Key points: 0:00 - Jam! 1:14 - The forgotten Stratocaster sound? 1:43 - Some history... 2:05 - What did Leo Fender want? 2:40 - The most influential Strat player EVER? 3:18 - Cliff Richard?! 3:31 - Derek is Eric. 3:58 - Bridge of Sighs 4:10 - Jam! 5:36 - Jerry, Bonnie, Lowell Jimmie and John. 6:32 - The great Sultans of Swing debate! 7:43 - Why should I use the middle pickup?
Well, my pickup and tone secret.. Check out the video I did on it on Ig instagram.com/tv/B9NKRQXgStG/?igshid=rcp9p0o6w8gt You will be in amazeballs what diversity a strat can have
There’s actually some that believe Slow Dancing in a Burning Room was recorded on the middle pickup but played live in pos. 4. Not sure if this is true or not, but I’ve messed with it and you can get pretty darn close to the studio tone with the middle pickup.
Hi Chris on the Mark Knopfler tone. You are right. It is the middle pickup and that district but bitey roundness is coming from an Orange Squeezer compressor paired with an Aphex Exciter. It's not a difficult tone to recreate once you pull in these two effects. The solo track in the second part of the recording also has a gentle studio chorus.
You prolly dont care at all but does someone know of a way to log back into an Instagram account? I somehow lost my login password. I appreciate any assistance you can give me.
YES! The middle pickup was my go-to pickup when I first started, because I didn't know anything about "tone", so I figured "middle" is a safe choice lol.
Once you stop ignoring the middle pickup, you’ll find it quickly becomes a go to for that balance of treble clarity and full range. Personal favorite for rhythm parts
As always, your playing is some of the most gorgeous and tasteful stuff out there. Really can't wait for the venues to reopen as you're pretty much top of my list of artists to see live when they do!
I totally agree! I've been working on learning what he played on Paul David's new collaboration video as Chris's improv was my favorite! If you haven't seen it definitely check it out for sure! :)
Opening playing is some of the sweetest I have heard ... Middle pickup is the "piano" pickup. And thanks for recognizing Buddy as the STARTER Stratocaster player! And the TWO notch position sound effectiveness depends on how high the middle pickup is in relation to the bridge pickup. And Stevie Ray loved the middle pickup! Thanks for doing this one! Right up my alley!
That jam was one of the nicest melodies I've ever heard. You can predict where it will go next, it feels like it's part of my brain before I've even heard it
I feel like SRV definitely used the middle pickup a lot with his songs. I usually gravitate towards the middle and neck for blues. Maybe it's just my strat but I don't really like the bridge pickup. If I wanted the bridge sound I'd just go for a tele. But "Pride and Joy" at max volume on the middle pickup is amazing! Also John Mayer's use of the middle pickup on "Bold as Love" is incredible. I use the middle pickup for blues rhythm and some lead until I switch to the neck when tension builds up. I love the middle pickup and it does indeed get overlooked
Love this! Ive heard way too many times that nobody uses the middle pickup. Its where some of the best strat sounds come from when used right. Excellent playing mate!
I just picked up a parts-caster at my local guitar shop. The guy said he couldn't remember what pickups are in it but they were real screamers. I bought it and plugged it in when I got home. The first thing I noticed was how awesome the middle pickup sounded!! I've never heard a sss guitar with a middle pickup that sounded that good!! And the you post this video! Haha. Even if you hadn't posted this particular video I'd be using the middle pickup ALOT on this guitar!!!
I'd like to ask SRV and Rory Galagher the same .. But about the maple neck. Jimmy didn't really care. The 1969 RAH concert is an example. Beck used a both .. And Knopfler ..
There are a couple songs that I've been playing for over 30 years of which I've developed certain solos for. I've worked and tweaked them time and time again to get all of the sweet notes, the most interesting phrasing and singable melodies and just when I think I have something worthwhile, I listen to 30 seconds of you soloing and everything you play is so much better than anything I've written. That was a very round about way of saying, you are an amazing musician Chris...
SRV played quite a lot of his hits in the middle position (Pride and Joy, Scuttle Buttin', Hideaway, Look at Little Sister, etc.) to name a few, and at live shows he made particularly heavy use of it. Listen to his "In The Beginning" album, it's absolutely full of middle pickup strat tones.
Even though Stevie Ray Vaughan isn't usually associated with that sound, he definitely DID use the middle pickup alone! The beginning of "pride and joy" live is a clear example. We should embrace the "quackiness" more :D
I recently played Tightrope, and used the middle position for the solo. When listening back on the recording, it was evident that it was as close as I've ever been on getting his lead tone :-)
Man that intro legit sounded 100% like Derek trucks if he was told to play a solo but couldn't use his slide. I've never heard anyone else sound so much like Derek trucks before.
This is Brian Kim Keenan. I read someplace that Clapton would put the switch ( 5 way or three way switch), in a position not indented or natural to the switch. It was between the middle pickup and the neck pickup. But the switch was just riding between the second and third place between the middle and the neck pickup. Some switches aren't capable of doing this. I have actually seen clapton adjusting his strat to this position. It sounds great. Thank you.
As usual Chris your playing is a joy to hear, it's just so soulful! was thinking earlier that i'd love to see yourself and Pete Thorn having a Jam (remembering your TGU video)
I Love the 335 Gibson 1964 ,, Clapton plays it mostly in the studio,, but look up him playing one from 1994 in Hyde Park Have you ever loved a Woman..Brilliant sound.
Came back especially just to leave a comment for this really interesting and original video - thank you. Having just acquired a 70s strat I was toying with giving it a 5-way switch instead of its original 'contemporary' 3 way. I now plan to leave it as it was.
I love the middle tone, its got that sort of “crystal” or “jangly chingly twang” sound to it, this one song I love uses it in the verses which is how I sort of started to acknowledge it more. Then I realised in Garageband that the Les Paul touch instrument sounds exactly like the middle pickup!
An old friend of mine who played strat through the 60's reminded me that the players would often set the pickup switch between the middle and other pickups by gently moving the switch part way and finding a place where it would stay. The down side was that any pressure on the switch would cause it to pop out of position and drop into one side or the other. The upside was that depending on where you got the switch to stay, you would always get a slightly different sound each time. The 5 way switch made it easier to get the sound, but any variation was gone.
I like that the early Fender company had ideas about what each pickup and switch setting should be used for. "Deep rhythm", "normal", "lead". It's cool to delve into this stuff.
My guy Jurgen Klopp said... “I’m the normal one.” So from now on, I will forever call the middle pickup, the Klopp! Excellent video, Buck...very interesting stuff and a killer intro as always! 🎸🔥
Dude. You have no idea how many sleepless nights my ADHD compulsive brain has hyperfocused on this question. And, here it is, you finally put my mind to rest!! I've been a Tele player, for years, till I got my hands on my first Strat. I've asked everybody, WTF is this middle pickup for!!! Now it all makes sense, and you actually have evidence to back it up!! Dude. I swear. Thank you for this video!
Im a long time Strat player and have always liked the "standard pickup" but recently Ive been playing more and more in the middle position I just love the 'quack' it produces.
Nice playing. You ace the tones. Your That'll Be The Day was spot on. Being a few generations older than you, I don't have to rely on anecdotes, as I was there. I had 3 L series +/_ "61 Strats. You hear lots of nonsense about who discovered the "in-between" tone, but I knew about it from about "64, and I live in South Africa. It bothered me that I couldn't get to it quickly and that I often had to go from rhythm to lead, which took too long. I took the guitar to my Dad (who was a bit of a genius), and he took the Strat apart and made a circuit diagram. My only participation in the process was to tell him what I wanted. He put 3 bedside lamp switches next to the pickup selector which gave me any combination of pickups. Note that this was about '65. To fix the lead/rhythm problem he put a switch and volume pot on the top left bout that isolated the neck pup (just like a Jazzmaster, though neither of us knew it at the time). This enabled me to preset my lead tone before the song started. What we both missed were the commercial implications. We could have done really well, as other people only caught on in the mid to late 70s. Nowadays I use a '94 Strat with Kinman pups and 9-way switching, which cost a lot more.
Funnily I’ve spent the last 30 years playing pretty much all the time on the middde pickup. Only since meeting you on the Guitar Breaks Holiday have I started using the in between sounds. 🎸🤘🏻👍🎸🤘🏻👍
Albert Hammond Jr. of The Strokes was a notorious middle pickup user on their first album, Is This It. Though out of 11 songs only 6 have guitar solos, out of which only 3 are played by Albert (Last Nite, Trying Your Luck and Take It Or Leave It, the other ones are played by Nick with his Epiphone Riviera), his rhythm work is also iconic to the sound of that early 2000's garage rock
BTW - end of the 70s two versions of "Sultans of Swing" came out. Two different recordings, not just a different mix. The single-version, where MK used bridge and middle pickup. This version was played on the radio and this version was in the top ten. It was shortened by one verse. The second version - a less sparkling version, appeared on the first album. Here MK used only the middle pickup. This version "survived" on CD and is nowadays played occasionally on the radio. Both versions can be found on RU-vid. And also a third version, the single vinyl version with all verses can be found.
When I first got a vintage strat I was surprised that the middle pickup with the vol rolled back a bit was giving me a inbetween 2 or 4 sound that had more body and could cut through the mix a bit more, love having this 3 way strat to compliment my other strat with a 5 way switch.
great video Chris. I use the midle pickup 80% of the time. recent I lean towards the bridge pickup. Maybe because I bought the THR10II recently and it sounds so good, even in the mix.
Hi Chris. Can't get enough of watching and listening to that opening blues jam you do in this video....thanks so much for sharing it with us. Please come and play in Cape Town...when we can travel again....
Dang Chris! You are quite the brilliant player... as good as I've ever heard! Gonna spend the summer catching up to all you have posted and stick on through! Thanks for all your offerings!
Great episode!! Laurence Jones also uses middle PU on his vintage Stratocaster a lot!! I have Fender CS strat with handwound Josefina Ancho Poblano PUs and middle position kinda sounds towards LP teritory to my ear. Another proof that stratocaster is the best guitar ever designed. Leo really was genius!
Chris can make anything sound pretty amazing. I do feel that only SOME strats have a decent middle pickup that has a decent balance on clarity vs output. Probabaly helps to wire the tone at the bridge pickup only and leave position 3 wide open and shape on the pedals IMO of course.
I think that on any other guitar, the middle pickup sound would be killer, but the fact that there are the 2 and 4 positions that sound so good, this makes it kind of get over-looked.
I started playing guitar before we had heard about Clapton in the States. But he def tought me to attack the guitar. Just don't 'play' the guitar. Shortly after Hendrix used the nuclear option. lol
Most underrated position on a strat, I love using it for clean arpeggios, spanky rhythm tones and lead tones that cut through the mix without the bass of the neck or the ice-pickiness of the bridge
To me The middle pickup is the strat sound I hear on my head. I currently have a 5-way selector wired on my strat but to be perfectly honest I could do with 'only' a 3-way since I mostly used the bridge and middle pickup anyways.
One of the players that inspired me to play Stratocasters, Albert Hammond Jr. from the Strokes, exclusively uses the middle pick up. I personally love the sound of the middle pickup. It reminds me sort of a harmony or silver tone guitar with that lipstick pickup right in the middle. I find the middle Stratocaster pickup highly underrated.
Funny. Ive always favoured the middle pickup on the Strat. It has a less distinctive tonality than the other two pickups alone, but greater flexibility. For that reason it seems to allow you to concentrate on your own dynamics and phrasing more. That’s the strength of the Strat as a design and where it departed from the Tele.
When playing clean, it's a tossup between the middle and neck for me, at least for isolated individual pickups (not counting positions 2 & 4). I actually find the middle pickup tone to be the most distinctive, complex and unique of the three (at least with the more stellar winders---I use Rumpelstiltskin). The neck is typically deep & rich, yet transparent & clear. The bridge bright, raw and cutting. However, the middle has a wonderful woody quality in the lows while being percussive and clear. The highs are somewhat glassy without being strident. And...that splendid chirpy attack that is somewhat akin to a Tele's middle position. (Of course the neck and bridge together, using a blender, is even more Tele-like). The middle seems to sound both woody and metallic at the same time---a very nuanced tone.
Nice playing and video! As for myself, I use the middle pickup for most of my rhythm playing and switch to the neck or bridge for lead. I never ever use positions 2 & 4.
Great video, yeh mate I am going to use the middle position more as well , totally forgotten and never used in my playing, that is all about to change !
I would actually have to say Derek and the Dominos is actually the Delaney and Bonnie band with Duane Allman sitting in, and without Delaney and Bonnie. Yup, Eric Clapton was in their band along with every other member of Derek and the Dominos. Duane Allman did do some work with Delaney and Bonnie but he wasn’t a regular member of the band.
FWIW I think Knopfler used the middle mickup for the rhythm part on Espresso Love. I can get the exact same tone on my '96 Strat Plus with Lace Sensor Gold p/ups. Absolutely 'to die for ' tone. BTW Love your work Chris, no ego, plenty of real information and nice playing.
The neglected pickup. I tend to use the middle a LOT more than the bridge, mainly due to the infamous "ice pick" tone of the bridge. The treble side of the bridge pickup on my strats is significantly lower to decrease it. I've always noticed Clapton has no trouble using the middle. If it's good enough for Clappers.... Well done, Chris.
Many strat guys including myself move the wire across from the middle to the bridge on the 5 way to give it it's own tone control to combat the icepick. This means the middle has no tone control which tends to make the 2 and 4 a bit sweeter sounding. I also like to lower the middle pickup as low as possible too and use it for a quieter rhythm tone sometimes.
The middle strat pup never gets any love and quite often is majorly trashed by some. It's actually one the strat"s best kept secret weapons in its tone arsenal. I use it all the time in layering tracks to take it over the top. Mid pickup, clean channel on amp, nice reverb, delay & chorus sprinkled in, light nylon guitar pick, strings strummed lightly not directly over the pickups but way up the neck around the 14th-18th frets and it's pure heavenly ambient tone. That little trick right there is the magic sauce that brings your layered clean tracks to life.
