Pickup Position on Hollow and Semi-Hollow Body Guitars

[Al Mojo]

Typically you see pickup positioning on these guitars, from the 1950's to 1970's, in the: neck only, neck/bridge, neck/center/bridge, and bridge only.

But why did well known makers such as Gibson, Epiphone (and others) make guitars with a single pickup mounted more or less in the center position only?

The sound is different of course, but I wonder what was the reasoning for this - perhaps looking for "balance" in tone - any thoughts?

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Al Mojo

...I wonder what was the reasoning for this - perhaps looking for "balance" in tone - any thoughts?

Yeah, supposedly to obtain a "best of both worlds" tonality - didn't work...

[Dru Edwards]

I have no idea. As crazy as this seems, I wonder if it was for aesthetics although I suspect it was to give a different tonal option compared to other guitars.

Here's a 1956 Gibson ES-225T that was for sale at the Twelfth Fret in Toronto. The pickup placement looks out of place.

[Al Mojo]

It's puzzling. As you noted, maybe centered for aesthetic reasons .. or even to help reduce feedback or somebody felt a middle position placement worked well with pick attack?