dual necks in series?

[Bob Russell]

I recently picked up a 1948 Vega console steel. It has two necks, one single-coil pickup for each neck. It looks as though a previous owner did some "creative rewiring" of sorts; there are some dodgy-looking solder joints. There is no neck selector switch, but I think that's how it originally was. There's a volume knob and a 3-position tone switch (bass/normal/treble).

The two pickups appear to be wired in series, which seems odd to me since they're on separate necks. Can anyone explain why the PUs would be wired series rather than parallel?

[Bob Russell]

bump

[John Billings]

Maybe the previous owner liked the sound better that way. I have a 4-way selector switch on my favorite Tele, that puts the pickups in series. Nice sound. A bit fatter. No hum. On pedal steel, some guys will play the E9th neck, with the switch on the middle position, ie; both necks on, in order to get a somewhat thinner, "West Coast" Fendery sound. I've wondered about putting a series/parallel switch on one of my D-10s, just to hear what it sounds like!

[Alan Brookes]

If you have both necks switched in, and you rest your arms on the C6 neck while playing E9, you have to be careful that you don't sound strings on the C6 neck by accident.

[Bob Russell]

Maybe the previous owner liked the sound better that way. I have a 4-way selector switch on my favorite Tele, that puts the pickups in series. Nice sound. A bit fatter. No hum. On pedal steel, some guys will play the E9th neck, with the switch on the middle position, ie; both necks on, in order to get a somewhat thinner, "West Coast" Fendery sound. I've wondered about putting a series/parallel switch on one of my D-10s, just to hear what it sounds like!

Good point, John. Here's another weird thing: both necks' pickups are definitely working, the C6 being a little fatter, as might be expected. But when I use a multimeter and test each pickup separately (disconnected from the circuit) for resistance, I get no reading from the E13 pickup at all and about 3K from the C6 pickup. This thing's got me puzzled...

[Bob Russell]

If you have both necks switched in, and you rest your arms on the C6 neck while playing E9, you have to be careful that you don't sound strings on the C6 neck by accident.

Mine is set up with C6 as the far neck; I'm currently playing a show that requires mostly E13. Since there is no switch on the guitar, I've got a little piece of foam that I use to mute the C6 neck when it's not in use. Low tech, but it's working out OK so far. I'm thinking of rewiring the guitar with a toggle for the necks replacing the (not-too-useful) 3-position tone control.