Series Parallel Pickup Wiring Explained: Sound Demo & Diagrams (Phase Switching Too!)

[@senselocke]

Dude, that was SO THOROUGH, and playing the same riff through all fifteen modes makes this an absolutely fantastic reference! Thank you!!

[@heavymetalATC]

Thanks for watching and taking the time to write a comment Senselocke. I am so glad you enjoyed the video and found the information helpful. Music is win made a video a few years ago where he said How can you determine the tonal differences in gear when you only play the same 5 crappy blues licks over and over?... Im like uhhh that is kinda the only way. LOL

[@frankjesko8165]

OUTSTANDING! This is the best explanation I've ever seen of all the series/parallel combinations from three single coils

[@heavymetalATC]

Thank for your time and kind words Frank. I hope I was able to help you in some way. If you have any questions feel free to comment and I will try to answer them to the best of my ability. I apologize for the late response as I was taking a break from youtube but I am back now and ready to respond to any questions you have.

[@86tiagonunes]

I love how every time I'm researching some crazy guitar electric thing I end in your channel!

[@heavymetalATC]

Hahahaha I love to hear that. Thank you for taking the time to leave a kind comment and let me know.

[@tato4612]

Me too haha

[@elipse4594]

The reverb effect over your voice made it way funnier

[@supersugg22]

This is one of the best tutorials i have ever heard

[@heavymetalATC]

Thank you so much Zachary. The one thing I forgot to touch on in the video is magnetic phase. If two pickups are hooked up normally "in-phase" and you flip the magnet or magnetic polarity in one pickup they will become out of phase. its just like how 2 magnets pull until you flip one like a coin then they push.

[@daveylee4677]

Out of phase wiring can sound really cool when separate vol controls are used to blend the pups. (It takes at least 2 pups -1 being out of phase to get the effect). Try backing off the vol of the out of phase pup to 8 and see what you get. Works for me, I run separate vols. The tone is still nasally, while not being overly trebly. Try it!

[@killroy123]

Literally the first video to actually explain what in phase and out of phase is. Thanks

[@tovarichvodkin2723]

I'll just leave a comment bcs this is the best explanation of "phase-out-of-parallel-series" shit and other ppl must see this Great job dude

[@heavymetalATC]

Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to write this kind comment Tovarich. Much appreciated truly.

[@tovarichvodkin2723]

@@heavymetalATC 7 months later lol))

[@arthurabbott4792]

Thanks, never learned that much about electronics since I went to school. Now i understand how and why Brian May's Red Special works, for example

[@higgnbe]

Once upon a time I wired up my les Paul copy in a similar fashion 3 humbuckers with phase and series parallel on the coils and toggles on all 3 pups. you did an excellent job explaining I couldn't explain what the hell I did no way I could do it again

[@ricardoa5626]

Great great job man, I usually dont make comments but your work deserves recognition, great great diagrams and explanation, I hope you have a video of half out of phase demo (which I know is here too)

[@heavymetalATC]

Thank you Ricardo. I appreciate the time you took to watch the video and leave these kind words. Unfortunately I dont have a guitar capable of variable phase. I think its a cool thing for sure but without 1meg or no-load pots it can muddy the sound and lower output by sending some signal to ground. Any extra knob or "variable resistor" acts this way that is why the guitar in the video has only one 500k pot with a treble bleed cap to offset some of this clamping on the top end. Plus I dont really know if I would have room for the 9 knobs it would take for this configuration. But, I may do something similar to this in the future. Thanks again.

[@patrickmacleod2415]

This is the best explanation I have seen on this subject. Now I finally understand. Well done. Thanks.

[@heavymetalATC]

Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to write such a kind and awesome comment Patrick. That really made my day. I did however forget one thing in the video. "magnetic phase" if you switch the magnetic polarity (flip the magnet) it is the same as hooking the wires up backwards so in some cases the pickups can be wound in the same direction and hooked up the same but still be out of phase because one magnet or magnet(s) in the case of alnico poles can be flipped from one pickup to the other. Like one is south pole up and the other is north pole up. That will put them out of phase. I hope that is not confusing but it does the same thing to the sound as flipping the wires. Also thanks again I am glad you found the video useful.

[@prajeetbhatt8491]

I really wish my college professor could have the echo effect for keywords like you do. Really helpful video mate thanks!!

[@heavymetalATC]

Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to leave such a kind and comical comment Prajeet. You are most welcome. This stuff is inherently boring by nature so I try to spice it up with something to keep people awake. I am glad you found the info to be of use and value. I do regret that I didn't mention magnetic phase in the video but the last video I posted does explain that. Thanks again I appreciate the interest in the channel as well as the kind words.

[@akok5373]

Great vid! Had to keep rewinding it cause I was lmao. Funny, entertaining and informative. Good job dude

[@heavymetalATC]

Thank you for taking the time to watch and comment I really appreciate it. I have to try to do something entertaining this is a pretty boring subject if you just explain the science in a monotone voice. Gotta keep the people awake and on their toes somehow. Thanks again bro.

[@mspeedm5849]

Interesting a creative way of trying to communicate something a few people have interest in but don't understand about. Good idea. I find that testing out what the polarity is vs winding directions are the key to getting out of the basics. My first a ha moment long ago was realizing and understanding opposite vs same polarity then altering the current flow is the key to a successful switching mod. Before that I just thought you had to have a reversed wound pickup to make a humbucking combo with 2 singles , when in reality all you need is one single one polarity one single the opposite and reverse the current flow of one of them as it does not matter if one is reverse wound. However, there are issues with this if the cover is bonded or the base of a tele bridge for example is bonded to it's factory negative etc.

[@heavymetalATC]

Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to write such a kind comment Speed. You hit the nail on the head, this stuff is pretty damn boring at the core of it. You are absolutely right its all about the direction that the current is flowing in relation to the movement of the string, I do regret that I did forget to mention in this video.. Magnetic polarity you can also put a pickup out of phase by flipping the magnet it will make the phase of the ac current (wiggle i like to say) out of phase. So basically same as hooking it up backward or reversing the winds. Yeah I know what you mean about maybe a base plate or front cover not allowing a pickup to be hooked up reverse but there again you can flip the magnet if it has a bar on the back or if its got alnico poles you can swipe it between 2 strong ceramic or neo bars backwards and recharge it in the other direction and it will be out of phase. One can easily hurt their head with all the possibilities and different wiring combos allowed by each. haha thanks again brother, very well stated and articulate comment.

[@Zoogler]

YOU ARE MY GOAT OF ALL TIME

[@feathercrestguitars1542]

You are the bomb! I'm told that's a good thing. I think lvery seen all of your videos multiple times. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[@heavymetalATC]

Thank you for all the support FCG. Im in the process of cooking up more as we speak and I recently remembered exactly what I was trying to do here and I am gonna make more vids in the original style of the channel like this one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pKq0eIaEiZd_aK8

[@MarchalisVan]

Amazing, totes deserves more views

[@heavymetalATC]

Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to leave such a kind comment Marchalis.

[@touchthesun2448]

excellent! Now I understand the knobs on the SG MUSE...coil split on the Humbuckers and out of phase in position 2. Thanks a lot!

[@heavymetalATC]

Thanks Uncle Dad. That is awesome, yeah in theory its quite simple but sometimes wiring things up or tracing a phase switching series parallel circuit will just make your head hurt. Figuring out the original wiring for this one was a mofo. Then doing the actual wiring I got confused so many times. I was just staring into the wires and switches imagining they were pipes with water running through them so I could remember which way the signal was going. LOL

[@dancotterman1267]

Good visual with water flowing through pipes. KISS is the best way. Appreciate the video thanks.

[@kitni]

i laughed so hard while learned a ton from this video, great done sir !

[@heavymetalATC]

Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to write this kind comment Thanh.

[@feathercrestguitars1542]

I look forward to seeing them.

[@heavymetalATC]

Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment FCG! Those electric 3 strings you got are pretty Awesome! You can make it sang too boy! Subscribed!

[@Augustus222]

Awesome :D! But i think you didn't mention the role of the polarity of the magnets. In a humbucker you have both polarities and don't get a thin sound despite of the reverse wiring. Same with the middle pickup in a strat with reverse wiring and reverse polarity compared to the outer pickups. So that the in between positions don't sound thin and you get hum cancelling.

[@heavymetalATC]

Thank you for watching and taking the time to type out this articulate technically sound comment. You are exactly right. I completely forgot about magnetic phase in the video. I made another video that explains magnetic phase because of that but yeah I dropped the ball on the subject of magnets. Thanks again Fx you nailed it.

[@matthiazH]

😂 funny and best explanation at the same time

[@heavymetalATC]

Thank you so much Mat.

[@howguitars2201]

Any vids on adding neck to bridge humbucking like neck n middle. Thx.

[@peterwirrer552]

After watching the video, I was wondering whether you can help out in a sort of custom wiring scheme. We got a 4-way switch telecaster wiring setup. However, how do I incorporate for/ connect a second tone pot to have Independent ton controls (bridge and neck pickup) rather the traditional master controls. Hope you understand my intention and thanks for your cool contributions to the community... Cheers Peter

[@heavymetalATC]

Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to leave such a detailed comment Peter. I am a bit at a loss on this one, if it were regular 3 way wiring I would say just place the tone circuits on the positive pickup leads before they got to the switch or on the switch lugs going in but with you switching into series?? I don't know man? I'm sure someone could sit down and figure it out but I just spent a few mins looking at a 4 way tele diagram and I didnt immediately see a solution. When switching into series it would combine bothe the tone knobs and get dark... even when all the way up a tone still robs high end just the way a volume pot robs output even on 10?

[@smokepeddler]

On guitars where I wire 2 pickups for series and parallel. I solder a 1m resistor on the outside lugs 1&3 to a 500k volume pot which ends up giving me around 340k resistance. Which seems to be a good compromise.

[@heavymetalATC]

Thank you for watching and taking the time to leave such a useful comment Ryan. That is great info. I will file that away in the old head bone and try to remember it on future builds. Thanks.

[@delcambrem]

Genuinely Entertaining

[@heavymetalATC]

Thanks M D I'm glad you appreciate my unruly style and attitude. Its hard to make boring technical subjects interesting so I try to keep the atmosphere lively as much as I can.

[@marijazlatar5457]

Hi I have Jackson Warrior WRXT MIJ 2007 on basswood with Jackson 580 bridge with Duncan Design Detonator HB108 b/n. I want change bridge pick with DiMarzio Super Distorzion. I dont know which is best connect and wired. I want bright chrisp harsh sparkly sound not bassy and muddy. Well I really dont know what is best opnion How I know paralel is quiet and series is more bassy so booth is not what I need. I dont know how is tone with one HB in bridge is it better than HB b+n and how must connect him. Realy dont know how guitarist like George Lynch, Waren D Martini or EVH have wired pick ups.I cant find in web. ​What is your experience. Which way would be best for me. What do you think. Thank you very much kind regards

[@martijnemmenofficial]

I actually learned from this, thanks

[@heavymetalATC]

Thank you Martijn. I'm glad you got something out of it. Also Thanks for taking the time to watch leave these kind words.

[@feathercrestguitars1542]

Thanks, my videos such compared to yours. I'd watch your videos even if I didn't build guitars, very entertaining. The two pickups on the EVH want a be are directly influenced by you.

[@watahyahknow]

theres a little more to it as the resistance and the pweerdraw to run the setups differ a lot

[@heavymetalATC]

Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment. However I'm not sure I understand? Definitely resistance and output changes with different pickup configurations for example series will double the resistance of a single coil pickup and increase impedance and output as well parallel coils will have half the resistance of a single coil but also have higher output. 🤔 I reckon I never really considered it.

[@watahyahknow]

@heavymetalATC it has more to do with the examples of the speakers and lightbulbs , with the speakers the ohms change with series and paralalel so if you have a tube amplifier you need to be carefull how you connect and in wish output you plug in youre speakers , with the lightbulbs the amount of power to get them to shine as brightly as a single one requires more amops or more volts with the coils there probbly be a change in volume and clarity you where basicly right about wat you said but there a little more things to take in account when doing that sort of stuff

[@edgarrodriguez8920]

Hello it's very good explanation ¿how can i do a series wiring with neck and mid pickups and mid and bridge pickups?

It is maybe I am not really good at electronics but at 07:24 aren't the switches set to connect middle and right pickups in parallel and in phase instead of left and middle pickups in series and out of phase as you mentioned in the video? I cannot see any connection between left pickup's + side and the jack. I am confused. I think from the top 3 switches left one should be open, not the middle one to get what you say in the video. But the right pickup gets the voltage although it shouldn't. Again, I am confused

[@heavymetalATC]

Wow Gokhan, you are exactly right. You were the first person to catch that. Really dont know how I missed it all this time. Yes that was a mistake. I must have gotten confused somehow making the diagrams. You were correct.

[@cortisonesss]

By any chance could this be adapted to an HSS pickup configuration?

[@heavymetalATC]

Thanks for watching Greenland Santiago. Yes this could be adapted to HSS. If you happen to have a 4 wire humbucker with coil splits you could take it to a whole new level with in-out of phase series and parallel combos just on the one humbucker and then mix those combinations in or out of phase with the other pickups in series and parallel. You could end up with 30-40 different tones with all those combinations.

[@thesuccessfulbarber]

Love the content bro. You're great

[@heavymetalATC]

Cody Walker Jr Thank you so much.

[@poinkero]

If both single coils are noiseless, does one need to be rw/rp to be humcancelling when connected in series? What about when parallel?

[@heavymetalATC]

I thought this over for a little while and from my own thinking (I've never tried this) I think that since the pickups already have one reverse wound coil in each unit to cancel hum, that they will still be hum cancelling in either series or parallel much like humbuckers.

[@LaCie896]

Great job man, just one thing I want to be sure of: if I don't have a standard center strat single coil, but still i want to use a regular sc in the middle position, i could just place it in "reversed" position? Would it be the same as it was counter-wired or it's just a mess?

[@heavymetalATC]

Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to write a comment Giorgio. Yes you can just flip the wires (reverse) the way the middle pickup is hooked up and that will make the pickup out of phase. The only thing is when it is on by itself it may have a little hum due to the outside winds of the coil being positive and not adding extra shielding to the inside windings. When in use in combination with either of the other pickups though this shouldn't matter as they will be in a noise cancelling configuration, Simple answer: Yes it will work... This being said if the middle coil is one of the strat-copy or squire coils with a bar magnet on the back you can pry the magnet off gently and flip it over and glue it back on with the side that was facing the bobbin now facing away from the pickup. That will put it out of phase "magnetically" This does the same thing as switching the wires but you can hook the wires up just as normal (standard) and have that extra shielding of the outside windings being negative and it will reduce some hum when used as the only pickup in the middle position of the selector switch, but it will still be quaky out of phase noise cancelling when using in combo with the others for that signature "strat" sound. Here is a video of to remove a bar magnet without damaging it or the bobbin: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sH_NiaiwfbeWhq8 I hope that helps and was easy to understand as it is sometimes difficult for me to convey complex ideas without a visual aid. Anyway Thank you again. If you have any further questions or need clarification on some aspect feel free to comment.

[@ricardoa5626]

I think you are still missing my favorite combination, bridge negative to ground, middle and bridge conected on positives, but negative of middle conected in serie to negative of neck and positive of neck to output, somehow the middle in series out of phase sounds very good for blues

[@heavymetalATC]

Yes the closest thing I have to this is at 10:49 it would be the same as you stated if it was a stock strat pickup in the middle creating a neck/middle humbucker with an in-phase bridge single. The mid pickup in my guitar is originally a bridge pickup so it is not reverse wound and IN phase. But, that means that if your middle pick up is the stock reverse wound strat pickup then by connecting it out of phase you are actually putting it in-phase and that would be the exact same as the sound at 10:49

[@matthiazH]

I'm not an expert but can I make single coil strat SSS into parallel wiring? do you have any tutorial? or I just try the diagram that's on this video? 😏

[@heavymetalATC]

Thanks again for watching and taking the time to comment Mat. The factory wiring of a strat is parallel, so I assume you mean series and the best way to figure out a simple series wiring diagram would probably be to google search "strat series wiring" and look at the images until you find the one that best fits your needs and save it and copy the routing onto your pickguard. Here is a puch pull switch version as an example: th.bing.com/th/id/R.7292e95c76645074ce1403e214c5427e?rik=mji3%2f09RYuyKXw&riu=http%3a%2f%2fi1087.photobucket.com%2falbums%2fj473%2fsteveg646%2fStratSeriesSwitch_zpsf5aad6ab.jpg&ehk=9kki%2fV%2f%2fDGah4wExBA2mow%2fy1HLylsBqIkWaBG5ar%2bY%3d&risl=&pid=ImgRaw&r=0

[@chadlove3443]

You crack me up. I subbed just for that.

[@heavymetalATC]

Thank you so much for the sub, your time, and kind words Chad. I'm glad you got a laugh out of it.

[@JCTrucks410]

i learned a lot thank you

[@heavymetalATC]

Davis CC PS4 That is awesome, I'm glad you got something from it. Thank you so very much for your time and the kind words.

[@JCTrucks410]

@@heavymetalATC you're welcome, do you have more videos planned?

[@heavymetalATC]

Davis CC PS4 4 sure. I dont know exactly what they may be or in what order but, l always have a few things going. Also thanks again.

[@JCTrucks410]

@@heavymetalATC hope you keep making videos you explain things well.

[@squeter]

muito foda! muito obrigado maluco beleza! ouça raul seixas ! altos timbres old school pra inspirar seus belos sentimentos sonoros!

[@heavymetalATC]

Muito obrigado por assistir ao vídeo e tirar um tempo para deixar um comentário tão gentil e inspirador JazzFreeSon. Eu posso ver como os microfones sendo em série poderia ser um grande som retrô para a música jazz.

[@DarkEdits2000]

Awesome.

[@heavymetalATC]

Thanky octopus I appreciate it bro.

[@coquio]

I thought most RWRP strats were in phase. According to Lindy fralin, at least.

[@heavymetalATC]

Thank you for watching and taking the time to write such a clever and well thought out comment Alfalfa... You could be absolutely correct? I see and hear contradictory information all the time. If you think about it the reverse wind puts it out of phase but then..the reverse polarity puts it back into phase... so I guess it would be in phase... but would the reverse winding alone kill hum if its not out of phase? would it even quack like a strat in phase? I really dont know? Id go with Lindy on this one. Thanks again for the info you got me thinking now.

[@Drunken_Hamster]

So if there's a blue squiggly wire, that's parallel out of phase, and the straight stuff is series in phase? Can you even get serious out or parallel in?

[@heavymetalATC]

I dont think this wiring diagram will let you do series out of phase but parallel in phase it will do and you can wire pickups to do any combination. it also matters which way the magnets are flipped that is also a way to change the phase of pickups.