What is parallel?

Last Updated on October 16th, 2019

Parallel is when two pickups are combined, either by a switch or other device. When using a 5-way lever switch on a Stratocaster, the number two position normally puts the bridge and middle pickup together in a parallel connection. The ground wire of each pickup is soldered to the outside of the volume control and the positive wires from each pickup are soldered to a contact on the lever switch. When the lever switch moves from one (1) to five (5) positions, the number two (2) and four (4) position combine two pickups in parallel with each other.

  1. The number (2) position combines the Bridge and Middle pickup in parallel.
  2. The number (4) position combines the Middle and Neck pickup in parallel.

The number (2) and (4) positions are often wrongly called “The out of phase positions”. In reality the pickups are normally “in” phase.

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