OT: I just have to share this....

[smoguzbenjamin]

For all you strat players, check this out:

You know the 5-way switch that selects the pickups? Ever realised that you can't select the bridge and neck pickups together, or all three?
Add a switch!!!! And you can select the bridge pickup with any setting, and it opens up a huge variety of sounds never before realised with an el-cheapo strat like mine! :mrgreen: My guess is that with a nice fancy guitar the new sound palette will be even broader than mine!

I'm a happy guitarist!

[Peter Snowberg]

Three pickups in parallel is a nice setting isn't it?  :mrgreen:

Three pickups in series is nice too.

Your next task is to add another switch and make it phase the middle pickup. That opens things even more.

take care,
-Peter

[petemoore]

Positions 1 , 3 , and 5 on my Washburn are unsuably noisy.

[SnooP_Wiggles]

Single Coil pickups are in their nature noisy, so that is why positions 1,3,5 are noisy. But (correct me if i am wrong), positions 2,4 have single coils in parellel, acting a bit like a humbucker. Get humbuckers or special single coil pickups (eg Fender Lace sensor) for less noise

[Peter Snowberg]

Here's an ultimate one for you Ben. :mrgreen:

http://archive.guitarplayer.com/archive/gear/hrm3.shtml

I put this in my first electric (a Squire Bullet) and it made all the difference! If you add a phase switch for the neck or middle pickup, you get 19 way switching with four toggles (!). It's by far the most versatile setup I've tried. Even junk pickups on a junk guitar can sound really cool in this setup.

Take care,
-Peter

[Paul Marossy]

I added a pickup selector switch on one of my H-S-H guitars not too long ago. I wanted to be able to have a humbucker on the bridge and neck at the same time. That really makes for a lot more tonal options.

[acromarty]

There are lots of cool guitar wiring tips here:

http://www.guitarnuts.com/index.php

Cheers,

[Ge_Whiz]

Peter, that Dan Armstrong switching system is great (particularly with pickup phasing) if you can get the on-on-on switch needed (Stewmac have it). HOWEVER, that version of the diagram is faulty - it doesn't give a clear indication of where connection C has to go. Unfortunately, I can't remember off the top of my head where it goes, but I'll check my notes. It certainly goes to the on-on-on switch, but I can't remember which pole.

[Mark Hammer]

All you need to do is swap the middle and bridge pickup leads to the 5-way switch.  I've written this one up a few times over at Ampage.

Flipping the middle and bridge pickups on the switch will get the following:

1 - neck
2 - neck + bridge
3 - bridge
4 - bridge + middle
5 - middle

This is an amalgam of the "classic" Tele and Strat switch settings (from the days of 3-way switches) plus one "cluck" position (4).

It takes a little bit of getting used to, since most of us tend to think of the switch forward as bassier, and treble as being a function of throwing it in the opposite direction.  Here, full treble has the switch tip pointing straight up.

The other thing is that normally, one has the middle pickup RWRP, yielding hum-rejection in positions 2 and 4.  Here, you need to have the *bridge* pickup be RWRP to get hum-rejection in positions 2 and 4.  If you have the traditional arrangement (middle PU RWRP), you only get hum-rejection in position 4.

I put this in my 3-pickup Tele so that I could get the standard Tele tones in positions 1-3, and some Strat-ey sounds in positions 4 and 5.  Though you'd expect me to be a fan of things that would get you all possible permutations and combinations of pickups, I like having my "top 5" all built into the same switch, especially when there is no routing, drilling or anything more complicated than unsoldering two wires at the switch and resoldering one where the other used to go.

[Peter Snowberg]

HOWEVER, that version of the diagram is faulty - it doesn't give a clear indication of where connection C has to go.

Crikey! (doing my best Penfold impression for any Danger Mouse fans out there)

Sure enough. I think "C" connects to the diagonal wire that bridges opposite throw contacts on the ON/ON/ON switch.

Thanks Ge_Whiz.

Take care,
-Peter

[Ansil]

hey ben u know if you add in two push pulls you can get the 12way wiring scheme i showed you on my old site. man,


gives a nice acoustic sound with all three singles on

[Transmogrifox]

Wow!  A lot of cool ideas.  I myself have been pleased with the addition of two push/pull pots on my Les Paul.  I switch the bridge humbuckers in parallel and split a coil on the neck for a single coil sound.  It truly is interesting and versatile.

[Hal]

another cool quick strat mod...check out the tone for bridge at the guitarnuts thing.  Its nice.  Real nice.  :-D

especially for my hot rails that have such bright output...just kill some highs right at the beginning.

[Ge_Whiz]

Well done, Penfold - I do believe you're right! Clearly, the offending omission was a plot by Count Duckula to confuse the world's Stratovarius players. How fiendish is that dastardly Duckula!

[Ge_Whiz]

I've just bought a new Washburn WI24. Dirt-cheap chinese axe, very nicely made for the paltry £100 I paid for it. The control rout has loads of spare room for modifications. I've already fitted tone-bleed capacitors to the volume controls - next plan is to replace the tone pots with push-pull switch types, one for pickup phasing, the other for a 'Black Ice' -type mod. On the other hand, there's more than enough room just to drill holes to fit two toggle switches instead. I haven't investigated yet whether the pickups can be easily coil-split.