If we label the Fender Stratocaster switch positions from 1 to 5, with position 1 being nearest to the middle tone knob and positions 2, 3, 4, and 5 moving in sequence towards the middle pickup, we can clearly identify the pickup-selection functions of the switch.

• 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

Also, it’s worth mentioning that there’s a fascinating history behind the Strat’s pickup switch. For the first 23 years after the Stratocaster was introduced in 1954 until 1977, the pickup selector was a three-position switch. You could activate the bridge pickup, the middle pickup, or the neck pickup, but no combinations were allowed. “Leo (Fender) preferred the pure sound of individual pickups,” noted Richard Smith in Fender: The Sound Heard ’Round the World, referring to the guitar’s creator. You could only use one pickup at a time, and that was the rule. But that wasn’t the whole story. Guitarists quickly picked up on an unintentional quirk of the Stratocaster’s control switch and made great use of it.

They discovered that by carefully positioning the switch in one of the two “in-between” settings—between the bridge and middle pickup positions or between the middle and neck pickup positions—they could achieve two different dual-pickup combinations. They found that activating both the bridge and middle pickups together created a rich and unique sound; the same goes for the middle and neck pickups together.

John E. Davis is a Texas Rock Guitarist offering FREE guitar lessons videos and covers guitar equipment, concert and music news. Visit the website for information on Guitar Lessons, Guitar Repair and Live Music Performance videos.