The Subtle Genius of the Middle-Position Selector of the Les Paul

I’ve recently come to appreciate the subtle genius of the middle-position selector of the Les Paul.

Need to turn the guitar down but don’t want to walk back to the amp / digital controller? Just turn either of the volume pots to 0 - shuts down the guitar output. (It’s a feature of the circuit design, not a bug.)

Need to turn it up for a solo? Turn the dominant (or both) pots to 9 or 10 - doubles the volume. (That’s a feature of the volume pots, not a bug.)

Need to turn it back to play rhythm again? Turn the pots back to where they were, usually 8 or below.

But most of all…

The middle position lets us mix the outputs of the pickups to taste using the volume pots. (The Rhythm / Lead positions are limiting cases of the mixes available with the middle position.)

Is the bridge too thin and nasal? To get a bridge-y tone with a bit more body, put the bridge pot somewhere between 7 and 10, and the neck somewhere between 2 and 4. (*)

Is the neck too full and jazzy? To snap it up a bit, put the neck pot somewhere between 7 and 10, and the bridge pot somewhere between 2 and 4.

Something balanced? Put both on 6 or 7, or 9 / 10 if you want to be loud.

A Strat offers five discrete mixes of its pickups, the Les Paul offers a (theoretically) continuous variation.

When I’m creating a Preset on the HX Effects, I set the volume pots at 6 (which is the actual mid-point when using a Katana) and the tone pots at 7. Then I can use the volume pots to get a more bridge-y or more neck-y version of the tone, and I’m not having to create something that will deal with the nasal bridge signal, and consequently be useless on the neck, or vice-versa.