Electric Guitar: Using Your Front Pickup as Another Fret

The front pickup of your electric guitar can be set up to function as another fret. Once you have tilted the pickup the proper way, either forward or backward, you can simply reach up and press down on the strings until they "fret out" against the edge of the pickup, which will produce a somewhat normal sounding note, although the tone may not be as sharp and clear as regular notes played on the fret board. But if you use enough gain on your amplifier, it can create bright pitches in the range of a 30th to a 36th fret, depending upon the location of your pickups on the guitar.

Admittedly, using your pickup as another fret is a somewhat off-the-wall technique, but it can be quite flashy when performed live and also heighten tension in solos dramatically, while still retaining plenty of musicality.

The main obstacle with fretting on your pickup is getting enough access to the general area. Occasionally it will be troublesome for your hand to reach up far enough, depending on how much your guitar body has been "cut away" near the bottom of the fret board. If your guitar is equipped with 24 frets, usually you will have enough access to slide your hand forward and fret on the rhythm pickup with ease.

But you will also need to make sure your pickup is set up correctly. Humbuckers (twin coil) are the easiest to fret on, instead of the slimmer single coil pickups. I have single coils on my Fender Stratocaster and fretting on it doesn't work nearly as well as using the humbuckers on my B.C. Rich Warlock. But I have seen other guitarists set up their single coils to be fretted on, so I know it's possible. To set up your humbucker properly, simply take a screwdriver and raise and lower the screws so that it's tilted forward (or backward if you want an even higher-pitched fret) while making sure that 1) the pickup isn't raised high enough to interfere with the strings, and 2) it makes a good cut off point so that it will "fret out" properly when the strings are pressed against it. A pickup setting too flat won't provide a tangible enough cut off point. Once you have your pickup tilted forward or backward, you'll be ready to go.

Keep in mind that changing the way your pickups are set up, raising and lowering them with a screwdriver, may change the tone considerably if you regularly use it when playing rhythm or lead. If it does change your tone in a detrimental way, the choice is yours whether you want a good rhythm sound, or whether you want to play high notes on your pickup.

All right, so what do we do now? Well, just play licks by pushing the strings down on the pickups and let your amplifier, distortion, effects pedals, and other auditory enhancements take over from there. Easy enough.

For a genuine musical example, admittedly a simple one, try this (apologies for the abnormal tablature below, but using a fixed-width font isn't possible in these articles, as far as I know):

High E string:{--24--22---} Then switch to the B string: {--24--22---} High E string again: {--32(P)--22--} B string: {---24--22---} And repeat that same pattern.

Notice that a 'P' has been placed next to the note that is to be played on the pickup. (I only assume it will produce a note equivalent to a 32nd fret, yours may differ.) For fingering, I use my index and middle for all notes on the fret board, and my third finger for the note on the pickup.

You can also try bending notes on the pickup too. It's kind of tricky but not impossible. I do it frequently. The hard part is getting your hand into a good power position to push up on the strings.

Ready for another lick? Try this one that is a tad more difficult:

B string: {---22--24---} High E string:{--22--24---} B string again: {--24--32(P)---} High E string again: {---24--32(P)---} Repeat that 8-note pattern.

The strangest thing about this musical example is the fingering pattern I use. For some inexplicable reason it's easier for me to use only my index and middle fingers for all notes of this lick. After playing the first four notes, I shift my hand up to the 24th position and execute the next four notes with my index and middle fingers there, with my middle finger reaching up to grab the "32nd" note on the pickup. But this will require some experimentation since your hands will probably function differently than mine. This second lick is fairly difficult - challenging to play with any real speed - but I think it has some musical value.

Playing on your front pickup is more of a flashy move than anything else, but decent musical passages can be generated with the technique. Also, employing it may help you break out of any improvisational ruts you might be stuck in.