The tonal aspects of "in parallel" and "in series"

JBReady · June 18th, 2007, 06:39 PM

I'm new to the world of Strats and for that matter, any multi pup guitar, so my questions may be pretty basic to the experienced among you. But because of your experience, I'd really appreciate your views. Does anyone care to offer a basic tutorial on the sounds that come from a player switching between series and parallel pickup combinations on a Strat? What is the effect?

Or, are there any passages in well known songs, for example, the songs on Layla, or any of Hendrix's first three albums (yeah, I'm old) where you could point out that the player is using this or that combination of series/parallel? Or series or parallel alone?

ps: I didn't post this in the pickup forum because I don't mean it to be so much a technical question as a tone or musical effect question, though anything technical is appreciated too.

Strat-Talk · June 19th, 2007, 08:05 AM

The "middle" positions or "in-between" switch settings (2 & 4) the pickups are out of phase and get a much more hollow sound. Listen to Stevie and you'll hear lots of in-between position pickup sound. You know, this sound is so common it's used on thousands of Strat recordings, but I can't give you a definitive example right this second.

Fender initially only put a 3-position switch on a Strat and folks "found" that they could put the switch "in-between" to get a much different hollowed out sound. From then on Strat players have lived with that setting. Finally, Fender just put a 5 position switch on the guitar standard.

Then in the 90's, they used reverse windings to make those two positions not only out of phase sounding, but noise canceling too.

JBReady · June 19th, 2007, 03:52 PM

Thanks Strat-Talk, appreciate you replying; it's hard to write about music, to find the right words to describe something intangible, and you did a good job.

I ordered a Strat a couple of weeks ago and expect to receive it in mid July. Then I'll be able to experiment and sound things out for myself. In the meantime I'll read up on pups, pots, shielding, caps, potentiometers and all the little things I never payed attention to til I started poking around the net.

btw, I tried to check this tonal thing out on my own but am too unsettled when I go into the local music stores; I can't hear myself think. Maybe I should try headphones.

Durockrolly · June 22nd, 2007, 12:34 AM

What Strat did you order? I'm curious as to why it will take a month to recieve it also. Regardless, I'll bet you love it!

Fernando

GuitarSlinger · June 24th, 2007, 01:24 AM

When running my pickups in parallel, they are noticably "thicker" like most people describe them sounding (it's more complex than that, but like you said it's hard to describe sounds over the internet).

I rarely ever run them in parallel, but I've gotten some pretty cool jazzy type sounds when I have...I just don't really play that style often.

The bridge pickup (which mine isn't a humbucker) is the only one I'll use in parallel with any amount of overdive, the neck and middle pickups are usually just too muddy with overdriven tones. If I had to pick one or the other it'd be series.

JBReady · June 24th, 2007, 05:13 PM

Thanks for the reply, GuitarSlinger. When you say "overdriven tones" does that mean "the tone control knob is turned up to 10"?

Also, for anybody, the terms "series" and "parallel," what do they represent in a 3-pup guitar? To me, being unfamiliar with the finer points, I hear "series" and I think, "OK, one right after the other." I hear "parallel" and I think, "OK, two or more at the exact same time."

Obviously I need to do some reading...

tazzboy · June 25th, 2007, 01:59 AM

Read the article here:
http://deaf-eddie.net/drawings/drawings.html

GuitarSlinger · June 25th, 2007, 02:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBReady

Thanks for the reply, GuitarSlinger. When you say "overdriven tones" does that mean "the tone control knob is turned up to 10"?

When I say overdriven I mean any tone that isn't "clean." The parallel sounds ok with a little breakup, but mild overdive to all out distortion sounds way better in series to me. If I'm playing with distortion and I'm on my bridge pickup, I may go ahead and kick on the S1 switch for added fullness in a solo, but thats about it.

Tazzboy provided a very good link, check out this one as well:
http://www.fender.com/products/s1/pd...SS011-7000.pdf

Click on your model guitar (which would be an HSS strat, I believe) to see a diagram of what pickups are used for every switch position.

JBReady · June 25th, 2007, 05:54 PM

Tazz and GS, you guys made my day. The Def Eddie site had great explanations and I can see that I'll be a frequent visitor as I try to learn more and match up sounds with his text and diagrams. GS, the Fender HSS schematic is so cool its like a work of art to me. I'll be printing that out and pondering it. Much obliged to both of you.

tazzboy · June 25th, 2007, 06:03 PM

Your welcome glad to be of service.

GuitarSlinger · June 25th, 2007, 06:48 PM

No problem...what color did you get? It's an FMT right? Maple or rosewood board? All the important questions, lol.

tazzboy · June 25th, 2007, 11:08 PM

Yes Inquiring minds wanna know?

JBReady · June 26th, 2007, 05:17 PM

Chose the flame maple top. I wasn't sure which I liked better, the flame or the quilted. I had seen photos of good and bad examples of bookmatching for both types of grain. A man can worry himself to death over some of this shtuff. Finally, I had to stop pussyfooting around and choose one to order, so flame it was.

The fretboard question was an idiot's delight in that there is no choice. Perfect for me. The boards on the Am Dlx FMT and the QMT are offered only in ebony. But I had a great time surfing around a couple of months ago reading Hatfield and McCoy stuff on the relative merits of maple vs rosewood before I realized I didn't have a choice...

The pups are samarium cobalt except the bridge which is an hb called "Enforcer" the name of which annoys me: what does enforcing have to do with an electronic unit built to pick up vibrations and turn them into sound? Maybe they used it on Noriega, I don't know... Anyway, they put that one in the FMT/QMT, but use a DH-1 in the other Am Dlx HSS models. One more thing for me to look into and learn about while I twiddle my thumbs and wait.

GuitarSlinger · June 26th, 2007, 10:58 PM

Ooooo ebony, sweet. I had actually known they came with those at one time, forgot all about it though. I always pick fretboards based upon cosmetic reason because I personally feel that the "tonal" differences aren't as big of a factor as most think. I believe you made a good choice on the flame top, can't wait for the pictures!

JBReady · June 28th, 2007, 09:01 PM

GS,

I'll definitely post pictures. It will be sometime in July though. I've been trying to stay cool and patient but it's starting to feel like when you're a kid counting down to Christmas. As Tom Petty once sang, "the waiting is the hardest part."

xpatUSA · April 16th, 2010, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Strat-Talk

The "middle" positions or "in-between" switch settings (2 & 4) the pickups are out of phase and get a much more hollow sound.

As far as I know, they're not out phase. If they were, you'd get an extremely thin sound because of an almost total cancelation of the fundamental frequency. The distinctive sound of the intermediate switch positions on a strat comes from the complex cancelation or aiding of higher string harmonics. The same effect is noticeable on a two-humbucker guitar but tonally different because the the pickups are farther apart. Going to the other extreme a regular humbucker, with it's two sets of poles, also has a little "cluck" to it, if you listen to clean sound on a Seth Lover for example.

best regards,

picky Ted.

Ray-Boy · April 16th, 2010, 04:57 PM

I'm building a Tele with a 4-way switch, normally found on those Thinline or Nashville or whatever they are Teles. The fourth position supposedly changes the two pickups from series to parallel... or is it the other way 'round? Anyway, as poorly as I play, I want every possible advantage.

TNTales · April 17th, 2010, 04:58 AM

If you are interested in series vs. parallel try out a guitar with the S-1 switch. The switch gives you the option of the standard parallel sound and the series sound. On my Tele I find it makes a sound that is less defined and thicker. Similar to a Neck Humbucker on an LP.

The Baja Telecaster has a 4 way switch along with the S-1. It lets you have pickups in and out of phase and in series or parallel wiring. That will probably give you the best sense of the type of change you'll hear.

Enforcer is a just a marketing name. Like the Tone Zone, or Super Distortion, etc. As I understand it's a pretty good pickup and comes on some of the John 5 models. They're more for really heavy stuff. You may want something a little less modern. Perhaps a Seymour Duncan JB.

xpatUSA · April 17th, 2010, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBReady

Or, are there any passages in well known songs, for example, the songs on Layla, or any of Hendrix's first three albums (yeah, I'm old) where you could point out that the player is using this or that combination of series/parallel?

Perhaps the most well-known is Mark Knopfler performing his "Sultans of Swing". It sounds like Srat position 4, a slightly thicker sound than pos. 3, IMHO. But, I can't remember which - anybody know?

Cheers,

Ted

Paulbiz · April 17th, 2010, 10:33 AM

Interesting topic, thanks for sharing, but im still somewhat confused. Can someone give me a basic rundown on exactly whats happening with my pickups in my Peavey T-60 (see photo below)...when the pickup selecter switch is in the middle on "both" the phase switch becomes active...so if the phase switch is in the "IN" position how are the pickups configured...if in the "OUT" position whats going on? I understand the phase switch is supposed to make the humbucker either become or sound more like a single coil...can anyone explain further the diff between in and out of phase? how does this differ from "parallel" and "in series".

Much appreciation!

sjtalon · April 17th, 2010, 02:46 PM

Well I'm not familiar with the Peavy but:

You have three things discussed here.

Phase:
One pickup to another, in or out of phase ( or reverse) with one another, which would mean, pickup coil wire wind direction AND polarization.Can be two single coil pickups........ or a humbucker (a two coil pickup) that gets split to accomplish that.

Parallel:
Two (or more) single coil pickups that have their positive wires combined.

Series
Two (or more) pickups connected in series, or "linked" together.

orcslayer · April 17th, 2010, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paulbiz

Interesting topic, thanks for sharing, but im still somewhat confused. Can someone give me a basic rundown on exactly whats happening with my pickups in my Peavey T-60 (see photo below)...when the pickup selecter switch is in the middle on "both" the phase switch becomes active...so if the phase switch is in the "IN" position how are the pickups configured...if in the "OUT" position whats going on? I understand the phase switch is supposed to make the humbucker either become or sound more like a single coil...can anyone explain further the diff between in and out of phase? how does this differ from "parallel" and "in series".

Much appreciation!

I had a T60 years ago. Here's how I remember it:

First thing to be aware of is that the pickups can be either dual coil Humbuckers or single coil fender style. Tone controls actually give you a Humbucker when set at 10 or a single coil when set at 1.

Phase IN simply means phase is engaged , Phase OUT means it as no effect

when Phase is engaged it combines the pup coils out of phase (a clear very thin sound)

if you are using both pups they will be combined out of phase with the phase switch IN. But the sound will depend on what mode you have the pickups in ( single coil or humbucking)

If you are using just one pup, its two coils in humbucker mode will be combined out of phase

However if you are using just one pup in single coil mode you won't hear any difference with phase switch IN because there is only one coil operating & nothing to combine it with

If using both pups in single coil mode with phase IN,there will be an effect but it will sound different than when the two pups are in humbucker mode since there are 4 coils being combined in Humbucker mode versus two coils only when pups set as are single coils.

I hope this is clear. I found the guitar had so many sounds that it was confusing. Best thing is to pick two or three you like.

Paulbiz · April 17th, 2010, 04:03 PM

Orc slayer and sjtalon thanks for the info, this is very helpful. You are right about it getting confusing, fortunately the T-60 sounds really good with either the bridge or neck pickups with tone all the way up without messing with the other settings. I found an explanation online from the T-60 manual that supports your explanation...I hope you can see this:

JBReady, I hope I havent hi-jacked this thread too much! Thanks