One pickup guitar questions

[Julian]

(Disclaimer: not necessarily PRS related)

Hey all,

Hope y’all are well. Wanted to discuss two things:

1) what you guys thought of one pickup guitars?

2) Why are most one pickup guitars mostly equipped with bridge pu rather than neck or even middle?

 

[Tucson Thump]

Would love to have an original LP Junior from the 50s.

My understanding is that the lack of a cavity for a neck or middle pickup leaves the neck to transmit the vibration into more of the body wood. These were "student" guitars, and I'm sure no one in Kalamazoo was expecting Leslie West to pick one up more than a decade later and make it scream.

The neck pickup being closer to the bridge? One, they are usually P-90 pickups, which while single coil are darker than the Fender versions, so placing them next to the bridge makes them brighter. If Gibson were designing based on their amps at the time then this was a good idea, because the three Gibson amps that I have from the same period tend to be more mid-range than bright.

Just my opinion.

 

[Coral Sky Music]

Personally from the age of 14 when I first started playing guitar to about my early 30's I always thought neck pickups were just for show.. \m/ LOL

 

[KentuckyBoiledChiccan]

Personally from the age of 14 when I first started playing guitar to about my early 30's I always thought neck pickups were just for show.. \m/ LOL

What a legend!

 

[bodia]

Personally from the age of 14 when I first started playing guitar to about my early 30's I always thought neck pickups were just for show.. \m/ LOL

Ditto!

 

[HANGAR18]

Some guitars are made with only a neck pickup because all they are ever intended to play is smooth, creamy jazz all the time.

(Photo: Heritage Sweet 16)

 

[Julian]

Personally from the age of 14 when I first started playing guitar to about my early 30's I always thought neck pickups were just for show.. \m/ LOL

Hahahaha I was the opposite, used to avoid the bridge bite . Mellow man 4 life

 

[Julian]

Some guitars are made with only a neck pickup because all they are ever intended to play is smooth, creamy jazz all the time.

(Photo: Heritage Sweet 16)

Interesting! Never got into jazzboxes so I didn’t know they had one neck pickup variants

 

[DISTORT6]

Personally from the age of 14 when I first started playing guitar to about my early 30's I always thought neck pickups were just for show.. \m/ LOL

I still kinda do.
For the amount of time I actually use or need the neck pickup, I could EASILY do without one. Just like the set up on my long, lost Gunslinger.

 

[Brad Lawson]

Hahahaha I was the opposite, used to avoid the bridge bite . Mellow man 4 life

Same here

 

[dmatthews]

I spend 80-90% of the time on bridge pup.

 

[markd21]

When playing live, I love one pickup/one knob guitars. I had a super sweet Custom Shop Jackson PC1 with only a bridge pickup. It was a BEAST. Thick solid maple body, baseball bat neck, single Duncan Custom/Custom....

https://flic.kr/p/XMAh6T

 

[Mike J.]

A friend of mine bought a Gibson SG Junior last year. What a great, simple guitar! Awesome player. Sometimes I think I wouldn't mind owning one myself.

 

[Herr Squid]

I've encountered one vintage Les Paul Junior, and it was pretty awesome. I think it helps that P90s are great pickups, and maybe the lack of string pull from a neck pickup helps 'em be more lively.

If I were to have a custom strat built one day, it might just have only the neck and middle pickups. I've never loved the bridge pickup on those guitars.

 

[alantig]

I've always tended to bounce between pickups, so I never thought I'd like a single pickup guitar.

But damn if my black and yellow EVH isn't a hell of a lot of fun to play.

 

[danktat]

Personally from the age of 14 when I first started playing guitar to about my early 30's I always thought neck pickups were just for show.. \m/ LOL

Odd....I am just the opposite. I usually ride either BOTH buckers, or neck only. I occasionally split the bridge when I am looking for more "twinkly" sounding ambient stuff. But that is few and far between.

 

[dogrocketp]

When the old jazz guys played guitar, most often they would take their beloved archtop to the local luthier and have a pickup installed. My first archtop was a Gibson L7 C that I had a Dearmond pickup mounted on a rod so they didn’t have to cut the top. Jazz guys were notorious for turning down the Volume to find the sweet spot for soloing and small group. For big band, the volume was all the way up for maximum cut. The neck position always gave a more accurate archtop tone, It was theortecially placed where the harmonics would be the richest.. The early Gibsons sometimes had a pickup in the middle position. I never liked the tone. Aside from giving more bite, putting the pickup in the bridge position supposedly interferes with the string vibrations less. A certain EVH felt that the neck pickup was extraneous for getting the sound he wanted. YMMV. I can bore you with more, but this is the gist of it.

 

[garrettb]

I love a good single-pickup guitar. Having it in the bridge position suits most music styles well. I'd argue it's the most versatile position.

I've done the Esquire thing a couple times and only occasionally missed having a neck pickup. My modded SE One is ridiculously versatile. It has some magic in it, because it can do everything.

 

[Gnarmageddon]

I'm a very big fan of one hum guitars in my particular line of musical work (hint: djent djugga djug djug). I actually saw some pics online of a guy who did a halfway decent job filling the neck pocket. Coupled with the longer scale and no inlays, it's pretty darn close to what my not-today-but-soon custom-ordered PRS would be - build that on a fatback custom 24 body in a glossy black burl and a maple fingerboard and I'd have my absolute dream.

I do play a couple of single hum guitars, the E-II M-I NTB gets pulled into duty still. I'm sure a lot of the shift in tone and added resonance is psychosomatic to a degree. But for someone like me, I want the bare, bare minimum. One humbucker. Volume pot. Done.

 

[Tucson Thump]

If I were to have a custom strat built one day, it might just have only the neck and middle pickups. I've never loved the bridge pickup on those guitars.

Only half of the quack?