Middle Pickup

[Odin]

Will dissconecting the middle pup on a strat make any difference soundwise? I have dissconnected the tone pots already, and i think it sounds a bit more alive.. You have guessed it...i like Malmsteen:)

Edited March 18, 2008 by Odin

[WAK Guitars]

My friend (also a Malmsteen fan) has a dummy pickup in his middle position. Its not connected. So I'd say you should be ok as long as you do it properly.

[fryovanni]

Now that is one sure fire way to cut mids

Sorry

Edited March 18, 2008 by fryovanni

[RGXDave]

My friend (also a Malmsteen fan) has a dummy pickup in his middle position. Its not connected. So I'd say you should be ok as long as you do it properly.

Haha, this is my strat he is talking about. Kai, I think the middle pickup is connected because it makes sound when I hook it up.

[WAK Guitars]

haha yup thats your strat i'm talking about lol

[7even X²]

OK, really, you don't want to do that. Yes it will make a major difference in sound, no you wont like the results.

You'll notice that position 2 & 4 on your 5-way switch are hum canceling. If you disconnect the middle pickup without re-wiring the whole guitar, there can be no hum canceling position. The Strat utilizes a reverse wound pickup in the middle position. When the switch is in pos 2 it is using the bridge and the middle pickup to create a hum canceling position. Same with Pos 4 but instead of the bridge and middle, its the neck and the middle that make the hum canceling. In both cases it requires that reverse wound middle to do that.

Hope that helps some

Mike

[southpaw rocker]

I actually like the idea of not having a middle pickup. I had a strat that had only two single coils but I did a complete overhaul. I changed the pickups (stock pickups) with 2 texas specials (with opposite polarity to each other) hooked up to a special 4way switch (neck/bridge/parallel/series). I think strats look good with only two single coils (neck/bridge)