Parallel as standard wiring?

Benjy_26

25's Nemesis
Hello all.

I was wondering if anybody here wires their hot humbuckers to be in parallel as the default wiring scheme. If you do, why?
 
Re: Parallel as standard wiring?

Well, that configuration sounds like a jangly singlecoil, so the typical reason is if you have a spare bridge humbucker and have to fit it in the neck slot to complete a guitar without spending more money on a neck pickup.
 
Re: Parallel as standard wiring?

I had a Tele with a JB in the bridge and an Alnico 4 Distortion bridge in the neck. Wiring it in parallel made it quite a useable pickup.
 
Re: Parallel as standard wiring?

I have a guitar with an X2N in the bridge paired with a D Activator-X neck. I have a push-pull on each of the 3 pots to: coil split both, S/P neck, and S/P bridge.
The D Activator-X is quite a dark pickup and fairly powerful. Having the S/P mod tames the neck pickup a bit and brightens it nicely for clean sounds. The bridge S/P has a less noticeable effect as the X2N is very powerful in the first place and is already fairly bright.
 
Re: Parallel as standard wiring?

I have. It was in an HSS Strat. It made the "normal" mode sound more Stratty. But I also used a push-pull on the 2nd tone to switch to "turbo" mode. (Full hb'er.) This especially works good with an Invader, which has a sweet parallel tone.
 
Re: Parallel as standard wiring?

Duncan Vintage Rails and p rails.


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Re: Parallel as standard wiring?

I have. It was in an HSS Strat. It made the "normal" mode sound more Stratty. But I also used a push-pull on the 2nd tone to switch to "turbo" mode. (Full hb'er.) This especially works good with an Invader, which has a sweet parallel tone.

A similar situation inspired this thread. I'm working on rehabilitating an old Washburn Mercury. I pulled the EMG's and associated electronics that I had in there and installed a pair of Carvin AP11's and a Dimebucker that I had laying about. The AP11's are sweet sounding singles, but sort of low output. This got me thinking about using the Dime in parallel instead of series and setting up a switch to activate a "boost" when I pull up on it. I also plan on installing another push/pull pot in order to activate the neck single to give me 9 different tones.
 
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Re: Parallel as standard wiring?

That would be cool. I keep meaning to mod mine one more step, so the "turbo" switch is also a blower switch. As soon as I get a 'round tuit.
 
Re: Parallel as standard wiring?

That would be cool. I keep meaning to mod mine one more step, so the "turbo" switch is also a blower switch. As soon as I get a 'round tuit.

I once had a guy ask me to mod his Strat so that the S1 switch would bypass both tones and give him bridge and middle in series. It was a really cool mod and he to this day loves it.
 
Re: Parallel as standard wiring?

The JB in parallel was the only way it worked for me.
 
Re: Parallel as standard wiring?

The JB in parallel was the only way it worked for me.

I'm surprised that more people don't try parallel wiring. There seems to be quite a few pups hidden within other pups by simply going parallel. The aforementioned Invader for one. And now, my new El Diablo. It's a gentle giant in parallel.
 
Re: Parallel as standard wiring?

Just simply . . . pull the switch, and the bridge pup goes the full monty, (series), straight to the output jack, bypassing any other switching you might have.
 
Re: Parallel as standard wiring?

I have a guitar with an X2N in the bridge paired with a D Activator-X neck. I have a push-pull on each of the 3 pots to: coil split both, S/P neck, and S/P bridge.
The D Activator-X is quite a dark pickup and fairly powerful. Having the S/P mod tames the neck pickup a bit and brightens it nicely for clean sounds. The bridge S/P has a less noticeable effect as the X2N is very powerful in the first place and is already fairly bright.

Interesting. I'm planning on wiring a Dime with a S/P switch. I wonder if I'll get similar results to your X2N.
 
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