selecting the right pickup

I'm kind of new to the electric guitar vs. the acoustic and would really like some help understanding which toggle switch setting to use for which type of playing? For example, I play a Les Paul and I typically use the down position which I believe is the bridge pickup. Is there a general rule of thumb for knowing which pickups to use for different songs?

im not sure what the experts might say but for me i pick the one that sounds the best. on a les paul the rhythm setteing is usually the neck pickup and gives a softer more balanced sound while the treble setting is the bridge pickup and gives a chunkier harsher sound.

if your guitar is setup right the neck pickup should be farther away from the strings than the bridge pickup and it should be the same on any guitar. this combined with the distance between the pickups is what makes the different settings of the toogle sound different.

the best thing to try is to find what sounds best for what you are playing.

i have been playing for 2 years and i learned to go what i like best unless you are playing covers which is just songs that you didnt write then you try to match the sound......on a les paul the down is the bridge and up is the neck.....the bridge sounds more trebblely

Thanks for the tips. I guess I'm doing mostly bridge because I have it in the down position most of the time.

Originally Posted by: slopaceI'm kind of new to the electric guitar vs. the acoustic and would really like some help understanding which toggle switch setting to use for which type of playing? For example, I play a Les Paul and I typically use the down position which I believe is the bridge pickup. Is there a general rule of thumb for knowing which pickups to use for different songs?

Whatever fits the sound you want. The up position is good for blues and for a wide tonal delivery. That pup is right under almost the center of the string, so you get the widest tonal character. The bridge pup is at the end of the string and gets a tighter vibration, thus is more trebley as has already been pointed out.

But there is no rule per se. Take "Enter Sandman" by Metallica for example. The clean intro is in the neck position, and when you get to the chunky part it drops to the bridge pick up.

It is whatever works for the sound you want.