Hello everyone,

I got the fender blacktop stratocaster around a week ago, and had a quick question. It has a 2 humbucker pickups but has a 5 way switch. Now I was wondering if it was normal for the position 1, 3, 5 to be louder than position 2 and 4? Could someone please also explain how these positions differ? Cause I know that for 3 pickup guitars they switch between the first mid and last pick up and also in between, but how do the 2 pickups work with the switch?

Thanks guys!

From the Blacktop spec sheet:

Pickup Switching: 5-Position Blade: Position 1. Full Bridge Pickup, Position 2. Two Inside Single Coils, Position 3. Both Full Humbucking Pickups, Position 4. Outer Neck Single Coil, Position 5. Full Neck Pickup

http://www.fender.com/products/blacktop ... No=1148100

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Bill

What bluesky636 is trying to say is:

in position 2 and 4 your guitar is in singlecoil-mode, and singlecoils have less output than humbuckers. This is why your guitar is louder in 1,3 and 5.

SørenK

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Please excuse my English. I'm from Denmark and even though the vikings kicked some serious $@! 1000 years ago we haven't conquered the British language yet.

Thanks for the clarification guys! Another quick questions, should I be able to tell the difference between the sound for position 2 and 4 ( cause they sound exactly the same to me )?

Thanks!

The tone that is generally referred to as "quack" - the classic Strat 5-way throw #2 and #4 spot tones - is created by a pair (or more) of pickups, parallel in phase.

The specific frequency response (tone) that we have come to call "quack" is what happens to the tone when you play two pickups with the same tonal characteristics mounted in close proximity to one another. Actually it's quite similar to what happens when you play two pickups with one out of phase - not as dramatic, certainly but it is the same principle at work.

The "quack" happens as frequencies produced by one pickup are emphasized or cancelled out but the output of the other pickup, leaving a notchy, quirky tone.

Change the location of one pickup or the other, and you change the sound/frequencies that pickup produces, and that changes which frequencies are cancelled between the pair - changing the "quack factor."