Fender Jaguar Rewiring with Series, Parallel and Phase Switching

Here is a fuller diagram of a wiring circuit for a Fender Jaguar with series/parallel and phase switching based on this diagram which I found on the offsetguitars.com forums. The basic idea is to make available all possible switching options for two pickups. This is a relatively easy mod to make. You only need need to rewire the three DPDT switches in the lower bout. If you have a Jaguar with older SPST switches they will need to be replaced with DPDT switches. The diagram shows the wiring from the bottom, so in this diagram both pickup switches down selects both pickups in parallel, both pickup switches up selects both pickups in series. In original Jaguar wiring both pickup switches down turns the pickups off, both pickup switches up turns the pickups on in parallel. If you want preserve the "up on in parallel" aspect of the original wiring you can use a reversed image of the wiring of the three switches.

 

Super Duper Wicked Awesome Strat Rewiring

Below is a diagram for the wiring I currently run in my Stratocaster which allows a lot of switching possibilities beyond the standard 5-way switch. The diagram is a further modification of a Strat wiring diagram I came up a few years ago which is in turn based on the Guitar Nuts' Strat-Lover's Strat diagram with the addition of a "Neck-On" switch also available from Guitar Nuts. The circuit also includes a phase switch for the middle pickup. My starting premise for wiring mods in all my guitars is that I want the guitars to look stock rather than to drill holes or rout for new or additional switches. This is best achieved by using either a Fender S-1 switch (which are expensive and the knobs don't look stock), or push-pull pots. All that is required to do this modification is the purchase of three 250K push-pull pots (Fender part 0992257000) available online from parts dealers for about $12 each, extra wire, and soldering equipment. With all switches down the circuit functions as a normal Strat with 5-way switching. Pulling up volume knob adds the bridge pickup in series to whatever pickups are selected via the 5-way switch. Pulling up the tone 1 knob puts the middle pickup out of phase. Pulling up the tone 2 knob adds the neck pickup in parallel to whatever pickups are selected via the 5-way switch. The switches do work in combination, but there are several combinations which are redundant. The new pickup combinations that this circuit allow are:

1. neck and bridge pickups in parallel (tone 2 switch on and 5-way switch in position 5).
2. neck, middle, and bridge pickups in parallel (tone 2 switch on and 5-way switch in position 4).
3. bridge and neck pickups in series (volume switch on and 5-way switch in position 1).
4. bridge and middle pickups in series (volume switch on and 5-way switch in position 3).
5. bridge pickup in series with neck and middle pickups (volume switch on and 5-way switch in position 2).

The middle pickup phase switch can be used at any time to add to the variety of tones selected above, or with standard 5-way switching (think Jimmy "Chicken Stratch" Nolen and the JBs). It would be relatively easy to modify this circuit by swapping wires so that the volume switch adds the middle pickup in series rather than the bridge pickup which would result in the combinations of bridge and middle pickups in series and neck and middle pickups in series. You could also swap wires to add the bridge pickup in parallel rather than the neck pickup. If your middle pickup is reverse wound reverse polarity then you will have humbucking in both series and parallel. I really like the sound of the neck and bridge in series and in parallel, however, and the diagram below allows both. The circuit may seem like overkill, and more importantly like bowl of spaghetti in your wiring cavity, but it's fun to try different wiring schemes. Leo Fender's original Strat wiring included only a three-way switch, selecting each single coil individually, but there are many more possibilities.

Fender Jaguar Pickups

If you are installing new pickups in a Fender Jaguar you should always check the resistance of each pickup with a multimeter to make sure that the pickup with the higher resistance goes in the bridge position and the pickup with the lower resistance goes in the neck position. A couple years ago I bought Fender American vintage reissue pickups for my CIJ Jaguar but installed them in the wrong position. I was never able to get good balance between the pickups. It ocurred to me that I should check the resistance for each pickup. I desoldered each pickup and measured 6.38K ohms for the pickup I had installed in the bridge position and 6.58k ohms for the neck pickup. The rule of thumb is that higher resistance values produce more volume. The idea is to locate the higher output pickup in the bridge position where the amplitude of the string vibrations is smaller, thus balancing the pickup output. I couldn't find any values for vintage Jaguar pickups on the intertubz, but Lollar Jaguar pickups are listed as 5.8k ohms for the neck and 6.3k ohms for the bridge and Seymour Duncan vintage Jaguar pickups are listed as 6.5k ohms for the neck and 6.8k ohms for the bridge. My preference is to have the two short extensions on the claw under the low E and A strings, which is consistent with the orientation the claws on vintage Jaguars. CIJ and MIJ Jaguars often had the claws reversed. You should also adjust the pickup height such that the bridge pickup is a bit closer to the strings than the neck pickup, but most of this is according to taste.

Fender Jaguar Wiring

Here's a diagram of the original wiring for a Fender Jaguar.

Fender Jaguar Wiring Mod

Here's a schematic taken from the offsetguitars.com forum for rewiring a Jaguar such that you have series/parallel switching and out-of-phase switching using only the three DPDT switches on the lower bout. You can choose to keep the strangle switch or replace it with and out-of-phase switch. The rhythm circuit on the upper bout is not affected. This is a great mod that allows all switching possibilities for two pickups.

Fender Stratocaster Rewiring

Here's the wiring I'm currently running in my Stratocaster. It is based almost entirely on the Strat Lover's Strat wiring available at GuitarNuts here. The basic premise is to use a push-pull pot on the volume knob which adds the bridge pickup in series to whatever you have selected via the 5-way switch. It only works for the first three positions, neck, neck and middle, and middle. Positions 4 and 5 just select the bridge pup by itself. This creates some really interesting humbucker-like sounds. I especially like the combination of the neck and bridge pickups in series. Not a sound that you can usually get out of a Strat. The other change is to use a push-pull pot on the tone knob to allow switching the middle pickup out of phase, which works both in positions 2 and 4 in normal switching and when the bridge pup is added in series. I always like the out-of-phase sound and this offers, in my opinion, the most flexibility. The only other major wrinkle is that I have used the Fender Samarium Cobalt noiseless pups and there is an extra ground wire coming out of each. Purists might balk at these pickups, but I love the lack of noise and they sound a lot warmer that the Fender-Lace pups which were standard on the Strat Plus in the late 80s and early 90s.

Fender Mustang Wiring

Here's a diagram of the original wiring for a Fender Mustang.

Fender Mustang Rewiring I

Here's another diagram for rewiring a Mustang. This layout has the advantage of not requiring the Fender S-1 switch which is not cheap. You can get by with rewiring the switches only. The neck switch positions are off, on in-phase, on out-of-phase while the bridge positions are off, parallel, series. The one aspect of this layout that I don't like, as with the original Mustang wiring, is that you can't select the pickups with one switch.

Fender Mustang Rewiring II

Here’s a diagram for rewiring a Fender Mustang. The original Mustang wiring included two DP3T switches which allows both pickups to be turned off and on, either in phase or out of phase. With a two pickup guitar I have always like having the additional option of putting the pickups in series or parallel. It is possible to have all these options with the stock DP3T switches, and I will eventually post a diagram which shows how to do this, but after playing my Mustang for a year I realized that it is more convenient to be able to select the pickups from one switch rather than two. The diagram above allows this. The switch above the bridge pickup allows you to select the bridge pickup (neck position), both pickups (middle position) or the neck pickup (neck position). The switch above the neck pickup, as with the original wiring allows you to turn the neck pickup on in-phase (neck position), off (middle position), or on out-of-phase (bridge position). Series/parallel selection is located on the volume pot by way of a Fender S-1 switch which I bought from Darren Riley’s Guitar and Amp Shop . Use the S-1 Jazz bass knob to match the Mustang knob. These switches are 4PDT. Up is parallel, down is series. When the pickups are in series, the DP3T switch above the neck pickup still functions to allow phase selection while in series. I have only found one schematic of the S-1 switch online, located here. This diagram, while for a Stratocaster, shows the functioning of the S-1 switch clearly.

The other modification I made was to swap out the stock Mustang pickups for Fender-Lace sensors I salvaged after rewiring my Stratocaster. The original Mustang pickups are low output. I have tried both silver (modeled on a 70s single coil) and blue (modeled on a 50s humbucker) and settled on a silver sensor in the neck position and blue in the bridge position. These mods have the advantage of retaining the stock look of the Mustang. In rewiring the Mustang I also removed all the original brass shielding which was located in the control and pickup cavities and hard-wired the ground lead from the volume pot to the output jack.