Fig. 1: The Stratocaster pickup selector switch near the top of the image is set to the bridge pickup-only position (position 1).
The pickup switch is the key to the Stratocaster’s time-honored tonal versatility. The switch controls which pickups or which combinations of pickups are on at any given time. Fender Stratocasters are Fender’s sole three-pickup guitar, its pickup switch has an important job to do.
Locating the stratocaster pickup selector area
Stratocaster Pickup Selector is a five-position blade-type switch mounted diagonally on the lower half of the pick guard on the treble-strings side, just forward of the control knobs (see Fig. 1). Body location placement is close enough to the strumming/picking hand to be within easy reach. However, far enough out of the way that it’s unlikely to be accidentally knocked out of position.
If we number the switch positions 1 through 5, with position 1 being closest to the middle tone knob and positions 2, 3, 4 and 5 proceeding in order toward the middle pickup. Moreover, we can easily label the switch’s pickup-selection functions (see Fig. 2):
- Position 1: Bridge pickup only.
- Position 2: Bridge pickup and middle pickup together.
- Position 3: Middle pickup only.
- Position 4: Middle pickup and neck pickup together.
- Position 5: Neck pickup only.
Note that there is no means of having all three pickups on at once. For example, note that there’s some quite interesting history behind the Strat’s pickup switch.
For the initial 23 years of the Stratocaster’s life, from its introduction in 1954 until 1977, the pickup selector featured a three-position switch. This allowed you to activate either the bridge pickup, the middle pickup, or the neck pickup. Therefore, Richard Smith noted in Fender: The Sound Heard ’Round the World that Leo (Fender), the guitar’s creator, preferred the unadulterated sound of individual pickups. You could only engage one pickup at a time, and that was the extent of it.
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