Switch between Parallel, In-Series or Coil Splitting

One switch to make three sounds

This switch is basically the push/pull switch (DPDT or 2P2T) with a middle position. So it has three instead of two positions. In the interactive wiring diagram you can see how the internal wiring of the switch works. The middle position is one up and one down, literally half way from one to the other outer positions.

This wiring works for a humbucker pickup (with four wires sticking out) as well as two single coils. What this three position switch does:

The two outer positions have both coils on, one position in series, the other in parallel. The “in-series” setting is the typical humbucker wiring. “Parallel” is the typical Telecaster wiring where the resulting sound is often described as more “twangy”.

In the middle position, only one coil is on. This is the typical “coil splitting” option for standard humbucker pickups, where both single coils are very similar in their sound.

There is one humbucker, the Seymour Duncan “P-Rail” pickup, where this wiring would definitely reduce the sonic versatility, because the the two single coils of this humbucker are very different in their sound, mimicking a P90 and a Strat-style single coil.