgaurd holes without changing any wiring so that I can have the bridge+neck sound in position #2 and so that the middle pickup is accessible by quickly flipping up to the #5 position because I prefer its sound to that of the neck position.
|
Samurai
Joined: Mar 14, 2006
Posts: 2288
Kiev, Ukraine
|
Posted on Sep 11 2023 01:34 PM
I use middle pickip I guess 60% of the time
Neck/bridge connection goes second
Bridge goes third
I think I never use neck, neck/middle, middle/bridge and all three
— Waikiki Makaki surf-rock band from Ukraine
https://linktr.ee/waikikimakaki
Lost Diver
https://lostdiver.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/vitaly-yakushin
|
JohnnyMosrite
Joined: Jun 14, 2006
Posts: 911
New York City area
|
Posted on Sep 11 2023 02:11 PM
Not being all that crazy about Stratocasters but respecting anyone's right to play what they like; I do use the Strat middle pickup every time I pick up a Strat. That's because I like the "candy sound" of the middle and bridge pickup - great for Buddy Holly and Bobby Fuller tunes.
I look at the Strat just for that specialized sound. I'd probably switch to a ukelele if the Strat was the only electric guitar out there.
To those who swear by them, fine. I like my Mosrites.
J Mo'
|
Tqi
Joined: Dec 07, 2014
Posts: 1222
|
Posted on Sep 11 2023 02:55 PM
-
Last edited: Feb 02, 2024 09:23:35
|
May Birthdays 
