Fender S1 switch on an HSS Strat - what does it do?

dealmaker

Anyone know anything about these ?  I am trying to figure out if the S1 switch on an Elite Strat - will tap the Humbucker into a single coil? Even the Fender web site doesn't disclose the full switching options on these?

I want to be able to use the guitar for U2 type stuff also - so ideally I want to be able to have Bridge only in singe coil - and Bridge and Middle in a single coil pair - like you can on an SSS Strat - is that possible on an HSS with the S1 switch ?? Or do I need to look at custom wiring options? 

Cheers!

Fretwired

Here's your answer:

http://www2.fender.com/experience/tech-talk/s-1-switching/

When not in use, the S-1 switch doesn’t affect standard Stratocaster wiring, which is:

• Position one: bridge pickup only
• Position two: bridge and middle pickups wired in parallel
• Position three: middle pickup only
• Position four: middle and neck pickups wired in parallel
• Position five: neck pickup only

The S-1 switch offers five additional pickup wiring options when engaged:

• Position one: all three pickups wired in series
• Position two: bridge and middle pickups wired in series
• Position three: middle and neck pickups wired in series
• Position four: bridge and neck pickups wired out of phase, with a special tone capacitor
• Position five: bridge and middle pickups wired in series and out of phase, in parallel with neck pickup

thegummy

It's very easy to change the switch to a coil split if you'd prefer that to the default options.

The S1 is really just 4 simple switches in 1 so any mod that can be done with a normal single or double switch can be done with it.

ICBM

thegummy said:

It's very easy to change the switch to a coil split if you'd prefer that to the default options.

The S1 is really just 4 simple switches in 1 so any mod that can be done with a normal single or double switch can be done with it.

Yes. It does look like a complicated bugger - and can be less than completely reliable, which is a bit of a pain since it seems to be only available via Fender - but once you work out what it does it's actually quite simple and easy to work out how to wire it for different schemes.

thegummy

ICBM said:

thegummy said:

It's very easy to change the switch to a coil split if you'd prefer that to the default options.

The S1 is really just 4 simple switches in 1 so any mod that can be done with a normal single or double switch can be done with it.

Yes. It does look like a complicated bugger - and can be less than completely reliable, which is a bit of a pain since it seems to be only available via Fender - but once you work out what it does it's actually quite simple and easy to work out how to wire it for different schemes.

I'd heard scare stories of its reliability before buying it; so far it's been fine for the short time I've had it but only time will tell if it lasts.

It's unrivaled for unobtrusiveness and so neat and easy to quickly activate. Shame that fender have a monopoly on it cause it's expensive and not that readily available.

normula1

I've a cunning plan to modify the tone knob on my PRS and fit one there to give me more options than the current push/pull

poopot

Here if you need a replacement...

http://www.rattleanddrum.com/fender-s-1-250k-split-shaft-pot-genuine-fender-parts.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIp6XJ0Ji62AIVrLztCh3ybwAWEAQYASABEgKBbfD_BwE

stratman3142

My main guitar is an HSS Strat with S1 switching.

When the S1 switch is out I think of it as a standard Strat, except it's a Humbucker in the toggle switch back position, and a coil tapped Humbucker plus middle pickup in parallel in the next to back position.

When the S1 switch is in, I think of it as an HH guitar with the neck and middle pickups forming the front Humbucker. The back, middle and front toggle switch positions then work as they would on an HH guitar. I can never remember what the inbetween switch positions are but I don't use them.
 

dealmaker

stratman3142 said:

My main guitar is an HSS Strat with S1 switching.

When the S1 switch is out I think of it as a standard Strat, except it's a Humbucker in the toggle switch back position, and a coil tapped Humbucker plus middle pickup in parallel in the next to back position.

When the S1 switch is in, I think of it as an HH guitar with the neck and middle pickups forming the front Humbucker. The back, middle and front toggle switch positions then work as they would on an HH guitar. I can never remember what the inbetween switch positions are but I don't use them.
 

Cheers for all that guys - very helpful.

So - @stratman3142  - can you get the classic Edge single coil sound (of the the bridge pick up tapped as a single coil  - paired with the middle singe coil ?) ?

Thanks!

stratman3142

dealmaker said:

stratman3142 said:

My main guitar is an HSS Strat with S1 switching.

When the S1 switch is out I think of it as a standard Strat, except it's a Humbucker in the toggle switch back position, and a coil tapped Humbucker plus middle pickup in parallel in the next to back position.

When the S1 switch is in, I think of it as an HH guitar with the neck and middle pickups forming the front Humbucker. The back, middle and front toggle switch positions then work as they would on an HH guitar. I can never remember what the inbetween switch positions are but I don't use them.
 

Cheers for all that guys - very helpful.

So - @stratman3142  - can you get the classic Edge single coil sound (of the the bridge pick up tapped as a single coil  - paired with the middle singe coil ?) ?

Thanks!

Yes, on my HSS Strat, which is an American Standard.

A couple of sounds I can't get are as follows:
1) The bridge single coil on it's own - but I've got another Strat for that
2) The bridge and neck in parallel as single coils - but I've got a Telecaster for that.

The picture below shows the way the selections work on my Strat, but I don't know if there are variations on this.

https://i.imgur.com/b3gHAVf.png

thegummy

thegummy said:

ICBM said:

thegummy said:

It's very easy to change the switch to a coil split if you'd prefer that to the default options.

The S1 is really just 4 simple switches in 1 so any mod that can be done with a normal single or double switch can be done with it.

Yes. It does look like a complicated bugger - and can be less than completely reliable, which is a bit of a pain since it seems to be only available via Fender - but once you work out what it does it's actually quite simple and easy to work out how to wire it for different schemes.

I'd heard scare stories of its reliability before buying it; so far it's been fine for the short time I've had it but only time will tell if it lasts.

It's unrivaled for unobtrusiveness and so neat and easy to quickly activate. Shame that fender have a monopoly on it cause it's expensive and not that readily available.

Just adding to this thread from the beginning of the year to say that I've now had the S1 switch just under 4 months and it's capoot.

At first, it had a weird issue with the actual pot where 10 worked fine as full volume, 9 was cutting out to silence then from 8 to 1 it worked as normal.

Now it's very temperamental and goes off and on at the slightest tap to the knob. The switch itself (the bridge-on, in my case) still functions as normal but the physical pressing of the switch is enough to trigger the problem with the volume pot.

I've tried re-wiring it and tried the deoxit spray in it but doesn't make a difference.

Very disappointing for such an extortionate component!

normula1

Try taking the pot out and squeezing the four tabs that hold it together and the tabs that mount the connectors to the pot track.

thegummy

normula1 said:

Try taking the pot out and squeezing the four tabs that hold it together and the tabs that mount the connectors to the pot track.

Will try it and report back how it goes.

thegummy

Attempting this now...

Incidentally, does anyone know a trick for taking out the Strat pickguard without having to remove all the strings?

thegummy

@normula1 ;   I took the pot out and none of the tabs looked loose but I tried squeezing them all in anyway and it has completely solved the problem! There's no dropouts at all anymore!

Thank you so much

normula1

Great.