About to order: I don't like the pickup selector switch

[Jorsher]

I'm going to order an HSS soloist as soon as I make some final decisions. I will definitely be posting pictures of the build.

I hate the 5-way pickup selector. I tend to accidentally hit it. I'm sure that's a personal problem since they are "the standard," but I don't like it.

Warmoth offers the option for up to 3 knobs and a 5-way. I'm considering getting just the three knobs, like this:
1 volume
1 tone
1 rotary switch

Honestly, I never touch the tone controls on my current MIM Fender HH strat. But, I'm still learning.

Can anyone give me pros/cons/suggestions/tips?

 

[mayfly]

Well,

- If you don't like the blade switch, don't get it.  It's your guitar.
- rotary switch can be made to work.  Note that they are difficult to get in long shaft versions (potential problem for back routed guitars).
- another option is a gibson style switch.
- you can put those knobs anywhere you want, really.  If you're comfortable with a drill that is.

 

[rgand]

I like the Gibson type toggle switches. See my avatar image, the switch is at the lower tip of the pickguard.

 

[Logrinn]

For my 7/8 Tele that was rear routed I ordered it without the holes drilled for the controls.
After I assembled the bridge and strung it I took some doublesided tape to a volume knob and the toggleswitch knob and placed them on the body and started playing. I could thus move the knobs around until I found the position that suited me - the switch a bit away and the volume a long way away from my picking hand:

Then, when I was happy with their positions, I marked them and drilled the holes with two Forstner bits.

 

[BigSteve22]

I used a rotary switch as a mode selector for SD P-Rail pups on my Jazzmater. (Seen here in the lower horn position, with a Gibson type toggle pup selector in the upper.)

It works well, and does what it's supposed to do, but even using a good quality Grayhill switch, (4 positions, 6 poles, on 2 decks, $26 US), considerable force is required to change positions. With a standard sized Q-Parts dome knob, it is quite stiff, and I wouldn't want to have to change positions while playing. (A larger "Chicken Head" knob mitigates much of the resistance, but didn't match well with the esthetic I was going for.) Since I'm only using it to control the mode of the pickups, there is no need to use it on the fly, but as a pickup selector, I don't believe it would be a viable option, at least not for me.

 

[amon]

Check out the control configuration on the original Chapman ML-1.  It had an HSS pickup configuration, but a Volume/Tone/3-way toggle.  The tone pot was a push-pull and the controls worked like this:

Tone Pot Down
==========
1 - Bridge HB
2 - Bridge HB + Neck SC
3 - Neck SC

Tone Pot Up
==========
1- Split HB + Middle SC
2 - All 3 pickups
3 - Neck SC + Middle SC

 

[Cagey]

I bought an HSS Soloist a few years ago and couldn't make my mind up then, either. So, I ordered it with no controls at all. Figured I'd figure it out when the time came.

Since then, I've wished I'd have had a blade switch slot cut in it. Dealing with three pickups is just easiest that way. But, since the body is already finished I don't think I wanna cut on it, which means a single volume, a tone control I won't use, and a Switchcraft toggle switch. Some combination of volume/tone push-pull switching in conjunction with the toggle will get me most combinations.

So, I think I'm going to wire it so the toggle does normal neck/bridge pickup switching...

Bridge
Bridge + Neck
Neck

Then, lifting the volume knob will add the center pickup to any toggled combination and lifting the tone knob will cut out all the toggled pickups, leaving the center.

All that gives me any combination a 5 way blade provides plus a couple, including all off.

Or, since I recently found (and bought) some bezels for 5 way blade switches, I can install one of those after all.

Someday, I'll make up my mind  :laughing7:

 

[pabloman]

The toggles for the Black Beauties are perfect for an HSS guitar. It's what I always use. It gives you Bridge/ Middle+Neck/Neck. That's all you need anyway.  :headbang1:

 

[BigSteve22]

Or, since I recently found (and bought) some bezels for 5 way blade switches, I can install one of those after all.

Someday, I'll make up my mind  :laughing7:

Nice find Kevin, many's the time I could have used one if these. Is 41mm the standard distance, center-to-center, for the mounting holes on these switches? I suppose I could measure one, but lazy is as lazy does.....

 

[BigSteve22]

Oh well, felt bad about asking when I had a switch AND a digital caliper sitting in my parts cabinet. To answer my own question: Yes, 41mm, center-to-center, at least on the one I had lying there. Now, whether or not that's standard for all, I can only guess it to be so.  :icon_scratch:

 

[rgand]

Or, since I recently found (and bought) some bezels for 5 way blade switches, I can install one of those after all.

Someday, I'll make up my mind  :laughing7:

Nice find Kevin, many's the time I could have used one if these. Is 41mm the standard distance, center-to-center, for the mounting holes on these switches? I suppose I could measure one, but lazy is as lazy does.....

These would really be cool in chrome.

 

[Cagey]

I can't measure those bezels as they're buried in storage at the moment, but I do remember having the same question when I ordered them and not being able to get an answer easily (it's a Chinese supplier). Fortunately, they're very inexpensive (and as a side note, the only place I've ever seen them for sale) so I just took a flyer. Once I got them, I mated one up to a switch and it fit. So, whatever the dimension is, it's right for a standard 5-position blade switch.

Normally I wouldn't have need of such things, but if you have to cut a slot in a finished body, it's probably somewhere near impossible to do and have clean edges. In that case, these are just the thing. Any finish chips or cut irregularities would be covered up.

What remains to be seen is how well one works installed. Between the thickness of a body top and the bezel itself, the far throws of the switch may be interfered with by the bezel.

 

[BigSteve22]

....if you have to cut a slot in a finished body, it's probably somewhere near impossible to do and have clean edges.

Ain't that the truth! Bezels are like molding: They can cover a multitude of sins!  :icon_thumright:

 

[ByteFrenzy]

I bought an HSS Soloist a few years ago and couldn't make my mind up then, either. So, I ordered it with no controls at all. Figured I'd figure it out when the time came.

Since then, I've wished I'd have had a blade switch slot cut in it. Dealing with three pickups is just easiest that way. But, since the body is already finished I don't think I wanna cut on it, which means a single volume, a tone control I won't use, and a Switchcraft toggle switch. Some combination of volume/tone push-pull switching in conjunction with the toggle will get me most combinations.

What about a rotary switch to replace that unused tone pot?

 

[Logrinn]

Some guitars actually have a rotary switch as standard instead of a blade switch. Like the Sergio Vallin signature Fender:

 

[Cagey]

What about a rotary switch to replace that unused tone pot?

I thought about that, but I'd want a 5-way at least, and I couldn't see a 5-way rotary being practical. Reality might be different, but this isn't a body I want to experiment with. Maybe if it was a Strat or something, but this is a carved top Soloist with white pearl finish. Too many dollars in it to end up less than thrilled with the result.

 

[Ace Flibble]

It's a little bit of a pain to cut, but I really like the Kramer Richie Sambora/Jersey Star way of using a 5-way. It's out of the way of your hand and the 'backwards' pickup order (bridge pickup is nearest the ground; yank it backwards, toward the bridge, to select the neck pickup) actually makes a lot of sense once you use it. (Slamming it forward for maximum power, bringing it back for calmer, smoother tones.) See attached image.

Otherwise, a 3-way toggle with one or two push-pulls to facilitate other options is what I'd go with. An S-1 switch or plain mini toggles also work fine. Rotary switches are a pain in the arse in every regard. There's a good reason why PRS have stopped using them for most models and they're rarely used by other companies except by Gibson/Epiphone with chicken knobs (the only knob that makes them easy to operate) for vari-tone circuits.

 

[Archie Macfarlane]

There's also the freeway 6 way toggle switch