Using a 5 way lever switch can combine the bridge and middle pickup in the # 2 position and combine the neck and middle pickup in the # 4 position. The # 1 position (bridge pickup alone), the # 3 position (middle pickup alone) and # 5 position (neck pickup alone). When in the # 2 and # 4 position the two combined are actually parallel-in-phase with each other. Normally all three pickups in a Strat are all wound in the same direction (clockwise looking from the top of the bobbin) and all magnetized either all North or all South in one harness. If the pickups are out of phase especially when trying to combine different pickup models from different manufactures you can have pickups out-of-phase and you can tell because they sound very thin, low output and lack fullness.

If all three pickups have 6,000 ohms dc resistance or 6 K ohms and two are used together in parallel (the # 2 and # 4 position on the 5 way lever switch) the dc resistance divides in half and becomes 3K ohms dc resistance. For many years now players have been putting 5 way lever switches into their instruments to get two extra tones. Hendrix used a 3 way switch and would balance the lever between the two positions to get the pickups in parallel with each other. In 1968 I gave Jimi Hendrix and Roger Mayer (Jimi’s tech) a bunch of old Fender Pickups I rewound and 3 way lever switches I knotched to stay in the 2 & 4 position easier. In return Jimi gave me a bunch of strings, back plates, springs, scarves and autographs. I took several photo’s of him and we talked about guitars and he showed me several of his guitar tricks. He enjoyed experimenting with his instruments and several Strats for different effects. He used to pluck his springs and lower his tremolo arm for effects. I was glad I had a chance to meet and talk with him. I’ll talk more about Hendrix in a later article.

Example of dc resistance using a standard 5 way lever switch:

• 1st position Bridge Pickup = 6 K ohms
• 2nd position Bridge & Middle Pickup = 3 K ohms (in parallel)
• 3rd position Middle Pickup = 6 K ohms
• 4th position Middle & Neck Pickup = 3 K ohms (in parallel)
• 5th position Neck Pickup = 6 K ohms