A string musical instrument, such as an electric guitar, comprises a plurality of sound pickups and a user interface which allows the user rapid access to various configurations of pickup settings and connections. An embodiment of the musical instrument has a user interface which allows quick access to all forty-seven possible pickup connections available in a guitar having three single-coil pickups. Another embodiment of the invention allows rapid to access a large number of possible pickup connections made possible with the use of dual coil pickups, or a combination of single-coil and dual-coil pickups on a single guitar. The different pickup configurations are accessed via user operated controls such as clear illuminated momentary buttons or touch pads. Although the musical instrument provides a large number of accessible pickup configurations, a user display makes the determination of the pickup configuration intuitive and relatively simple.