Although this is the same figure as I used on the Phase Switching for Strats page (sorry; too lazy to make a new one), the principle is essentially the same. Just follow the same scheme with the two leads (i.e., the (+) and the (- )) from your pickup on the bottom lugs. Don't worry about the other two just yet. The 5-way switch is whatever pickup selector you're using (3-way, etc.). |
![]() |
This modification can be performed on one or several humbucking pickups within the same guitar. The theory is the same, it is just that the phase switching is performed on what would be considered half of one pickup. The sections below describe the wiring within individual humbuckers.Series, out of phase
This scheme throws the two coils out of phase with one another. There is less output produced than standard wiring because the pickups are effectively canceling one another out except for the differences in their respective sounds (which isn't much if the two are close to one another).
Side by side comparison At left is the standard in-phase wiring. At right, the bottom coil has been electrically reversed to be out of phase, but the connections are the same.
Parallel, out of phase
This is much the same as the above wiring scheme. Once again the coils almost completely cancel one another out. This is useful for more exotic applications, but nothing you would use all the time.
Side by side comparison At left is parallel in-phase wiring. At right, the bottom coil has been electrically reversed to be out of phase, but the connections are the same.
![]() |
Home |