Strat 2/4 positions - overrated

What's Hot
chris45chris45 Frets: 221
I've been playing my US Standard Strat quite a bit recently.  The single pickups are each fine and have a recognisable tone.  Position 2 (neck and middle) is... well OK, a bit country, fine as a clean sound but not a patch on the neck alone.  Position 4 is just mud when clean, all the high is gone and is unusable for me.  Oh and they are both useless with any drive.
I've only the one SSS so nothing to compare to - is this my guitar or just reality?  BTW Each pickup on their own to my ears has the same perceived volume output.
0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
«134

Comments

  • Bridge & middle together sound great on mine - but it is quite a fat-sounding Strat.

    Largely a matter of taste as well....
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71959
    Does your Strat have the ‘Delta Tone’ hotter-wound bridge pickup? If so that’s why the bridge/middle sound is muddy.

    Normally it’s horribly thin and clicky :).

    I’m not normally much of a fan either, but they do have their uses so I do have a 5-way switch on my Strat-type.

    In particular you need them (with a RWRP middle pickup) if you’re playing anywhere with a lot of electrical noise ;).

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • AlnicoAlnico Frets: 4616
    edited February 2018
    I'm not sure which way people count the positions but I use bridge and middle a lot.
    Sweet Home Alabama is an example.

    The other one, neck and middle I use when I want a darker neck tone and then flick to just the neck pickup when I want a slight apparent boost and a brighter tone but admittedly this is the position I use the least.

    I'm using SD Classic Stack Humbuckers STK4.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • bbill335bbill335 Frets: 1368
    From your last sentence, it sounds like you could do with adjusting your pickup heights. 

    Bridge/middle has its place for funky/disco cleans. Neck/middle always sounds like someone trying to copy SRV but ending up in john mayer's ballpark. 

    I would be quite happy with a three way on my strat, with an option for neck/bridge. 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • BRISTOL86BRISTOL86 Frets: 1920
    I like the neck and middle combination a lot 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • TheBigDipperTheBigDipper Frets: 4722
    edited February 2018
    chris45 said:
    I've been playing my US Standard Strat quite a bit recently.  The single pickups are each fine and have a recognisable tone.  Position 2 (neck and middle) is... well OK, a bit country, fine as a clean sound but not a patch on the neck alone.  Position 4 is just mud when clean, all the high is gone and is unusable for me.  Oh and they are both useless with any drive.
    I've only the one SSS so nothing to compare to - is this my guitar or just reality?  BTW Each pickup on their own to my ears has the same perceived volume output.
    Burn the heretic. 

    (Only kidding...) 

    It's always a matter of taste. It's not the sort of tone I would choose to put a lot of drive onto, TBH, but using position 4 is similar to position 2 for me - on a Strat and a Sillhouette - just slightly spikier. Edge of breakup sounds great with those settings to my ears.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • RavenousRavenous Frets: 1484

    I think the bridge/middle is a nice sound with compression.  (Otherwise it's a bit thin & trebly.)

    But it's all individual preference anyway.

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • guitars4youguitars4you Frets: 14034
    tFB Trader
    I love both combinations - those with the neck on its own are almost the 3 settings I use nearly all the time - Middle never and bridge on its own only on rare occasions - But with respect the position 2+4 can sound better on some guitars than others
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • 2&4 sound great clean or with light overdrive on my CS Strat with El Diablo pickups. There is a slight loss of definition and highs when switching from 1/3/5 so I tend to EQ amp to the 2&4 with tone controls fully open and then roll back tone to control the 'bite' on the 1/3/5 as required.

    The 2/4 positions don't sound the best with higher gain, but that's not what I expect from a Strat.


    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • impmannimpmann Frets: 12645
    edited February 2018
    Position 2 & 4 just sound vile.

    Leo was right - a three way switch is the correct fitment for a Strat. :-)
    Never Ever Bloody Anything Ever.

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 5reaction image Wisdom
  • carloscarlos Frets: 3426
    Bridge and middle is what I consider to the be the strat sound. For just bridge I prefer a humbucker.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 2reaction image Wisdom
  • EmielEmiel Frets: 212
    Try the 'Eric Johnson' wiring, or in normal terms, wire the first tone pot to the neck pickup and the second to the bridge pickup. That way the in-between positions will gain a fair bit of treble.. That's not to say I'm using position 2 and 4 much...
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71959
    Emiel said:
    Try the 'Eric Johnson' wiring, or in normal terms, wire the first tone pot to the neck pickup and the second to the bridge pickup. That way the in-between positions will gain a fair bit of treble.. That's not to say I'm using position 2 and 4 much...
    Actually it will slightly brighten the neck/middle but not change the bridge/middle at all. It also makes the middle pickup sound a bit overbearing, if you do use it alone.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • rossirossi Frets: 1699
    edited February 2018
    bbill335 said:

    Bridge/middle has its place for funky/disco cleans.


    This is my first sound check  when I check out any strat .A disco Niles Rogers type bar  cord up top end .I then know is a good un.Some strats  don't hit the spot  very well.I rarely  actually use that sound but I know its there .I am of course mad ........
    1reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • FuengiFuengi Frets: 2849
    I use neck or bridge, and neck and bridge via an s1 switch. 

    The middle pickup never gets used. 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • chris45chris45 Frets: 221
    ICBM said:
    Does your Strat have the ‘Delta Tone’ hotter-wound bridge pickup? If so that’s why the bridge/middle sound is muddy.

    Normally it’s horribly thin and clicky :).

    I’m not normally much of a fan either, but they do have their uses so I do have a 5-way switch on my Strat-type.

    In particular you need them (with a RWRP middle pickup) if you’re playing anywhere with a lot of electrical noise ;).
    It does - although I try to keep the tone pot engaged anyway.  Does the Delta Tone wiring impact this even if the tone pot is on?
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ClarkyClarky Frets: 3261
    I really like the 2 and 4 tones..
    prob though is that they vanish a bit in the mix..
    play every note as if it were your first
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71959
    chris45 said:

    It does - although I try to keep the tone pot engaged anyway.  Does the Delta Tone wiring impact this even if the tone pot is on?
    Yes, because the bridge pickup is hotter and slightly muddier-sounding than a normal Strat bridge pickup, and it affects the combined bridge/middle sound even more. The characteristic hollow "out of phase" (which actually isn't - it just sounds vaguely like it) sound of a Strat relies on the two pickups being very well matched for output and tone, or there is less frequency cancellation and you don't get the 'quack' or 'chink' tone as strongly. I'm fairly sure this is why there are such large differences between even normal Strats for this too.

    I actually prefer it - I'm not a huge fan of the 'quack' sound. I have a hotter bridge pickup in my 'Strat' and a master tone control (so there's no extra roll-off in the neck/middle position as there is with two) and the bridge/middle sound is actually fatter than the neck/middle - which I also like, because I tend to use the neck/middle clean and the bridge/middle with a little dirt, so the difference is better that way round.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • For me, the strat should have stayed with the three way switch
    The Bigsby was the first successful design of what is now called a whammy bar or tremolo arm, although vibrato is the technically correct term for the musical effect it produces. In standard usage, tremolo is a rapid fluctuation of the volume of a note, while vibrato is a fluctuation in pitch. The origin of this nonstandard usage of the term by electric guitarists is attributed to Leo Fender, who also used the term “vibrato” to refer to what is really a tremolo effect.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • EmielEmiel Frets: 212
    edited February 2018
    ICBM said:
    Emiel said:
    Try the 'Eric Johnson' wiring, or in normal terms, wire the first tone pot to the neck pickup and the second to the bridge pickup. That way the in-between positions will gain a fair bit of treble.. That's not to say I'm using position 2 and 4 much...
    Actually it will slightly brighten the neck/middle but not change the bridge/middle at all. It also makes the middle pickup sound a bit overbearing, if you do use it alone.
    It will brighten it up a bit if the bridge was already connected to the tone pot in the first place. I like having the neck and bridge pickups wired to the tone pots (and not the middle), seems to create more balance from pickup position 1 all down to 5.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
Sign In or Register to comment.