Push-pull Pot Mods - Series and Parallel Wiring

Have you ever wanted to make a Les Paul sound like a Strat? Engage a kill switch with the flick of the wrist? Or maybe you want to capture that killer Queen sound of Brian May. If that’s you, then keep reading! In this article, we uncover the mysteries of the push-pull pot by taking a look at how it functions and also showing you some of the cool wiring options this handy gadget is capable of.

Series and parallel wiring is also a pretty common mod. Whenever two or more pickup coils are involved, they are either working in series or parallel. A pickup wired in series will send its signal into another pickup in the signal chain, affecting the overall tone and output. If you think of how a pedalboard works, it’s similar to that. When two pedals are turned on, the first pedal in the signal chain always affects the behavior of the next pedal in line. Pickups that are wired in series will have a higher output as well as a darker, fuller tone.

When pickups are wired in parallel, they are both running on different paths and are unaffected by the other. Pickups wired in parallel will have a brighter sound but less output. The animation below shows how leaving the shaft down allows both coils to output their signal independently, but pulling up on the push-pull pot sends the signal of the bridge pickup into the neck pickup and colors the overall sound.