The Excessive Telecaster

[Firebird211]

That's a pretty cool set up!  The switch arrangement would be perfect for manipulating the pickups differently.  They each select the P-90, or the rail pickup, or both individually, right?  I have a build that has been in process since early march.  The basic design isn't so basic at all, switch crazy, like yours.  I have a p-rails hot for the bridge, hotrails in the neck, and vintage rails in the middle.  It is a redesign of my first guitar, a pacifica, that over the years became modified more and more.  Having the switches arranged in a user friendly way makes more sense than trying to figure out which setting of the 5-way corresponds to an additional switch, selector, or push-pull.  Seymour Duncan has a sweet wiring set up for coil selecting the P-rails with two push-pull pots, which is useful if you have one or two P-rails.  In your case it's understandable.  Do what you want, you will find it fun to play and versatile. My old pacifica, or nearstrat, had four mini toggle switches that swept between the five way switch and the knobs.  I didn't find that they got in the way at all, when the 5-way is selected the corresponding switch was in easy reach, and I don't think I would want a guitar without some on-the-fly options. By the way I didn't look over the diagram that well, but in case you havent though of it yet make sure the toggles point to the active single coil and is a humbucker in the middle.  Nothing is more annoying than discovering you have to turn a switch 180 deg. after the wiring is done.  Some people see all those switches as overkill and bad for the guitars looks.  As long as they are placed in a way that is simple/quick to operate, not in the way, and not taking away from the guitars looks, the more power to you.  I hope the P-rails sound cool, I havent had the pleasure yet.
The triple-shot ring that Blackdog specified is worth considering too to simplify the whole thing.  It uses two tiny DPDT already built into each pickup ring. It can accomplish Series/Parallel/P-90/Rail configurations just like the two push-pull pots.

 

[kboman]

Excess is the new black! That you won't use all settings equally goes without saying I think, but hey - that's no reason not to have them!

 

[JaySwear]

Excess is the new black! That you won't use all settings equally goes without saying I think, but hey - that's no reason not to have them!

true! the reason that something like this would be cool for me is that i'm constantly playing with different tone knob positions and backing volume off and changing pickups while i'm playing... the bad thing is that once i actually had a song to play and i wasn't just screwing around i would always pick the same set up that i liked the most. i'm not much of a tone chaser i guess :-\ i think i'd always end up going back to the same old pickup selection so it wouldn't do me much good.

but having said that, i can't wait to see how this thing turns out!

 

[JimBeed]

This looks like its going to be interesting.
I thought my wiring diagram was alot with a three way switch and a push pull for a pick up.
Good one for the multiple options.
I know there'll probably be much more differences having the three way switch for neck/both/bridge than the series/parrallel on the bridge, but hey i dont know how itll sound with the option avaliable till i find out. so nice idea  ccasion14:

 

[OzziePete]

Not normally my color, but on this it really works.  
Should be a real looker  :glasses9:
Seems like you could save yourself a few switches by using the Triple Shot rings.  They are really perfect for the P-rails
Keep the pic a rollin'
:rock-on:

Slide switches haven't been successful (unless SD has secured some really good stock) - on the Fender Mustangs, Jaguars and Jazzmasters the switches have  been a worry over the years. Also there was an Australian LP type copy that utilized a very similar switching sytem to the Triple Shot that also wasn't a success (Maton Phil Manning Stereo), a number of buyers of that guitar quickly changed over to standard pickups and rings.

http://www.grouseguitars.com/sold/morepics/morematonpm.htm

 

[Alfang]

You have your push pull switch set to turn on one pup reguardless of switch setting, correct?

I do the same thing on all my guitars now, I use my push push to turn on my neck pup, the neck - bridge combination is a great sound.

And when you select middle bridge you get all 3 pups on.

 

[john_p_t]

Well, this project has been on a looooooooong hiatus. So long, in fact, I've had to come back here to find my own wiring diagram again.

Here's an injury all guitar players will appreciate the unpleasantness of: I fell and broke my arm, and then a month later, fell over again and broke my broken arm. Months in plaster, followed by months of physio, so very little playing, and absolutely no wielding a drill

Am just about back to normal, so this will be back on very shortly. Having had a look around at other threads, I've got the excitement back for it again.

 

[tfarny]

I built a 5-tone tonestyler type control myself from a rotary five-way switch. It was cool. If I were after maximum tonal flexibility like you are, I'd definitely do it again. But I'm more in the place of, "what are 3 - 5 tones I really want" and "how can I make the controls intuitive, simple, and attractive" which is a place you are not currently at with this axe. In other words, if I were willing to go for 144 pickups combos in one guitar, I'd also want more tone control options and an active mid-boost probably.

 

[john_p_t]

Yeah, the main idea here is maximum flexibility for recording purposes. So it's not so much a question of getting "my tones" as it is being very wide-ranging. Like a non-digital Variax is one of the ways I've been thinking about it.

 

[tfarny]

I'd think that a $40 tonestyler will add more to tonal variety than the middle pickup will. Just a thought. Also if it's studio - only why not go active?

 

[Patrick from Davis]

There is also always the Bill Lawrence Q filter option.  CB had it in some of his tele's, the one he made for Vic I think, and it always struck me as an easy way to add a lot more sounds.
Patrick

 

[line6man]

I'd think that a $40 tonestyler will add more to tonal variety than the middle pickup will. Just a thought. Also if it's studio - only why not go active?

If it's to be used in the studio only, WHY go active?

There isn't too great of an advantage to a low impedance output when you can use a short cable. The constant input impedance of a buffer would not matter. Buffering each pickup would give you a very different tone than combining pickups in parallel passively. There is no need for EQ, or any special preamp voicing, and there is also no need for a gain boost. In the studio, it's best to limit the number of gain stages, and of course, keep the noisefloor low. (Though in most other cases, I'm a big fan of buffering.)

 

[john_p_t]

It may seem a bizarre thing to say given the switching, but I prefer things to be electrically very simple. Outside of the switching options, this design is really very standard and basic. Everything else that I'd want to do happens at the level of pedals, amp and mixing.

 

[Syntheticocean]

Damn I love that color..........................

Goddamn you.

Where are the scissors? Gotta cut up my bank card REAL fast.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

I played a Godin icon with the p rail set and was pleasantly surprised at how nice they sounded.  They're very versatile, can be used for more vintGe sounds, but if you have an amp with enough gain, they can really scream.  I think they'd really shine in a Les Paul setup, using push/pull or push/push pots to experiment with the different switching options.