Help the helper...

[guitlouie]

Hey guys.  I have talked a good friend of mine into building a Warmoth, but he wants my help, which I have no problem with (feeding my sickness by proxy).  Only trouble is he would like a somewhat unconventional wiring scheme, which is not exactly my strong suit.  He is going to do a Firebird body and he wants three humbuckers.  But he would like to be able to get bridge/middle, and neck/middle.  I actually have never played around with a three humbucker Gibson, but it seems that the toggle would give you just the three individual pickups.  Am I right about that?  If so, is there a five way switch that looks like the Gibby toggle, or am I looking at push-push pots?  I guess the short question is, what is the SIMPLEST way to do this?  He would like to order the body soon, but I told him to hold off until I get an answer to this, so we can get the proper control holes drilled.  As always all input is welcome and appreciated!

 

[ildar]

Try a megaswitch, I think you can get those combos.
www.stewmac.com

EDIT-sorry, didn't read your post carefully, obviously, the megaswitch is a Strat style switch.

 

[sundin4prez]

i used to have a epiphone g-400 (SG) with the switching you are looking for.....maybe you can research for the wiring diargram for it....i think it call epiphone G-400 les paul classic

 

[sundin4prez]

this is the guitar i was talking about

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epiphone-G400-Custom-Electric-Guitar?sku=518325


if i remember correctly the 3 way switch had 6 prongs under it ( i dont know what the real term is).... so it was not like a regular 3 way...

 

[guitlouie]

Wow, quick resonses!  Idlar, no biggie, we had looked at those, and he is not strictly oposed to doing a Strat style switch, if it comes down to that, but he was hoping for a LP style toggle if at all possible.  And Sundin,  thanks, that is a good lead, I will see what it leads me to!  Thanks again guys!

 

[Notyethendrix]

How about 2 toggle switches?

First 3 way one controls the Neck Mid Bridge
Second 2 way one turns from full humbucking to combinations

:icon_scratch:

 

[dbw]

StewMac has the exact thing you need...

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Components:_Switches_and_knobs/3/3-way_Pickup_Switches.html  :headbang1:

You should be able to do bridge+mid, mid+neck, plus whatever third option you want with one of these babies.

 

[dbw]

I should add that I think it's possible to do bridge+mid, bridge+mid+neck, mid+neck with a standard LP switch, but I'm not an expert...

 

[guitlouie]

As always I appreciate the responses, but perhaps I was not really clear on my first post.  This guy would like to be able to do each individual pickup, and then in addition have the option of blending bridge with middle and neck with middle.  So I am guessing that we need a five way switch of some sort to achieve the following:  Bridge alone, bridge with middle, middle alone, middle with neck, and neck alone.  He is open to any and all possibilities to arrive at this, but I will be wiring it for him, hence the need to keep it simple.  We may just see if we can get Warmoth to replace the toggle switch hole with a Strat style hole and use one of those switches, but like I said, he would prefer a LP style toggle if we can do that. 

 

[dbw]

Aaah, I see!  :doh:  Well, you could still do it with a 3-pickup LP switch if you added a push-pull that turns on the middle pickup.  So you'd have bridge/mid/neck on the 3-way, and if you pull the push-pull you'd change it to bridge+mid/mid/neck+mid.  That would be fairly easy to wire, I think...

Edit:  The standard strat wiring is exactly what he describes, bridge/bridge+mid/mid/mid+neck/neck.  So a 5 way would do it easily.  But like I said, you can do it with the LP switch too.

 

[neilium]

PRS-style rotary switch, perhaps? It's a 5 pos. 4 pole switch. guitarelectronics.com and stewmac.com have them.

This is a trick setup that splits coils in the 2 and 4 positions for hum canceling single-coil-ish twang.

http://www.guitarelectronics.com/product/WDUHHH5L1101