Grateful Dead Music Forum

I've played Strats mostly over the past several years and recently assembled a custom Warmoth strat with three humbuckers: two Super 2's and a Super D in the bridge. The tones are awesome. I love the way it sounds.

But I can't play the damn thing. I mean, I can, but it's really annoying having so little depth to dig in to the strings without hitting the middle pickup and getting thrown off. I could lower the middle pickup, but then it doesn't sound as good.

I just finished assembling last night and only played for about an hour, so I'm hoping I'll get used to it. But for those of you who play with three humbuckers: Is it comfortable to play? Did it take time to get used to?

I have the same problem although I don't play my Jerry guitar very often. You need to adjust your hand position and play between the middle and bridge pups.

john in san diego

That's where I usually play, but I haven't really tried it on this guitar since the space between the pickups is so narrow. I'll give it a shot though.

It is narrow! And it's a pain in the ass! Oh the things we do for Jerry tone!

I've found adjusting how you hold the pick also helps to some degree, might be worth your while to experiment

You'll adjust.

Moreover, picking close to the bridge sounds more Jerry-ish IMO. Really helps with that articulate "snap" or whatever you want to call it on the low strings.

I have a Strat, Les Paul, and 4 three pickup Jerry-ish guitars. Of all the issues I've noticed, the middle pickup has never been something that has gotten in the way. I've had more issues with going between flatmount bridges and TOM/stop tailpiece bridges.

Thanks for all the replies. After a few days I don't really notice it much anymore. If I really want to dig in to the strings, I instinctively move up by the neck pickup, which is a little lower than the others. Otherwise I'm further back.

It's a little frustrating at times, but the enhanced tonal palette is worth it. Hopefully it will become second nature!