Why is Les Paul control layout the way it is?

[Jack_H]

It always kinda bugged me. Instead of pushing the toggle upward to select the neck pickup and downward the bridge, wouldn't it be more intuitive to have it point to the pickup you are selecting? Same thing with the volume/tone knobs. I suppose if you played it long enough it would be second nature but it just seem a bit off to me.

Just me pondering the imponderable on a Saturday night.

 

[Strat Avenger]

Because whoever came up with the idea was pretty clueless, and Gibson refuses to stray from tradition.

 

[Tretgeraet]

I've got another one then: You could argue "Well it's easier to label them Rhythm and Treble that way!" and that could be right...if for the player those labels weren't always upside down...

 

[Tretgeraet]

I was just kidding. It makes total sense to me to have it oriented that way and btw it's the same on single cutaway Gretsch Duo Jets.

First of all: Keep in mind the typical playing position back in those days was either on your lap or strapped rather high, not as low as Jimmy Page or Billy Gibbons.

And in this playing position, imagine flicking that toggle real fast a couple times within a song. But now imagine, that movement wasn't the same direction as strumming or picking... Wouldn't that feel unnatural to you?

I agree however, if the switch was below the strings, where the pots are. I fact, I put the toggle in my own guitar design the way you describe it:

wouldn't it be more intuitive to have it point to the pickup you are selecting

In that position, that orientation felt more natural to me.

 

[JohnnyHardtail]

Generally your strumming hand moves in an arc, that is an Up/ Down motion near the pickup toggle. So it's possible to use the switch and without any change of motion.

 

[amigarobbo]

I've always preferred the Rickenbacker volume/tone arrangement with the volumes at the edge of guitar which are slightly, very slightly easier to get hold of than top one on the front row to change the neck pickup volume. I'm not explaining myself very well here.

Don't think I've ever played a guitar with a pickup selector when the Les Paul puts it.

 

[Jack_H]

Thank you all for your inputs. I didn't think of it (even with all of my overthinking) but it would make more sense to have the switch move with same motion as strumming, and make the knobs follow the same way to match.

 

[Hodgo]

I mean ideally the switch throw would be a tangent of the arc defined by your elbow/wrist in your playing position, and you can rotate the switch in the cavity to accomplish just that

But it really doesn’t matter if you’ve put in your 10,000 hours.

 

[Don O]

I’ve installed the toggle switch in all my builds to move towards the nut/bridge. Much more intuitive for me, not having to use any brain cycles while playing to think “up is neck, correct?”.