Re: volume drop on strat position 2 and 4
two pickups together become a parallel connection in the usual strat wiring. There are some pickups that won't make the drop of volume as apparent. Say I have two pickups made exactly the same with 5k each, with nothing else into consideration to make a quick point. When two pickups join in parallel on a standard 5 way switch. it'll become 2.5k in position 2 and 4.
to make this simple. R represents 5k either pickup
R1 + R2 (R1 x R2) .. this becomes
10 divided by 25
2.5k
for those who want quick results parallel resistance calculators exist but it's enough to make a point
To combat this "phenomenon" with wiring and not pickup height adjustments, pickup swaps to make the drop less apparent and all is a tricky one. A few different approaches can be done. Some people will like or pick measure more than others.
With single coils
you can put them both in series to react like a humbucker. Now to do this you'll need either a push pull , super 5 way switch or Fender S1 switch. The issue with putting two single coils in series is that the output would be louder in positions 2 and 4. If you want to get your cake and eat it too I'd suggest Phostenix Strat X wiring. It gives you 10 sounds. But it's expensive to do and one of the more challenging wirings. The easiest way I've seen is Don Breja's way he posted. A link is below
with humbuckers
you can put them in series in position 2, however some pickups react better than others with this. I have a 19k / 10H bridge pickup. Yet if I make it go series with the likes of a Jazz or 59 you'd really have to stretch your ears to hear a difference. But on vintage pickups I've seen Joe Gore (Tonefiend) show off the jimmy page wiring which had series in it and it was a much better tone. The only time you'll ever really see series in a guitar is a tele with a 4 way switch unless someone modified their guitar. The term that floats around to put two humbuckers in series is the "megabucker"
on HSH guitars such as a Steve Vai Jem
where it's 2 humbuckers and a 2 wire single coil in the middle utilizing the autosplit mod this is an easy fix -
get rid of that pesky 2 wire pickup and replace it with a 4 wire. Than wire it without the autosplit mod. You'll get more power in positions 2 and 4 as it's two humbuckers going in parallel technically and not the humbucker coilsplitting to put up with the hum of the 2 wire single coil.
This is Don's video
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