Pick-Up Selection in Jazz Guitar

Part of the Video Series How to Play Jazz Guitar

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Learn how to use the pick-ups in jazz guitar from a recording artist in this free music lesson video.

Contact: www.dustinplumb.net

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Tags: jazz fingering, jazz guitar, jazz picking, jazz sound, jazz swing, jazz techniques
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Video Transcript

Pick-Up Selection in Jazz Guitar
Hello! My name is Dustin, and I am going to talk about pickup selection. Most electric guitars have a pickup near the neck and one near the bridge, with the flick of your pickup selector switch you can select which pickup actually picks up the strings’ vibration and sends it out your output to your amplifier. Now here is the pickup selector switch; the up position usually uses the neck or rhythm pickup to pickup the sound of the string. The down position usually uses the bridge or treble pickup, and the middle position usually uses both pickups simultaneously. Now even if both pickups are exactly the same, they can have drastically different sounds based on their orientation under the strings. The pickup closest to the neck often sounds warmer and sweeter than the pickup closest to the bridge, which often sounds a bit bright and harsh. Here is a difference between the two sounds, here is the neck pickup… here is the bridge pickup… neck… bridge…most jazz players use the neck pickup exclusively, and rarely, if ever, use the bridge pickup. Many jazz guitarists exclude the bridge pickup altogether.

About the Expert

Expert: Dustin Plumb is a recording artist, who has a Bachelors' in Music from the University of Oregon. He resides in Las Vegas where he runs a sound design company called DP creative. Read More