5-way switch/coil tapping

[Volitions Advocate]

My next warmoth build will be a souped up super strat configuration on a jazzmaster body.

humbucker in the bridge position (not sure which one yet)
Hot lipstick single coil in the middle
P90 variant (once again not sure which one yet, maybe the gibson P94, i've heard good things)

Is it possible to set up the 5 way strat style switch to have the humbucker on in the 1st position like normal, but int he 2nd position have the hot lipstick with the 'bucker coil tapped without the need of a push pull pot?

Just flip the 5 way and its coil tapped?

I guess traditionally the 2nd position is just a combination of the 1st and 3rd position so maybe I'd have to order a special 5 way to do it?

any help would be appreciated.

 

[Kostas]

Everything is possible these days. You need something like this: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Components:_Switches_and_knobs/1/Megaswitches.html

 

[Shmoopie]

could i use one of those with just a MM bass pickup, to do single(neck), parallel, series, out of phase, single(bridge)?
im planing on getting an emg mm hz with 4 conductors and a ground (5 pin plug).

i don't feel like paying $100 just for a prewired rotary.

 

[DiMitriR33]

forget the mega switch. great product but you dont need it. if you'd like standard 5-way setup just with a coil tap use a fender style switch. i don't know your tone control preference but i'd just wire a master tone. use the 2nd pole on your 5-way to tap the bridge. there are a couple ways to do it that work. the one that makes sence is to ground the common lug(The one that connects to the moving part of the switch at all times) then take the pair of wires from your humbucker that get soldered together and solder them to the middle lug(the one that connects to the common in the 2nd 3rd and 4th position). this will still allow you to use two tones if you want but you need 2 caps and they're wired differently and you can't use one control for the bridge and middle together as this will cause the bridge to always be tapped but you can use the same for the neck and the bridge. i believe the seymour duncan site has the schematic as well as many others that use a standard switch that might interest you.

 

[DiMitriR33]

could i use one of those with just a MM bass pickup, to do single(neck), parallel, series, out of phase, single(bridge)?
im planing on getting an emg mm hz with 4 conductors and a ground (5 pin plug).

i don't feel like paying $100 just for a prewired rotary.

i don't know about the mega switch but check out the super switch they carry. not much you cant do with that. just be creative.

 

[Shmoopie]

ahh screw it, i just have to go with the rotary.

 

[allium_sativum]

ahh screw it, i just have to go with the rotary.

You could use a super switch:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Components:_Switches_and_knobs/Super_Switch.html

It is a rotary switch turned on its side with a control lever.

 

[jackthehack]

I don't know about the StewMac "SuperSwitch", but I used one of their "MegaSwitches" in my flamed spalted maple Strat build, and the damn thing WILL NOT line up properly with the switch cutout in a Warmoth rear-route body; had to drill out the screw threads a bit on the switch and use tiny nuts on my own longer screws to install. Works fine, just an unexpected pain in the ass to get installed.

 

[Shmoopie]

ok, i glanced at that one before, but i didn't think twice.  but it looks promising, and all i need now is a digram.

 

[DiMitriR33]

VA,
here is the seymour duncan diagram:
http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/schematics/schematicspdf/1h_2s_1v_2t_5w_as.pdf

they wire it the way i did not describe. either one should work. at least this gives you a visual.

 

[-CB-]

ahh screw it, i just have to go with the rotary.

The problem with a rotary, is it sucks bigtime for live play changes.

You'd be better off with toggle and rotary - keep the normal toggle functions... add "special functions" with rotary.  Get the best of both worlds

 

[stubhead]

could i use one of those with just a MM bass pickup, to do single(neck), parallel, series, out of phase, single(bridge)?
im planing on getting an emg mm hz with 4 conductors and a ground (5 pin plug).

I just re-wired my 2001 Warmoth "Tele" this way, using this Superswitch diagram:
http://www.tdpri.com/wiring5wayStrat.htm
I have a Bill Lawrence L500XL in the bridge, and I used this diagram to wire that pickup alone just as you described: one coil, both coils in series, parallel, of out-of phase, the other coil. The output from that switch goes to a concentric volume/tone pot, the single-coil neck pickup goes to another concentric volume tone pot, then those go to another 3-way switch and out. This lets me use any combination of coils, blended at any volume. Strat quack, Les Paul blended tones, Morsian tone shifts, it's all there. The key to using that diagram is to just treat each coil as the separate pickups on the Tele. Wiring the little jumpers within the switch is a bitch - plan on setting aside 6 hours and a whole pot of coffee, and you'll be blind and crazy for a day after....

 

[Shmoopie]

thank you.

 

[Phrygian]

I don't know about the StewMac "SuperSwitch", but I used one of their "MegaSwitches" in my flamed spalted maple Strat build, and the damn thing WILL NOT line up properly with the switch cutout in a Warmoth rear-route body; had to drill out the screw threads a bit on the switch and use tiny nuts on my own longer screws to install. Works fine, just an unexpected pain in the ass to get installed.

It's good to know this.  I had been thinking about that switch, as an alternative to push-pull pots,  for a rear routed body.

 

[m165]

Just want to konw if anybody has come across a diagram or explanation for 5 way super switch apart from this one http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Components:_Switches_and_knobs/Super_Switch.html
.  I am having a little dificulty understanding their explanation of the workings of this switch and I need to change the wiring setup of my pickups, as my middle pickup Seymour Duncan "Duckbucker" is currently wired to this switch to be split in position 2 & 4 but this pickup it seems cannot be coil split only wired for series or parallel, still fairly new to this but getting there slowly.  Maybe should have started new thread with this ?

 

[stubhead]

As I said above, I rewired a guitar using this diagram:
http://www.tdpri.com/wiring5wayStrat.htm

There's also a guy on Ebay who sells Superswitches with a detailed, ten-page set of different diagrams to make it do just about anything, with all different tap and coil and pickup combinations - just search "Guitar Parts" for Superswitch and he'll come up. The part itself is standard, available from Fender, Stew-Mac etc. I'm almost sure the guy copied his instructions from a book out by BIll Foley called "Build Your Own Electric Guitar", it's been out of print but Amazon shows it and you can often get to see these books if your local library has a decent inter-library loan program. I tried really hard to figure out the "why" of the thing but it's too complicated for me - I just followed the right diagram, and it did what I wanted.

P.S. (Having dicked with this once, I'm going for mini-toggles on my next build - it's just easier onstage to keep track of what's switched where.)