Series/Parallel/Single Coil - Pickup Wiring for Guitar Demo

[@fenderbender2470]

Quick links for Bridge Pickup clips: Clean Series 3:08 Parallel 3:16 Split 3:24 King of Tone Series 4:25 Parallel 4:33 Split 4:39 OCD Series 5:46 Parallel 5:51 Split 5:58 DS-1 (Modded) Series 7:07 Parallel 7:14 Split 7:20

[@rootvalue]

+Todd Craig You are a king. Thanks Todd.

[@chuckkirkpatrick6712]

Wish all You Tube videos were this clear and concise.

[@GrizzelToe]

Thank you for making a useful video on this subject. Thank you for playing chords. Thanks you for not shredding at me.

[@BoltRM]

+10 ;) I like clean & back to back comparisons for sound demos like this.

[@robertnorris-karr1402]

Hahaha I know the feeling. XD

[@terrymurphy4711]

This is a REALLY thorough explanation and one of the most informative and true demonstrations I've seen. Great job!!

[@74dartman13]

I really like all the different tone choices. I'm currently building my dream guitar...in my head, not in the workshop yet. I've decided on the body, neck, pickgaurd, etc., but not the pickups. I like your set up. You basically get a bunch of guitars in one! That may be the way I'll go. I want it to be my perfect guitar too! Thanks for the video and all the tips on wiring!👍😎🎸🎶

[@vileguile4]

Of all the billions of videos i've seen here, this is one of the best...! Thank you for showing the difference in sound in so many way (with no talk or other delay in between so you forget what the previous sound sounded like!) Thanks a ton!!

[@runningwithscissors0911]

NOW I get it! Thank you for this clear explanation with graphics. Great tone demo so I could really hear the differences.

[@MatheusHenrique-cq6zk]

Hey, I'm from brazil. This is the best demo video! Thanks!

[@llamaman71]

Thank you for this. Extremely helpful. I was considering doing a series/parallel switch for the hum cancellation benefits. After listening to these demos, I feel it's coil tap all the way!

[@xdenju456]

Dude, I must say, excellent video! I have searched pretty hard for a well-explained video and this is the most thoroughly explained video on pickups I have every seen. Not gonna lie, I was skeptical about the length at first, since most videos that are "informative" in nature waste a lot of time getting to the point... But you! Man, right to the point with no time wasted! Not to mention the fact that you made it so easy to understand AND very informative! I truly thank you.

[@johnnyjaime123]

I surprisingly like the parallel humbuckers more than the regular series. So I'm gonna try to make all the pickups parallel. Thanks so much for the clear and concise video btw. I wish all youtube guitar videos were like yours! This video made me subscribe and listen to your songs.

[@Theonlymoog]

Best. Demo. Video. Ever.

[@Theonlymoog]

You just answered my every question. All of them.

[@kentohv]

Simple but straight to the point, great stuff.

[@Borester]

Awesome this, i found your blog and wiring diagram online and did a similar mod with three hot rail mini humbuckers with three toggle switches, so just wanted to say thanks! 🙂

[@Patrick33194]

Awesome vid man! I wish everyone would do it like you It's so clear and covers soo much

[@ErikZmusic]

Patrick Why thank you very much. :-)

[@gonsalomon]

This is the kind of thing I've been looking for. I'm making an electric baritone uke (yeah I'm bad with naming stuff), and I was thinking of a p-bass pickup which are 2 single coil mics wired in series. Really helped to hear the differences. Thank you!

[@l3ertuz362]

Perfect!!! This is how a demo should be done!

[@jimsreynolds]

For any that are interested ... check out the 'Seymour Duncan Triple Shot'. It is a pickup surround that has two mini slide switches. These allow you you select Series, Parallel or either coil individually. Very effective in some cases ... like my SD P-Rails.

[@TheAxe4Ever]

Awesome video. Now this is how an info video should be done. My favorite way to wire my 2 humbucker guitars without doing a lot of wiring (I like to keep the signal from going through a lot of wiring and switches to keep it strong and clean) and to keep from drilling holes in my axes, is to wire the bridge in normal series and the neck in parallel. That way through lots of gain, my neck position sounds tight and bright. It takes any muddies right out. Works great for high gain lead fun!!!

[@frantisca]

Hey Erik ! A very thorough explanation on the various tones through different wirings \m/ I have a parametric passive mid boost installed on my 86' Schecter: also gives a very wide array of tones, combined with the tone pot & 5 way switch. Not quite the humbucker sound when full on, not the sharp twang of a tele when full off, but almost everything in between :)

[@serc_]

I was trying to find what is the trick of Jimmy Page's #2's button, for 3 hours of searching. Finally! Some good information! Thank you, sir.

[@ep9229]

I'm going to have to try this on my strat. I really like the sound of parallel, sounds like a really nice sound.

[@proof377]

Thank you! I have an Epiphone Les Paul with push/pull series/parallel pots. Your video showed me that parallel does not equal single coil!

[@ErikZmusic]

Thanks! Glad I could help bring some clarity. As far as wiring 2 singles in series like that, it probably won’t sound exactly like a normal humbucker in series, but it will definitely sound much more compressed and closer to a humbucker than the two pickups together in the normal parallel setup.

[@dbsm666]

In the year 2010 i think, just see your page, i have the poor version of your setup, a Ibanez RX whit tonerider Humbucker, is a old guitar and the wood is dry, sound great and all thanks to you, great job and infinite thanks, if you ever come to Chile, i buy you all the beer you can take

[@ErikZmusic]

Ha!! Awesome David!! Good to hear my website helped you out (way back in 2010 even). :-) I may even take you up on the beer one day. ;-)

[@ashwalk85]

very interesting, thanks for sharing. In my opinion, besides different gain levels, when using distortion the main difference between parallel and single is in the freq spectrum of the quieter transients. The "mass" of the sound (if you will) is retained, and they end up sounding similar. If you take away those transients and balance their levels, I'm sure they would sound identical.

[@MrSalefish]

Wow thats exactly what i needed to explain/hear. Nice video man !!

[@RN3037]

Awesome! Thanks for the fast response. So to confirm, both humbuckers will always listen to the mini toggles as a priority. Technically the guitar should be good for 24 combos. 3 for the neck - 3 for the bridge - 18 for both together. Fun stuff

[@boxerfencer]

Thanks for sharing! That settles it. I like the bridge humbucker run in parallel, neck in series, and single coil neck position. I've always hated single coil bridge position. Single coils are best for clean tones, IMO.

[@barrysbarnett]

I liked the video Erik. I do have one comment regarding the pickup wiring diagram: The Red/Green pickup wires on the bottom two lugs of the switches should be reversed. As depicted, the parallel mode position shorts the Red/Black and Green/White wires and thus both coils are shorted. Just swap the Green and Black wires to rectify, although the opposite coil will be shorted in the split mode position.

[@ErikZmusic]

Thanks! The "always on" switch engages the bridge humbucker at any time and allows you to use both the neck + bridge OR all 3 pickups at once. It's just a matter of where the 5 way switch is set.

[@hemmelight]

Thanks for the great video, very helpful!

[@thefunkytoaster]

This is great! I was really hoping to hear the combined middle coil sounds as well, I will be using this mod on the fretless guitar I am building, thanks!

[@ErikZmusic]

Thanks. If you want to hear some of the 2 and 4 combos, I do a lot of them in my other videos with the guitar. This is an oldie, but you can really hear the combos well. Warmoth Guitar Noodling

[@ErikZmusic]

Thanks for the kind words! Honestly, I don't think any split humbucker sounds like a real single coil. That being said, the Stag Mag split or in parallel stilll has an amazing and unique clean sound of it's own. Definitely my favorite humbucker for the neck. Even in series it isn't mushy with overdrive on single notes.

[@sonnyrocker]

hey Erik, great demo video! Thanks.

[@autormarciocallegaro]

Thanks from Brazil from this usefull video.

[@DirectRecordingGuitar]

I'd like to change my two humbuckers to parallels ... without the three switches in the video. Which wires should I solder?

[@SundayMatinee]

Check out this site, it has good diagrams for wiring humbuckers into parallel/series/coil cut. www.1728.org/guitar.htm

[@eilliwwasniahc]

It only takes one DPDT switch to go series/parallel on a 4-wire humbucker. If you don't want to clutter your guitar with a bunch of toggle switches, that is OK, you don't have to. You can buy push-pull volume pots that have a DPDT switch built in. You pull the knob for series, and push it in for parallel. The guitar looks like it hasn't been modded. BTW although stock humbuckers are usually wired series, when wired parallel they are still humbuckers. Being a humbucker has nothing to do with the series or parallel wiring. It is about the two coils having both opposite electric polarity and opposite magnetic polarity.

[@b.canpolat2182]

Great demo. Thank you!

[@lenduckworth1309]

This was a great explanation. Thinking of wiring

[@FreshBagelz]

Very good demonstration

[@miroslavkostov693]

Amazing video dude! Thank you so much for the demo! Did you change the gain on the amp between the settings? I was expecting some more drop in the gain when changing from series to parralel.

[@ErikZmusic]

Miroslav Kostov Thanks! Nope, didn’t change any settings on the amp. Even pedal to pedal it’s all the same.

[@peyjby]

Very good video! Thanks a lot :) Now I am going to add parallel/series switch in the Seymour SH-1 in the neck.

[@kaicho8888]

Excellent demo...done very well and easily understood!

[@RuelMorales]

What a great great video for the guitarist searching for the perfect tone. Earned my sub. I'll be sure to share this on twitter & FB. Cheers to you good sir!

[@basarat]

Amazing video

[@BlackAngusYoung]

Very well done vid. I wish I'd found it a lot earlier.

[@Iggytommy]

excellent explanation

[@ernestfoss]

I have a guitar that has a: dual/single coil switches, a phase switch, an active/passive electronics push/pull potentiometer and a push/pull potentiometer blower switch. I want to get a Strat, Tele "stringy" sounding biting blues lead sound. With your switching I would want to get a series/parallel/single coil wiring also. Can I put this all together with Warmoth and Stew Mac? Great demonstration, more demonstration of sounds less playing ! Thank You.

[@ErikZmusic]

Thanks. You should be able to get everything you need for wiring via stewmac.

[@touron4]

Excellent video!! I'm not a strat guy but I'm jealous of ur tone!!

[@ErikZmusic]

Thanks! You can definitely add a capacitor if you want to. It would require some different wiring and switches, and depending on the value of the capacitor would act as a high cut filter, sort of like a pre-set tone knob. It wouldn't be hum canceling in the coil cut, only parallel, but would definitely thicken up the single coils to be more like a humbucker. Personally though, I'd probably just stick with the single coils as is, and use the tone knob to make any tonal adjustments.

[@AnthonyPrechtl]

Thanks a million. I thought there would be much more volume difference in the clean sounds. Did you do any post processing / compression?

[@ErikZmusic]

I don't believe I used any post processing for this. I usually don't, and even when I do it's usually only very subtle reverb to add air. I think a lot of the perceived volume drop people talk about with splitting coils is due to the fact they're playing the guitar, and the sudden loss of gain and sustain from the humbucker gives the mental impression the volume has been turned down more than it has. It feels different to play, and some of the girth isn't there. However when you actually put them side by side in a recording, it's not as drastic as we think.

[@PreetparnaGhosh]

Great video. Thanks

[@vaguitarts3443]

Very useful video. Praise to you!!!

[@paintbox48]

Very interesting and well done video. Through a computer I can't hear much difference between the tones - but I can understand that some sounds may be preferable, and it's handy to have the options. You also illustrate how other factors come into play, such as brand of pickup, effects, amp, etc. - suggests individuals need to experiment with their own situation.

[@robertprice9052]

Erik, great video. I need a little help if you can. I don't play but my son does. We have a strat knockoff that we want to build out. Here's the wish list: Replace the singles with hot rails. Split them on individual DPDT switches and add phase switches for when they are in single phase. Separate the tome pots so one works only with humbuckers and one only with singles. and a common volume knob. I have worked out several diagrams, but I keep finding problems. Want to venture a try at the diagram?

[@garyabbot4659]

Actually liked the humbuckers in series the best when distorted. I was gonna change the wiring on my strat but now I'll keep this one strat as it is for heavier tones. So thanks. may change the pot though to add a bit of brightness

[@JustinHaglerMusic]

Great video on the subject! Very well done.

[@yahuhananbenyamineliyahu7706]

Beautiful.

[@MrBolkof]

Great video. Really informative and easy to understand. Thanks

[@ErikZmusic]

Yeah. With the selector In the middle position, both pickups will be in parallel with each other, but from there you can do any type of crazy combo you want. Ex: Neck series+Bridge Single, Neck single+Bridge Single, Neck Series+Bridge Series, etc.... You can pretty much get anything. It's a brave new world of tones. :-)

[@ErikZmusic]

As long as you have the mini toggles before the main selector switch, they'll each act as the master switch for each individual pickup. 24 sounds about right for a HH, I know with my HSH I have 31. It's crazy how many sounds people are missing with their guitars by not having these simple and useful switches. Sure you may not use them all the time, but it's nice to know you can.

[@bpdarragh]

Perfect explaination, and demo. Clean, and with good choice of pedals. Thanks mate. It seems that the different configurations with the analogue man sunface were not that different, whereas with the OCD they were very different. Any idea why? Regards Bryan

[@ErikZmusic]

As you increase the level of distortion/fuzz you also saturate and compress the sound. That's why with the lower gain pedals and clean tones you hear more variances in the dynamics come through, as they're mostly effected by the pickups themselves and not the boost pedals. The humbuckers naturally compress and saturate, where as the single coils or split don't as much. With the fuzz you're basically leveling the playing field by compressing the signal at the pedal. There are still some dynamics, but overall you're passing every signal through a very compressed signal chain, thus you're not hearing all the subtle sounds of the pickups. Had I rolled back the volume knob on my guitar during the fuzz portion, you would have heard a much wider dynamic range closer to the lower gain pedals.

[@bpdarragh]

@@ErikZmusic Ah, I see, that makes sense. I have a dimarzio single coil sized humbucker in my strat bridge (a pro track, fairly high output). I tend to not play with LOADS of gain. Would you suggest split or parallel? I have also heard that simply installing a treble bleed and rollling down volume is effectively the same as a humbucker in parallel. Is that the case? Would be far easier to do I guess?

[@cybrunel1016]

Very nice. I would prefer the bridge single coil to be the coil closest to the bridge and the neck closest to the pocket, but I'm not sure if that would be practical wiring wise. Thx 4 sharing.

[@ErikZmusic]

They can easily be flipped. Personally I don't hear much difference between the two.

[@gwombat]

great video, helped me figure the difference out. thank you.

[@ErikZmusic]

Interesting. It almost reminds me of the Peter Frampton HHH Les Paul wiring where he has the middle pickup wired to a dedicated volume knob, rather than connected to the 3 way toggle. Although with the single coils you could get some hum canceling at the bridge in parallel, AND the 3 pickups at once super scooped setting. Cool stuff!

[@DogCowFrog]

Very helpful video. What do you think is better for fuzz pedals-parallel or coil split?

[@ErikZmusic]

+Peter Honestly it really depends on what you're playing and the fuzz you're using. I find them almost interchangeable when it comes to fuzz personally. The split coil gives a little more clarity(although with more noise), but it's very very subtle.

[@RobCmusic]

Great, clear demonstration.

[@jc5150dc]

I was looking for a neck hb for blacktop strat that would give a great single coil sound when split and was told about the Stag Mag on the SD forum. Great video explanation. My question is...why use the inner coil when split neck bucker vs the outer coil? Wouldn't the outer coil be more like the single coil location on a typical strat? I'm looking for the truest, bluesiest single coil sound. Thanks. Your setup would be what I'm looking for - JB bridge, Stag Mag neck. I love SD!

[@ardenstrat]

awesome video. great explanation

[@ErikZmusic]

Thanks! Yup, when it's in series both sides of the coils capture sound.

[@alexdias8475]

Great demo bro, thanks.

[@alsamuef]

Bridge clean @3:07 series @3:15 parallel @3:25 inner single Neck clean @3:34 series @3:43 parallel @3:52 inner single

[@LemmyKoopaVGA]

Awesome guitar. Is your guitar actually splitting to the inner coils? I would have personally did the outer ones if you could to get a SSS strat sound.

[@ErikZmusic]

It's definitely possible, I guess it just depends on what you're looking to preserve though. It's basically just going to act as filter. There wouldn't be any hum canceling without both coils engaged.

[@alvar0pere7]

Really concise and informative. Thanks.

[@alvin10388]

not only the pick up explanation your sound settings are awesome really love it..thank you for your experience for seymour duncun humbuckers what are the best tone caps?

[@terminalID]

Hi Erik Z - Great video! Here's something I've always wondered: In series, does the order of the pickups matter? Would a wiring of Bridge-Middle-Neck in series sound different from a wiring Neck-Middle-Bridge? I realize that trying to wire for Order as well as series/parallel would probably be impractical - just something I'm curious about.

[@ErikZmusic]

Thanks! Interesting question. I've never tried it personally, but it would make sense that it would sound different. In the same way that changing the order of stacked drive pedals would change the sound, the order of the pickups in series would essentially change the gain structure in the same way. Since the compression and tonality of a pickup at the beginning of the chain will then impart it's sound on every pickup as it travels through the chain. Especially if you have multiple humbuckers in the chain. A daunting task to figure out how to wire, but no doubt doable.

[@666MyBlueHeaven999]

Cool stuff. I've got the Mr Tom W. of AwesomeGuitars patented "T-4" 79 tone switching system. It's a Series/parallel/in phase/out phase system. But right now I'm actually digging even more the Artec BCH Band Controller pot I bought at GuitarHeads, it's a trip man.

[@dfpguitar]

Thanks a lot for putting this up. Perfect.

[@FrankieHeat]

Great video! It finally helped me understand the difference between in series and parallel pickups! One question. Will a Fender Mustang-like system (in series, but with a distance between the 2 pickups) give a sound anywhere near to a humbucker?

[@msheplervideo]

Very very good. Hey, isn't single coil mode on a bridge humbucker the coil closest to the bridge, single coil of the neck humbcucker closest to the neck?

[@ROCKSTARCRANE]

Almost imperceptible difference between parallel coil and true single. WOnderful demo vid, bro...

[@ErikZmusic]

There's definitely hum when the single coils are engaged by themselves. You can especially hear it at the end of the DS-1 clip. However as long the guitar is properly wired and grounded, it really shouldn't be an issue except with ultra high gain. That's why it's great to have the Parallel wiring though. It gives you close to single coil tones, without the hum.

[@georgefryercombo]

Very informative, thank you so much! I'm putting hot rail humbuckers in the neck and bridge and leaving the single coil in the middle, but I'm still getting some buzz in the 2 and 4 positions. Any suggestions?

[@ErikZmusic]

Thanks! The reason you'd still get some buzz in 2 & 4 is because with the humbuckers you now have 3 coils in the mix, instead of 2. In order to get the maximum hum cancelation in those mid positions, the coils in the neck and bridge needs to be split when combining with the middle pickup.

[@georgefryercombo]

Erik Z Okay I split the coils and then tried reversing the green and black wires, should I keep trying different combinations or physically turning the pickups around?

[@ErikZmusic]

George Fryer You shouldn't need to turn the pickup. It's just a matter engaging the inner or outer coil by itself(the one that's the opposite of our middle pickup). So with SD's, if the black & white wires are the ones humming, swapping them with the green and red should do the trick.

[@RKMDSTR]

thanks for sharing, easy to understand.. i love the paralel sound :)

[@JendrixHimi]

Great for you to take the time and do it in a pro way , does the Stag Mag *really* sound like a Strat pickup when split? I'm guessing not quite as with all HB's out there be nice if it did , I'm surprised its not Alnico 5 loaded ...Thanks

[@RN3037]

Great vid! I have a HH 1Vol 1Tone setup and am getting (2) DP3T ON/ON/ON mini toggles. *QUESTION* When the original 3 way selector switch is in the MIDDLE position, can I still use the neck & bridge toggles to make different combos of series/parallel/single?

[@Name.LastName]

great video thanks. Do you know if there's a guitar With a knob to gradually change pickups from humbucker to single coil, but not like one way or another but gradually?? thanks... thumbs up for this video.

[@jamesnemenyi]

Hello Erik, thank you for sharing. Is there way to do this, but also select WHICH coil is split to? I'd like to choose outer coils and inner coils. On the hail Mary that you might see this, thank you

[@venant.guitar]

Thank you for this video! I have a few questions, if you have the time. How does the volume/tone change between settings? Were the samples all at same tone and volume knob position? Have you experimented with introducing additional resistors in parallel the Split Coil tone circuits to effective reduce the 500k pot to a 250k? Cheers!

[@ErikZmusic]

All the samples are the same volume with the tone control at the same setting all the way off. As for adding additional resistors, I haven't tried any. It's already a busy setup as it is, and the tone control does more than enough.

[@PuertoRicoDJ]

Great Video! You are a great teacher.. Thanks!

[@adrianjones1735]

Thanks for the explanation! I just bought 2 SD pickups and after watching this video I think I'm going to do this: 2 humbucker, 2 volume (push-pull switches series/parallel) and 1 tone (push-pull switches phase). I haven't found a wiring diagram for this exactly since I only have 3 pots on my guitar and it's a weird shape so I'm not drilling any holes...but this should work right?

[@windsurfmaui8239]

I was wondering if you had a diagram that does the following: two 4 wire humbuckers that are wired like single coils each to a mini toggle switch (4 switches). And if I push the toggle to the down position whatever is pushed down playes in series 1,2,3 or 4 coils all in series. Or when the toggle is in the up position they play in parallel 1,2,3 or 4. When the toggle is in the middle position that coil is off. Have you ever wired something like this? Thanks

[@joeytheape]

Hi Eric, First of all thanks for taking your time and making this informative video. lately, I came across an article where coil cuts have capacitors added to them in order to preserve some humbucking properties. Is it possible to add a capacitor to the setup described in the video? Regards, Joseph

[@angeleduardodigiandomenico841]

Perfect! You helped me a lot.

[@collinbibo4930]

Really helpful! Thanks!

[@pranavguitarist]

Hey man, I wanted to get a single coil sized humbucker in my Fender Strat bridge position. I wanted to coil split it, but am not sure whether to do it via a push pull pot or a 3 way switch. The reason I want to do it is so that I can get the 'quack' in the 4 position. I understand that a 3 way gives you the option to use the upper or lower coil right? If so, which one does a standard push-pull pot use?

[@contact1araya]

I am interested in that third switch.........so you have your basic 5 way strat pickup setup and that additional switch lets you access the bridge pickup at any time. But does it bypass whatever you had on the 5 way or does it add the pickup to it? My question is can your guitar have the the bridge and the neck on together?

[@johnny11771]

who is the manufacture of that bridge on your guitar, looks very nice.

[@RicardoFavoreto]

Amazing video! Congrats!! :)