series/ parallel or phase selction

[bjg]

well which do you prefer and why? also what poitions do you use with it?

[Trey]

I use both on my LP Goldtop with P-90s, only works in the middle position of course. By using them both you get the funkyness of the out of phase sound, but having the pups in series helps to fatten it back up a little(the same thing can be achieved to some extent by rolling off the volume on one of the pickups a little, but it sounds beter out of phase in series.)

[jimplaysguitar]

I like the three way series/single coil/parallel switching,
I have it on the bridge humbucker in my strat, I've never tried in/out phasing so I can only say I prefer series/parallel. ;D

Jim

[UnklMickey]

i picked neither.

because i think they are BOTH important tools to have in your arsenal.



unk

[bam]

neither.

unk is right. you WILL need all those choices.

[wolf]

I chose series/parallel. Of course, it's a matter of opinion but John Atchley (of Guitar Nuts I) also prefers series/parallel:


In a strat type guitar, I prefer the series / parallel switching on the middle and bridge pickups although I always wire in an option for neck and middle in series/parallel.

With a double humbucker guitar the options are incredible.
The neck and bridge pickups can each be wired for series/parallel and in turn those pickups can both be combined for series/parallel switching.
This allows eight tone options when both pickups are active and 2 options each when the individual pickups are chosen, making a total of 12 tone options.
As far as phasing, I don't like putting humbuckers out of phase because it causes too much cancellation.

[JohnH]

I need both! theres no voting button for me to press, so I abstain.

Standard guitars are all based on parallel wiring between pups, but my favorite sounds on a Strat are NM series, MB series and NB out-of phase series, plus the basic single coil sounds.

I have just finished wiring up my LP guitar with HH pups. I get 5 sounds per pickup and series and parallel combos between them. I was really surprised by some of the humbuckers in series sounds, I was expecting mud but found pure cool tones. I also have the humbuckers 'out-of-phase with its self option', which is super bright, and although it is a fairly specialist sound in itself, I'm finding it is a powerful ingredient, like a hot cayenne pepper, to spice up the combo sounds.

Each to their own, I totally respect a minimalist 'less-is-more' approach, but I love figuring out complex wiring, and i hate being limited to a standard set of options when I know there is so much more possible. So my message to those with like mind is to get a decent but not too expensive guitar and try some of the possibilities. This allows you to find your sounds, and then make designs that focus on what you have found best for you.

John

[dunkelfalke]

series-parallel, if only because out of phase is impossible with active pus

[RandomHero]

I choose series-parallel, because if I need my sound to do anything, it's have more punch. An SC in the bridge is just about all the shine and shimmer I'll ever need, but I had a Hondo strat copy that I did the all Control Freak mod on, and I only used the phasing option once or twice... but man, if you use the M+N in series, it fattens up the sound so much... B+M in series makes it sound like my speaker cone is trying to pop right out of my amp and attack me, for all the extra punch to the sound.

[GuyaGuy]

after being obsessed with all of those possibilities (series/parallell/phase/coilcut/coiltap/etc) i'm actually getting to the point where i'm playing more and more with just one pickup at a time.

of course, when you have 4 pickups on your guitar, that means you still hae quite the sonic arsenal. hee-hee.

[ChrisK]

I use the Mike Richardson w/
(B, B+M, B+N, M+N, N) and
(B+M+N, B*M, B*N, M*N, B*M*N)

With a PP tone pot each directly across the bridge PU and the neck PU (also phasing that respective PU), I get a phenominal tone palette. In the series modes, the respective tone pot actually high frequency bypasses the affected PU, brightening up the rest of the chain. In a padouk chambered Strat copy w/ a fat 1 7/8" padouk/ebony neck using DiMarzio V.V. PU's, I can go from Tel'ish to Strat'ish to Gretch'ish to SG'ish to almost LP-like.

It's almost as good as my simple scheme that gives virtually all series, parallel, series/parallel, and phase combos possible for three SC PU's, but it does violate the vintage look.

So, RandomHero, can the board now accept schematics for vetting and possible posting in a central surf zone? (I've been away for a while.)

[jhng]

I'm particularly fond of sounds between single coil and two pups in series.

For example, the Neck pup on a strat in series with middle pup, but with a 0.033uf capacitor in parallel with just the middle pup.

The low frequencies go "through" both pups for a crunchy bottom, the high frequencies by-pass the middle pup (through the cap) and just go "through" the Neck pup for a clear, woody top end.

DGB Studio has loads of mods using these ideas (DGB refers to it as "Special Tone").

The range of possibilties will, however, mess with your head-- so be warned!

Hastings