Some Questions About A Stratocaster

[sixstring]

Hi, this has probably been answered before, but I suck at searching so, can you point me in the right direction with this.

I recently opened up my Squire Stratocaster thinking that I understood all this but I was completely thrown by the scary-ness of the 5 way pickup selector. I have no idea what the each of the 7 pins are for.

Question 1. On a Stratocaster, there are 5 pickup selector positions. 2 and 4 are the supposed "in-between" positions as they were the result of the old system with 3 positions, one for each pickup. They were bake before break and so it was posible to balence the selector in an in-between position where two pickups were on at the same time. Later Fender made these positions clickable. Now it would be to my understanding that positions 2 and 4 would be two of the single coil pickups in parrallel. Now a humbucker, to my understanding, is two single coil pickups in series, RWRP. My question is, is it possible to wire my squire stratocaster in such a way that positions 2 and 4 are humbucking?

Question 2. Is it possible to make a passive single coil pickup active? And what is the advantage?

Thanks very much

[Samba Pa Ti]

the first question is pretty simple they are like a humbucker but not a proper one, using a reverse pickup in middle is the nearest a strat is going to get to getting the humbucker sound (even though it sounds very different)

from wiki

"Many artists (including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and Mark Knopfler) discovered that the pickup selector could be lodged in between the basic three settings for further tonal variety; since 1977, Stratocasters have been fitted with a five-way switch to make such switching more stable"

2nd question : you can make singles active with onboard preamp/eq other than that i dont know how.

theres a few on this page http://www.axesrus.com/axeknobs.htm

[Talman_Hawk]

I recently opened up my Squire Stratocaster thinking that I understood all this but I was completely thrown by the scary-ness of the 5 way pickup selector. I have no idea what the each of the 7 pins are for.

I can't read schematics all that well myself, but the info here might help you, since it mentions "electrical positions" and "mechanical positions" of the switch: GuitarNuts™ Stock Stratocaster Wiring.

Question 1. On a Stratocaster, there are 5 pickup selector positions. 2 and 4 are the supposed "in-between" positions as they were the result of the old system with 3 positions, one for each pickup. They were bake before break and so it was posible to balence the selector in an in-between position where two pickups were on at the same time. Later Fender made these positions clickable. Now it would be to my understanding that positions 2 and 4 would be two of the single coil pickups in parrallel. Now a humbucker, to my understanding, is two single coil pickups in series, RWRP. My question is, is it possible to wire my squire stratocaster in such a way that positions 2 and 4 are humbucking?

AFAIK, a Squier Strat should be the same as a "real Fender" Strat, so if your middle pup was/is RWRP, the Squier should be humbucking in positions 2 and 4.

Many sources say that the "traditional" way a humbucker is wired is with the coils in series, but they can also be wired with the coils in parallel, or switchable between the two. You can also wire a 3-singlecoil guitar so its pups can be combined in series or parallel. Another good page for wiring/rewiring info: (Wolf's) Guitar Wiring Site.

And more info about pickups at Stewart-MacDonald: Understanding Guitar Wiring: How a magnetic pickup works.

Hope this helps.

--

Doug C.

[psw]

Question 1. If the mid pickup is rwrp it will have the humbucking effect (reduce noise) but will not sound like a humbucker. A lot of it has to do with the distance between the two coils...this means that along with the noise, some frequencies are cancelled out, this gives the "in-between" sounds their characteristic "notched" sound (think early dire straights). Interestingly, if you reverse the phase (err...not reverse wind but reverse polartity) with a phase switch you get the opposite effect so that there is a smoother mid boost that does sound a little more humbuckery...if that makes sense....

Question 2. Yes. There are a few suggestions for DIY preamps in this section and elsewhere...but, possibly better/easier is some commercial units like those found here...Guitar Fetish Preamps

The advantage is adjustable power of the pickup...the active electronic boost the signal of even the weakest pickups. Other advantages include retaining the trebles lost in long leads...a hotter signal to effects for improved performance...and the potential for onboard active tone and gain (distortion, etc) controls.

You can run all the pickups through preamps like this (don't need separate ones) and you can make them switchable so that the guitar can run passive or active. The down side is that you need to find room for a battery, but typically the drain on such devices are very low and the battery need only be replaced every few months or so...

pete

oh...and welcome to the forum!

[lovekraft]

The main reason that the 2 and 4 positions on a Strat don't sound like a humbucker is because the Strat pickups are in parallel, while a stock humbucker is wired in series. Listen to Brian May's Red Special - he gets some very "humbuckerish" sounds by running single coils in series.