Baja Telecaster - What the S1 Switch Actually Does?

[comrade_jon]

Asked on yahoo answers not a clue thought I'd turn to the experts.

 

I watched a video and loved the sounds but did not understand what all the controls meant.

 

I understand my way round conventional settings, so I know the sound of a bridge pickup, neck pickup, and the two combined on a telecaster (I do have one) but not all this "out of phase" and "parallel" stuff.

 

Could you give me a run down on what the terms mean and when I would use them:

 

S-1 Off (Up)

Position 1: Bridge Only (I know how this works)

Position 2: Neck and Bridge (Parallel)

Position 3: Neck Only (I know how this works)

Position 4: Neck and Bridge (Series)

S-1 On (Down)

Position 1: Bridge Only (I know how this works)

Position 2: Neck and Bridge (Parallel)-Out of Phase

Position 3: Neck Only (I know how this sounds)

Position 4: Neck and Bridge (Series)-Out of Phase

[comrade_jon]

Wow no one on this forum knows what phase is about or what the S1 switch does?

 

Im surprised.

[duncan]

try it?

 

i know what it does, but its hard to explain. it changes the sound.

[comrade_jon]

 

try it? i know what it does, but its hard to explain. it changes the sound.

 

 

But you know I'm a bit of a wannabe guitar nerd I wanna know exactly how it works, and just like say you could go "oh this song would be perfect for this setting" or whatever just as an example.

[duncan]

 

But you know I'm a bit of a wannabe guitar nerd I wanna know exactly how it works, and just like say you could go "oh this song would be perfect for this setting" or whatever just as an example.

 

 

seriously. go to your local shop. pick one up. play with it. if i still had my baja, i'd tell you, but i don't remember what they each sound like. i know they all rule tho.

[comrade_jon]

 

seriously. go to your local shop. pick one up. play with it. if i still had my baja, i'd tell you, but i don't remember what they each sound like. i know they all rule tho.

 

 

The reason why I'm asking is cos I'm gonna have to order in (no Guitar Center in ye olde England I tells ya) and I don't wanna waste my good friend at the guitar shop's time if its not gonna be 100%.

[stevemcb]

OK,

Usual tele setup is:

Neck only

Neck and bridge in parallel

Bridge only

 

Parallel and series are electrical terms. If 2 things are in parallel, it means the hot wires of both pickups and the ground wires of both pickups are effectively wired together, so the resulting signal is sorta like the sounds of each pickup mixed together - ie. the sound of 2 single coil pickups, one at the bridge and one at the neck, both running at once. In series, the output of one pickup runs into the input of the other, so they are one after the other. This is how humbuckers work - 2 coils in series. So the series positions will sound like a humbucker, with a huge spacing between the coils (so not exactly like your SD JB or whatever, but still a cool sound), and will be louder than the parallel position.

 

If pickups are out of phase, it means that their electrical signals are opposite - when one voltage going up, the other is going down, and vice versa. This means there is voltage cancellation (1 + -1 =0) and so what you get is a "skinny" sound which reflects the differences between the pickups' frequency responses (because where there's a difference, there won't be full cancelation. This is basically achieved by using a switch to reverse the connections of the hot and ground wires of one of the pickups, so that in parallel, the hot and ground wires of the two pickups are both effectively wired together, and you get a mix of each pickup's signal by itself but out of phase, and in series, you get the hot of one pickup wired to the hot of the other pickup. Out of phase settings will be quieter than their respective in-phase counterparts.

 

I hope that makes some sense.

[comrade_jon]

 

OK, Usual tele setup is: Neck only Neck and bridge in parallel Bridge only Parallel and series are electrical terms. If 2 things are in parallel, it means the hot wires of both pickups and the ground wires of both pickups are effectively wired together, so the resulting signal is sorta like the sounds of each pickup mixed together - ie. the sound of 2 single coil pickups, one at the bridge and one at the neck, both running at once. In series, the output of one pickup runs into the input of the other, so they are one after the other. This is how humbuckers work - 2 coils in series. So the series positions will sound like a humbucker, with a huge spacing between the coils (so not exactly like your SD JB or whatever, but still a cool sound), and will be louder than the parallel position. If pickups are out of phase, it means that their electrical signals are opposite - when one voltage going up, the other is going down, and vice versa. This means there is voltage cancellation (1 + -1 =0) and so what you get is a "skinny" sound which reflects the differences between the pickups' frequency responses (because where there's a difference, there won't be full cancelation. This is basically achieved by using a switch to reverse the connections of the hot and ground wires of one of the pickups, so that in parallel, the hot and ground wires of the two pickups are both effectively wired together, and you get a mix of each pickup's signal by itself but out of phase, and in series, you get the hot of one pickup wired to the hot of the other pickup. Out of phase settings will be quieter than their respective in-phase counterparts. I hope that makes some sense.

 

 

Thanks that makes a lotta sense, I see why youd use the the series option then.

 

So where would you use the out of phase option?

[duncan]

 

The reason why I'm asking is cos I'm gonna have to order in (no Guitar Center in ye olde England I tells ya) and I don't wanna waste my good friend at the guitar shop's time if its not gonna be 100%.

 

 

there's a shop on Denmark St in london that has one. or, at least they had one in mid-may, when i was over there.

[tumbleweeed]

 

OK, Usual tele setup is: Neck only Neck and bridge in parallel Bridge only Parallel and series are electrical terms. If 2 things are in parallel, it means the hot wires of both pickups and the ground wires of both pickups are effectively wired together, so the resulting signal is sorta like the sounds of each pickup mixed together - ie. the sound of 2 single coil pickups, one at the bridge and one at the neck, both running at once. In series, the output of one pickup runs into the input of the other, so they are one after the other. This is how humbuckers work - 2 coils in series. So the series positions will sound like a humbucker, with a huge spacing between the coils (so not exactly like your SD JB or whatever, but still a cool sound), and will be louder than the parallel position. If pickups are out of phase, it means that their electrical signals are opposite - when one voltage going up, the other is going down, and vice versa. This means there is voltage cancellation (1 + -1 =0) and so what you get is a "skinny" sound which reflects the differences between the pickups' frequency responses (because where there's a difference, there won't be full cancelation. This is basically achieved by using a switch to reverse the connections of the hot and ground wires of one of the pickups, so that in parallel, the hot and ground wires of the two pickups are both effectively wired together, and you get a mix of each pickup's signal by itself but out of phase, and in series, you get the hot of one pickup wired to the hot of the other pickup. Out of phase settings will be quieter than their respective in-phase counterparts. I hope that makes some sense.

 

Thanks for this!!!

Much better explanation than "it sounds different"

[blingdogg]

 

Thanks for this!!! Much better explanation than "it sounds different"

 

+1

[stevemcb]

Out of phase sounds can be useful for anywhere where you want something thin, maybe funky rhythms. That comes back to the original "just try it" advice. It may not be for you, or you may (like Peter Green, who accidentally wired his Les Paul's humbuckers out of phase) you may discover a signature sound!

 

Steve

[Wulver]

Go listen to "Sultans of Swing", you'll then understand what out-of-phase sounds like.

[jonPhillips]

 

Parallel and series are electrical terms. If 2 things are in parallel, it means the hot wires of both pickups and the ground wires of both pickups are effectively wired together, so the resulting signal is sorta like the sounds of each pickup mixed together - ie. the sound of 2 single coil pickups, one at the bridge and one at the neck, both running at once. In series, the output of one pickup runs into the input of the other, so they are one after the other. This is how humbuckers work - 2 coils in series. So the series positions will sound like a humbucker, with a huge spacing between the coils (so not exactly like your SD JB or whatever, but still a cool sound), and will be louder than the parallel position. If pickups are out of phase, it means that their electrical signals are opposite - when one voltage going up, the other is going down, and vice versa. This means there is voltage cancellation (1 + -1 =0) and so what you get is a "skinny" sound which reflects the differences between the pickups' frequency responses (because where there's a difference, there won't be full cancelation. This is basically achieved by using a switch to reverse the connections of the hot and ground wires of one of the pickups, so that in parallel, the hot and ground wires of the two pickups are both effectively wired together, and you get a mix of each pickup's signal by itself but out of phase, and in series, you get the hot of one pickup wired to the hot of the other pickup. Out of phase settings will be quieter than their respective in-phase counterparts. I hope that makes some sense.

 

 

This is the best explanation of this subject I've read

[bengerm77]

 

OK, Usual tele setup is: Neck only Neck and bridge in parallel Bridge only Parallel and series are electrical terms. If 2 things are in parallel, it means the hot wires of both pickups and the ground wires of both pickups are effectively wired together, so the resulting signal is sorta like the sounds of each pickup mixed together - ie. the sound of 2 single coil pickups, one at the bridge and one at the neck, both running at once. In series, the output of one pickup runs into the input of the other, so they are one after the other. This is how humbuckers work - 2 coils in series. So the series positions will sound like a humbucker, with a huge spacing between the coils (so not exactly like your SD JB or whatever, but still a cool sound), and will be louder than the parallel position. I hope that makes some sense.

 

 

OK, so I'm having this idea where I can add a switch to my tele that switches the middle position between series and parallel? Since it would boost my output on my tele (which I'm looking to do for drive tones) this would be awesome. I'm thinking I could throw in a dpdt miniswitch somewhere on the guitar and it would totally work. Is my idea feasible?

 

Also, threadjack.

[stevemcb]

Yes, you can do this pretty easily (including with a push-pull if you don't want to change the look of your guitar). There is almost certainly a wiring diagram for you on the seymour duncan website. The other alternative is that Fender sell (or used to) a 4-position switch for tele which came with a diagram showing you how to wire it up so that you had the options of neck, neck and bridge parallel, bridge, neck and bridge series. No new holes to drill, pretty easy and with a relatively cheap part. I have a tele style that I built which has the 4-position switch, but it has a humbucker in the bridge, so I use position 4 as a killswitch.

 

In fact, I found the link:

http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=0992250000

 

Steve

[ashasha]

Here's the one I bought for $18. It fits right in there and the only real hangup is that the neck pickup's cover has to be grounded. I believe that the SCN pickups I have already have that done.

 

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-4Way-Telecaster-Pickup-Selector-Mod-Switch?sku=361330

 

If you are really wondering about the out of phase thing, a good example of a usable tone would be the main solo in Bohemian Rhapsody, I am about 99% sure that it is the neck and bridge pickup in series and out of phase with a considerable amount of gain and a phaser.

 

What makes it sound so thin is that the longer soundwaves will cancel out before the shorter or higher frequency ones. The difference in the pickup placements mean that the actual levels and different harmonic content of the signal won't cancel eachother out completely and there are some really weird ones that slip through.

 

If you can only choose one I'd go with the series/parallel option because the sounds are incredibly useful. The out of phase stuff is interesting, but not terribly useful in real life application.

[Willyguitar]

I have a baja, and I think the parrallel out of phase sounds pretty good and useable (almost strat like), whereas the series out of phase is just a bit too thin and honky. It's fun every now and then and could be used for a piercing solo, but apart from that, I hardly use it. I also find the 'in series' position to be not as great as I first thought, since you end up having to up your treble and down your bass on the amp settings, to prevent if becoming muddy.

 

However, a great guitar - the best value telecaster out there at the moment.