Does anyone actually use their neck pickup for rhythm playing?

[laxu]

The Les Paul has the neck pickup marked "Rhythm" and bridge pickup as "Treble".

Jazzmaster has the "rhythm circuit" which turns on the neck pickup and a different set of potentiometers with a largely useless 50K tone knob so it sounds kinda dark.

I'm guessing this harks back to the time of early electric guitar when most players used a clean tone and guitar wasn't front and center, so a darker guitar tone let the singer shine through.

But do any of you actually use their guitars like this today?

A neck single coil can work just fine because it's inherently leaner and brighter, but a neck humbucker is IMO always too tubby and dark that I would never want to use it for rhythm on anything but a clean tone. I tried dialing my Mesa Mark V so that an overdriven rhythm tone worked on the neck pickup, but the bridge pickup then becomes icepick city.

 

[JiveTurkey]

HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL no

 

[Steinmetzify]

I have one guitar that’s got 70s DiMarzios in it. The neck pup is fire for doom/sludge.

Other than that, nope. Most of my guitars only have a bridge pup.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Of course.

 

[newholland]

id be hard pressed to find more than one song ive ever used just my neck pickup for in 30 something years of playing. the only reason all my guitars have them is because i love the middle position so much. but aint playin no blooptone nonsent. :lol:

 

[TubeStack]

Now that I have this '73 Custom with original T-Tops, I use the neck pick up on my Les Paul all the time for rhythm, especially on the IIB channel of my VII. It's a fantastic, Stones-y rhythm sound and can even get close to a Strat neck pickup vibe (scale differences aside).

I get it now, all those old guys complaining how modern LP neck pickups are too boomy, bassy, etc. This T-top neck is the sweetest, clearest, least bass-heavy LP pickup I've ever played, just love it, can't emphasize enough how much more clarity it has vs the Bare Knuckles in my R9, Gibson PAFs, and even Lollars I've had. The ebony fretboard probably helps, too, but overall these are the greatest LP pickups I've ever played, no exaggeration and I know I gush about them a lot, lol, sorry can't help it.

So yes, 70s T-Top neck + IIB is a great rhythm sound.

 

[HotRats]

Yes I do and I love it! there are lots of cool tones in that pick up for certain vibes.
You don't play old school thrash in that position, that's pretty obvious.

 

[Ignoramus]

What's a neck pickup? Oh, you mean the other one that's never used but it looks good being there?

 

[Frodebro]

Everything was going smoothly until Slash came along and screwed up people’s understanding of what the neck pickup is supposed to be for.

 

[Stone]

Sure I do when required.

 

[Nathan Explosion]

I do, but not for rhythm playing. Just the opposite: I use it for the different lead tone.

 

[Chocol8]

I use neck pickups all the time for all sorts of purposes.

A neck humbucker needs to be a good vintage wind that still has the highs and all the character, and cleaner to mid gain tones from the rest of the chain can definitely help.

A darker high wind pickup in the neck is going to need some serious help from the signal chain, but why bother with that kind of pickup in that position? Save those for the bridge!

 

[holoholo]

I play a strat so yes. Next question.

 

[Jim Soloway]

These are the two guitars that are the most important to me, so I guess my answer is obvious.

 

[metropolis_4]

Keep in mind there are a TON of other rhythm styles that guitarists play besides distorted rock rhythm.

I use all three positions on my LP for rhythm all the time depending on what sound I’m going for. I look at my LP pickup positions like this:

In order of pokes out the most -> pokes out the least:

1. Bridge
2. Neck + bridge with neck rolled off a notch
3. Neck
4. Neck + bridge both on full

I’m playing a show of ‘50s music right now and I use all four at various points.

It’s a misunderstanding of early electric guitar to say they wanted darker tones to sit underneath the vocalist. In fact, if anything it was more the opposite. Electric guitarists were constantly looking for ways to poke out more in the mix so they could compete as lead instruments and soloists.

 

[DISTORT6]

I don't know if the neck pickups even work in my guitars.

 

[keef]

I use my neck pickup all the time. Fuzz and neck pickups bloom.

 

[Mikael Dez]

I like the neck pickup for like the 14th fret and up, and the bridge for anything else.

 

[gearJunkie]

Nope.



Seriously, I do when the situation calls for it. When playing in a group with multiple guitarists, it can help the mix by segregating frequencies.

 

[Dimiguitar]

When I first begun playing guitar, I thought the neck pickup was intended for all rhythm. So I'd play Metallica riffs on neck single coil.