Really Dumb Question

[David Schwab]

I think that's pretty much what I said. Thanks to David for pointing out the fact that two Strat pickups which are RW/RP to each other are in phase not out of phase.

Yes I know you did, I was just clarifying. We know all this stuff, but some people reading might not.

Another thing to remember with parallel wired pickups is that one pickup loads the other, so you never really get the full tone of both pickups. People are used to this sound. I kind of dislike it. This is one reason I'm a big advocate of active circuits in instruments. You can actively sum the pickups together and really hear both pickups.

The conundrum is that once you buffer the pickups (from each other and the volume and tone controls, and cable/amp) you change the tone of the guitar. It's not a bad change, and it's probably a more accurate tone from the pickups, but that's not what most guitar players are expecting or want. Extended high end tends to make pickups seem brittle or lacking in warmth.

The solution to that is to load the pickups at the buffer to recreate the passive tone. But in a more controlled way. At this point you can also sum in a dummy coil without changing the tone or output of the pickups.

The fact that it hasn't really been done much (with the exception of some active pickups) makes me think it's too much bother for most people whom seem to be happy with the current state of pickups.