Regarding "tonal variety"

[Velokki]

I've owned 50+ guitars, and I remember often thinking when buying a guitar; "it's great that this has a lot of tonal variety if I need it", meaning a ton of different switching options. Also, most guitars have tone knob by default, and I remember thinking that's a good thing.

Now, I've come to the conclusion that I fucking NEVER use any of the extra switching capabilities. The worst ever was the Fender American Elite Strat - which was a decent guitar on its own, but it had this S1 switching system. Fender says on its site "it gives you more tonal options by offering extra pickup-wiring configurations", but all the options sounded like dog shit. The ones that sounded the best were the basic strat positions, like always.

Now I've also noticed that I've never, ever, not once used a tone knob on purpose. I might've tried a couple of times during the 18 years I've played guitar just for fun, but I've never used it in any meaningful context, certainly not for recording.

Give me 2 humbuckers, a 3 way switch and a volume knob. I won't use anything else.

Do any of you actually use the tonal options available? Am I just a simpleton neanderthal?

 

[Screamingdaisy]

I use tone and volume all the time. I'll roll the tone back to pull a lead guitar behind the vocal, then roll it back up to cut through.

Some of the stranger stuff I've found useful in band mixes. PRS with the old five way rotary for example. We had a song we recorded with an acoustic, but live we decided to use an electric to avoid having to swap guitars multiple times mid set. Humbuckers on their own were too punchy, but the middle positions scooped out and softened the sound enough that we could ditch needing an acoustic guitar.

It's not a tone I would've chose on my own, but in that context it worked great.

 

[AwakenTheSkies]

Give me 2 humbuckers, a 3 way switch and a volume knob. I won't use anything else.

Always had 3 way switches on all my guitars, about to get me some 6 way Freeway switches to see what I've been missing

 

[sonoftheoldnorth]

I've found the odd use in coil splitting and parallel. Never use a tone knob. Never found a use for the middle 2-hums on position. Guitar electrics on the whole feel quite outdated tbh. You'd have thought by this point there could be pickup hot swapping and whatever switching configs you want without the faff. Plug and play standardization type of deal. I'm aware these things exist or probably exist, but I mean as standard and not an expensive upgrade

 

[narad]

I got a free-way switch for a strat. The way I wired it up, I wasn't initially sure which way was the traditional strat way and which were the extra voicings, since it's basically 2 rows of 5-ways. But messing around with it, there were times where the best sound would be in one row, and others where it would be in the other row, so even though I didn't know what pickup combinations I was hearing, it was clear there was some added value to those extra options.

That said, my absolutely least metal guitar of the bunch. I'm not sure I would need much, or a tone knob ever, in a metal context.