Serial/Parallel wiring for Strats.

[Sailor Charon]

Since you folks have been so helpful in the past - I've put the deposit down on the guitar I was talking about before - I thought I'd ask another question...
I was recommended to go for an all combinations/serial/parallel Strat type wiring for my new guitar. I spoke to the guy who put pickups in for me before, and he seemed to think it was a very bad idea. As I understand it, with the pickups in serial you get a bigger/more powerful sound than if they're in parallel. He thought that all 3 in serial would sound... bad, not bigger. [Basically, I asked him to give me that configuration in my Strat and he didn't seem too keen] For what its worth, what I'm looking for is flexibility and, hopefully, an option that's just a tad extreme...[/i]

[Philly Q]

What type of pickups did you decide on, P-90s or humbuckers?

Are you talking about two or more pickups in series or parallel with each other?  On just about every two- or three-pickup guitar I've ever heard of, the pickups are wired in parallel with each other.  On a Strat or Tele you can wire two single-coils in series (with each other) to give a humbucker-type sound (that's what you get on the fairly popular 4-way Tele switch).  

I've never heard of a guitar with multiple humbuckers in series, I don't know what that would sound like - huge, I guess, but not necessarily useable.  If you have P-90s, two in series could give you a big humbucker sound (if one of them is RW/RP) which might be interesting.


Or....

...were you thinking of humbuckers with the two coils in series or parallel?  That's a whole different kettle of fish.  

You could then have have a series/parallel mini-switch (or push/pull pot) for each of the three humbuckers AND a Strat-style five-way to select which pickup(s) are operational.  Lots of combinations, but very complicated.

[Sailor Charon]

Well, basically, I'm still deciding between paired single coils - he sent me a link to a video of a friend of his playing a guitar with paired single coils (and I liked the sound)- and P90s. I had thought Pig90s, but I don't want to sacrifice the top end...
[Though I would like the agression...]

Meanwhile, I thought I'd tweak my Strat (well, not personally, but you know what I mean :) ) [it's got a set of Trinity Suites in it] to a similar sort of configuration (all combinations serial/parallel/in/out of phase) partially to get the extra flexibility, and partially as a kind of test... [but mainly the first one.] (It's going to be 18 months at least till I get my new one.)

[Philly Q]

Well, if you're going with single-coils (or P-90s) I don't see why you should rule out the all-three-pickups-at-once options.  Certainly can't do any harm to try it.

I've seen lots of wiring diagrams for combining Strat pickups in different ways, but I can't think where to find a good one online.  A standard five-way switch is versatile enough for me.  

[38thBeatle]

I have the "all three pickups on" option on one of my Strats.I hardly use it-not a great tone to me.Far more usable is an option to give you bridge and neck- almost but not quite Tele middle sound.

[Sailor Charon]

Well, if you're going with single-coils (or P-90s) I don't see why you should rule out the all-three-pickups-at-once options.  Certainly can't do any harm to try it.

Thanks for that. I've been looking round, and I think I've found a suitable wiring.

[PhilKing]

The Brian May red special combines the pickups in series.  I used to have one and some of the sounds are great, others not so great!  I use a h-s-h with a 5 way mega switch, and 3 way mini switch to give me any combination that I want.  

I did work out how to wire a 5-way mega with a H-S-S set to give series combinations, but I ended up not using it, though I kept the neck-middle series in one setting.

The easiest way is to use 3 mini 3-way switches.  This will let you do series/parallel combinations if you want.

[JonnyScaramanga]

The new Fender American guitars with S-1 switches let you have the bridge and middle pickups in series, and the middle and neck pickups in series.

It should sound quite humbuckerish (that's the idea anyway). Why not go down your local Fender dealer and try one? See if you think the extra sounds are useful.

[Sailor Charon]

The new Fender American guitars with S-1 switches let you have the bridge and middle pickups in series, and the middle and neck pickups in series.

It should sound quite humbuckerish (that's the idea anyway). Why not go down your local Fender dealer and try one? See if you think the extra sounds are useful.

Thanks for that. I'll check where the nearest dealer is. And I'll really, really, really try to stop calling them Trinity Suites instead of Trilogy Suites... [Maybe it's some sort of Freudian slip to do with the sound I want? :) (Trinity was the code name for the first nuclear test...)]