Series/Parallel?
- Thread starter GearBoxTy
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Parallel.
I’m a big Simpson’s fan, and there’s an episode where Bart gets in trouble because he goes to Police station and hooks up all the bull horns in a row and it causes windows to blow out and a causes a ringing in the town that last for a long time.
Anyway… I always think that the bullhorn is a good analogy for describing the difference between parallel and series.
Say you have two bull horns. If you hold one in each hand and put them end of over end, like Bart did in that episode, it’s series. All the sound of one is being channeled through another.
Had he held them up to his face, one right next to other and spoke, that would be parallel. They’re both amplifying independently.
The exact same thing happens with pickups and sound. Series takes all the sound of one, and channels it through another pickup. Parallel on the other hand just puts it all out there equally.
So in this case, because no signal of one pickup is traveling through another before reaching the output.... Parallel.
erik
I’m a big Simpson’s fan, and there’s an episode where Bart gets in trouble because he goes to Police station and hooks up all the bull horns in a row and it causes windows to blow out and a causes a ringing in the town that last for a long time.
Anyway… I always think that the bullhorn is a good analogy for describing the difference between parallel and series.
Say you have two bull horns. If you hold one in each hand and put them end of over end, like Bart did in that episode, it’s series. All the sound of one is being channeled through another.
Had he held them up to his face, one right next to other and spoke, that would be parallel. They’re both amplifying independently.
The exact same thing happens with pickups and sound. Series takes all the sound of one, and channels it through another pickup. Parallel on the other hand just puts it all out there equally.
So in this case, because no signal of one pickup is traveling through another before reaching the output.... Parallel.
erik
To answer the original question:
Yes, Strat pickups are usually wired in series, while most humbucker loaded guitars are wired in parallel.
...then you have weird-o folks like me who set up HIS guitar to do both (via rotary pick-up selector switch and coil tap toggles). Hey, why change guitars in a set if you can make it sound like both main types? :headbang1:
Eric "GuitarEC"
Yes, Strat pickups are usually wired in series, while most humbucker loaded guitars are wired in parallel.
...then you have weird-o folks like me who set up HIS guitar to do both (via rotary pick-up selector switch and coil tap toggles). Hey, why change guitars in a set if you can make it sound like both main types? :headbang1:
Eric "GuitarEC"
GuitarEC said:
Um.... when a guitar is using both pickups at once, regardless of single coil, or humbucker, pretty much all wiring schemes run them in parallel. You can always wire them in series if you want, but pretty much all 5 way, 3 way, switches run in parallel only.
Wiring individual humbuckers is a different story. I wire all my humbuckers Series/Single/Parallel, but... when combined with other pickups, they're all in parallel. No signal from one pickup is traveling through another before reaching the output.
erik
The reason I asked is I have two humbuckers in my Strat that are wired to a P-Model Megaswitch which gives Paul Reed Smith pickup combinations. Those are:
Position 1: Bridge Pickup
Position 2: Inner pickup coils, parallel
Position 3: Outer coils, series
Position 4: Outer coils, parallel
Position 5: Neck Pickup
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Components:_Switches_and_knobs/2/Megaswitches/Instructions/I-3530.html#details
I just wasn't sure what the difference in Series and Parallel was. All useful sounds, though!
Position 1: Bridge Pickup
Position 2: Inner pickup coils, parallel
Position 3: Outer coils, series
Position 4: Outer coils, parallel
Position 5: Neck Pickup
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Components:_Switches_and_knobs/2/Megaswitches/Instructions/I-3530.html#details
I just wasn't sure what the difference in Series and Parallel was. All useful sounds, though!
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