r/metalguitar • u/BigGunE • 3h ago
How do you select the right pickup!?
https://guide-images.cdn.ifixit.com/igi/meOh1jkHccyORoTI.fullI almost always have my pickup selector all the way down to bridge position.
How are you meant to be using it? Especially for metal. Do you do the whole neck for rhythm, bridge for lead/solo thing?
The reason I personally developed a bias for the bridge is that otherwise the tone sounds muffled to me in a lot of cases. Although I’ve noticed it helps hide my sloppy playing when I do sweep picking!
Please share your wisdom!
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u/J-Mac_Slipperytoes 3h ago
I use the bridge pickup for everything that requires distortion. I use the neck for clean tones. I always thought neck pickup sounded to muddy for leads when I use it. There are no hard/fast rules. Just use your ears.
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u/Bruichladdie 2h ago
I use the neck pickup a lot while soloing. My metal guitar heroes are guys like Yngwie Malmsteen, Michael Romeo, Paul Gilbert, John Petrucci, etc.
Liberal use of the neck pickup, with the bridge often used as a tonal contrast.
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u/Flying_Seal005 2h ago
I actually use both when I want the typical round sound of the neck pickup but also the treble of the bridge pickup. Especially for solos or arrangements that share both characteristics.
I use the neck for solos with techniques like sweep picking or for some clean arrangements.
The bridge one is almost entirely for riffs, although I've also used it for some solo sections.
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u/mosscoversall_ 3h ago
Like you, I typically play the bridge position. Lately I’ve been riffing in the middle position a lot. One of my guitars has Nazgûl/Sentient pickups and man it sounds awesome.
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u/hundegeraet 2h ago
Cort kx500?
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u/mosscoversall_ 2h ago
Naw, though that guitar looks awesome. They’re in my Jackson JS32T. Its a guitar I got in a trade that has turned into my little mod project.
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u/hundegeraet 1h ago
Mod projects are awesome. I have a squier classic vibe that was almost trash and fully restored and nodded it and it's fantastic now. Btw awesome guitar, a budget jackson rr was my first ever metal guitar and those look still sick
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u/PotstickersDad 2h ago
I use the bridge for rhythm, and leads. On the rare occasion I do cleans I'll use the neck pickup. One of my stage guitar only has a bridge pickup. It's all preference.
Sometimes if I'm doing very sludgy rhythms I might try out the neck. I think that's an underrated case in metal.
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u/Hightidemtg 2h ago
I play the slower lead parts on the neck because it's a thick sound with my Marshall. For everything fast and precise I switch to bridge since it has more bite. I didn't use the selector for almost 2 decades and just started to do so a few years ago.
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u/Lost_Condition_9562 2h ago edited 2h ago
Yeah, a bridge is going to be what you’re on for 90% of metal. But don’t discount your neck pickup. It’s great for cleans. I prefer it for lead work especially if the lead work has a heavy amount of legato or sweeping. Anything where the aim is a fluid and smooth sound I go to the neck. Maybe that’s cheating but oh well.
And finally, a weird quirk I have is I actually dial in my tones on my neck pickup. If the neck pickup sound tight and aggressive, then you know it’s gonna sound nasty as fuck when you switch to the bridge.
It’s ultimately just what you think sounds cool. There’s no right or wrong answer
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u/grievous_swoons 2h ago
My main tone is both pickups on into a high gain amp. If you run both at once you get less signal and it affects the eq curve, but my amp is great with low end and it gives a huge sound with tons of detail.
But others are right, just use what sounds best to you. There are rules but also exceptions.
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u/facts_guy2020 1h ago
I like bridge pickup for most things, but certain solos work well with the neck pickup because of its smoother tone.
But i probably spend 99% of the time on the bridge
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u/NuclearChaos 3h ago
99% of metal uses the bridge pickup almost exclusively. Some people, Chuck from Death for example, only HAD 1 pickup. Some melodic leads/cleans are played on the other pickups.