However many players, such as Ritchie Blackmore, find it somewhat of an obstruction to the picking hand, so loosen the mounting screws such that it lies flush with the pickguard. The sound of the middle pickup is similar to that of the neck pickup, albeit with slightly less bass and more treble.

The neck pickup typically has the lowest output, with the most mid-range and bass response, whereas the bridge pickup has the higher output (because the strings at the bridge move less) and the greatest treble response, with a slight twang to it. The pickup positions are usually referred to as the bridge, middle and neck pickups based on their proximity to those parts of the instrument. The guitarist can control which pickup or combination of pickups are selected with a lever switch. The traditional Stratocaster design guitar features three single coils. Note that the poles are of different heights. Stratocaster pickups, viewed along the neck profile. The two horseshoe-shaped magnets surrounded the strings that passed over a single core plate (or blade) in the center of the coil. The pickup consisted of two massive 'U' shaped magnets and one coil and was known as the ' horseshoe pickup'. Beauchamp eventually produced the first successful single coil pickup. He wound his earliest coils using a motor out of a washing machine, later on switching to a sewing machine motor, and eventually using single coiled magnets.Д«eauchamp was backed in his efforts by Adolph Rickenbacker, an engineer and wealthy owner of a successful tool and die business. Originally using a phonograph pickup assembly, Beauchamp began testing many different combinations of coils and magnets trying to create the first electromagnetic guitar pickup. In the mid-1920s George Beauchamp, a Los Angeles, California guitarist, began experimentation with electric amplification of the guitar. Sketch of Rickenbacker 'frying pan' lap steel guitar from 1934 patent application

Single coil vs humbucker for bass