Turnstyle Switch

[KingOfTheCountry]

Hi guys. I work on my "All the sounds" Strat for quite some time and I've tried many tweaks and Hot-Rodded it a lot. I came across this Turnstyle Switch. I was looking for some demos and more info. I couldn't find anything, but the demos on their site...

I wonder how it works and what it actually does.

As far as I know it is a three way rotary switch. The first position is a unchanged stock setting, the second position is a twangy "Tele" kind of sound, and the third position is a humbucker/P-90 sound.

According to what I heard, it sounds pretty authentic to me. The second position sounds really twangy and sparkly, while the third is puchy with more mid range.

They actually say, it gives you "the power of a humbucker" in a single-coiled Strat. But they also stated that it is passive mod, and as long as it's not active, it can't boost the output and give you the power of  humbucker.
It costs $325, and I'd like to know if it worth the money before buying it.

Thanks.

 

[line6man]

It costs $325, and I'd like to know if it worth the money before buying it.

Absolutely not! No matter what kind of funky jazz is hiding beneath the marketing, you will save at least $250 by assembling it yourself. Passive wiring harnesses are very simple beasts. There is not much money to be made in them, so people come up with ways to make theirs sound exotic and superior to others, so they can jack up the price. Don't drink the kool aid.

 

[stratamania]

Caveat emptor in my opinion.

 

[KingOfTheCountry]

I've never tried it, haven't even seen a solid demo, so I'm slightly skeptical, too. I don't really want to buy it, just wondering if it do its mojo. It looks like a great idea anyway, and if I know a bit more of how it works I'd made it myself.

I was rewiring my Strat many times. I had more usable tones every time I tried something new. I did step by step and this would be something like a jump for the thing. But it's probably more of the marketing than a "real mojo"...

 

[Cagey]

But it's probably more of the marketing than a "real mojo"...

A LOT more. I wouldn't buy into it at 1/3 the price, and I've been known to be lazy and therefore attracted to microwavable solutions.

 

[line6man]

But it's probably more of the marketing than a "real mojo"...

A LOT more. I wouldn't buy into it at 1/3 the price, and I've been known to be lazy and therefore attracted to microwavable solutions.

Figuring quite conservatively:

Pickguard- $25
Pots- $15
Switch- $10
Capacitor- $1
Wire- $1

Total- $52

+50% markup- $78

 

[Re-Pete]

Re: The Power of a Humbucker"
They may be saying they tie up 2 Strat pickups in series to give the humbucker power of 2 coils. BUT, the tone will be different as the coils are apart from each other and that will offer a tonal variance.


$325 for a passive switching/pot/capacitor system is pretty steep in my books.

 

[KingOfTheCountry]

I've been known to be lazy and therefore attracted to microwavable solutions.

:toothy10:  :toothy12:

Re: The Power of a Humbucker"
They may be saying they tie up 2 Strat pickups in series to give the humbucker power of 2 coils. BUT, the tone will be different as the coils are apart from each other and that will offer a tonal variance.

I already did this (series/parallel) mod several times, but some premium p'ups sound pretty sweet when wired in series... not very humbucker-like though.

I'd like to know, how to get that Tele twang from strat... It sounds really cool.

 

[Re-Pete]

I'd like to know, how to get that Tele twang from strat... It sounds really cool.

Not too sure, but maybe a genuine coil tap and a change of capacitor value?

 

[drewfx]

Passive guitar circuits are almost always just some combination of the following:

wired in parallel
wired in series
in or out of phase
capacitors
resistors
sometimes inductors
an occasional clipping diode

Pretty much all of those things are really, really inexpensive.

 

[stratamania]

If you want a Tele tone out of a Strat, switches alone won't do it.

Here's one solution, a Seymour Duncan Twangbanger.

[youtube]qCJcfmyRjLU[/youtube]

Having a way of wiring bridge and neck would also help.

But switches can't make pickups sound like something fundamentally different than they already are. Just different characters of what you have.

You might also want to look into something like a Seymour Duncan P-Rails pickup. That may give you the sort of thing you are looking for or also Joe Barden Two Tone humbuckers.

The other option would be something like a Variax guitar or Roland GP10 or GR55 that all model different types of guitars in one way or another.

 

[KingOfTheCountry]

Passive guitar circuits are almost always just some combination of the following:

wired in parallel
wired in series
in or out of phase
capacitors
resistors
sometimes inductors
an occasional clipping diode

Pretty much all of those things are really, really inexpensive.

I tried most of these, I even tried inductors for a similar purpose as this: Orange Midrange Shaper, but never tried a wiring mod with clipping diode...

I found most of them useful.

 

[KingOfTheCountry]

If you want a Tele tone out of a Strat, switches alone won't do it.

Yeah, but the demo of the Turnstyle swich shows it. Ok, it's not quite Tele sound, but I really like that twangyness.

Here's one solution, a Seymour Duncan Twangbanger.

You might also want to look into something like a Seymour Duncan P-Rails pickup. That may give you the sort of thing you are looking for or also Joe Barden Two Tone humbuckers.

The thing is I'm happy with my current p'ups. I just want to get as much as I can from 'em.
I've tried JBE HB/two tone, they're sweet and silent in both modes.

The other option would be something like a Variax guitar or Roland GP10 or GR55 that all model different types of guitars in one way or another.

I like the idea of a Variax guitar, it sounds pretty good as well, but I'm not really into it.
If I won't find anything better I'll go with the Variax system.

 

[line6man]

Passive guitar circuits are almost always just some combination of the following:

wired in parallel
wired in series
in or out of phase
capacitors
resistors
sometimes inductors
an occasional clipping diode

Pretty much all of those things are really, really inexpensive.

I tried most of these, I even tried inductors for a similar purpose as this: Orange Midrange Shaper, but never tried a wiring mod with clipping diode...

I found most of them useful.

Diode distortions are not very popular, because they typically sound awful. The idea is to take a pair of diodes with a fast switching speed, and low forward voltage drop (such as Schottky diodes), and run them in inverse-parallel, put in place of a capacitor on a tone control. The diodes clip the tops off of the waveforms, making sine waves more like square waves. This mimics the sound of distortion, but it doesn't work out very well. The result is more like a busted speaker on a cheap toy amp, than anything rich and dynamic. Some people do like diode distortions, though, so your mileage may vary. If you want to experiment, a pair of diodes might run you 50 cents at an electronics store.

 

[KingOfTheCountry]

Diode distortions are not very popular, because they typically sound awful. The idea is to take a pair of diodes with a fast switching speed, and low forward voltage drop (such as Schottky diodes), and run them in inverse-parallel, put in place of a capacitor on a tone control. The diodes clip the tops off of the waveforms, making sine waves more like square waves. This mimics the sound of distortion, but it doesn't work out very well. The result is more like a busted speaker on a cheap toy amp, than anything rich and dynamic. Some people do like diode distortions, though, so your mileage may vary. If you want to experiment, a pair of diodes might run you 50 cents at an electronics store.

I see. I guess it is something like this: http://www.instructables.com/id/Passive-Guitar-Overdrive-Black-Ice/.
Am I right?

 

[line6man]

Diode distortions are not very popular, because they typically sound awful. The idea is to take a pair of diodes with a fast switching speed, and low forward voltage drop (such as Schottky diodes), and run them in inverse-parallel, put in place of a capacitor on a tone control. The diodes clip the tops off of the waveforms, making sine waves more like square waves. This mimics the sound of distortion, but it doesn't work out very well. The result is more like a busted speaker on a cheap toy amp, than anything rich and dynamic. Some people do like diode distortions, though, so your mileage may vary. If you want to experiment, a pair of diodes might run you 50 cents at an electronics store.

I see. I guess it is something like this: http://www.instructables.com/id/Passive-Guitar-Overdrive-Black-Ice/.
Am I right?

I've never seen anyone try to use a full wave bridge rectifier in a guitar. What you do is put two diodes in inverse parallel, and solder them in place of your tone control's capacitor.

As a side note, they are borrowing the term "black ice" from StewMac. StewMac sells diodes incased in an epoxied cube. The basic idea is that the black cube looks very mysterious and proprietary, so consumers think that its $30 price tag is acceptable. Don't waste money on it.

 

[sixstringsamurai]

This sounds to me like some over priced Variatone circuit.....
$350?Aw Hell NO!

I should have jumped on the Epi Lucile Variatone overstocks GFS had a while back for $25 bucks.

 

[stratamania]

Another guitar with a lot of tone possibilities you might be interested in if you have not seen it already would be a Musicman Game Changer. Lots of videos on YouTube.

Its basically passive pickups but has the possibility of several million combinations.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Turning "one trick pony" guitars into the "one guitar does it all" approach is something that has been attempted exponentially for many decades now.

The only thing even remotely close to accomplishing this is the Variax James Tyler guitars.

No guitar comprised of purely traditional guitar partes (ie; no modelling technology) can come as close.

You can achieve a wide variety of useful tones in a multiplicity of applications, but you are still limited to subjective ingredients, ie; Solid body vs Hollow body, high output pickus vs low output pickups, true single coils vs stacked single coils, scale length, string gauge, and we haven't even gotten into amp selection and tone stack setup.

Heck, even my "5 pickup Strat" idea, as flexible as it may seem, is still limited in comparison to the imaginable possibilities of available electric guitar sounds.

Ideally, it does take a plethora of guitars to achieve truly a authentic plethora of guitar sounds, and more often than not, you'll find a smaller number of those options that truly work for your given guitar tone proclivities.

Best counsel I can advise, pick the most commonly used tones that you use consistently, exploit those options, and maybe a few more "occasional" option to service the rare exceptions.

 

[KingOfTheCountry]

Turning "one trick pony" guitars into the "one guitar does it all" approach is something that has been attempted exponentially for many decades now.

The only thing even remotely close to accomplishing this is the Variax James Tyler guitars.

No guitar comprised of purely traditional guitar partes (ie; no modelling technology) can come as close.

You can achieve a wide variety of useful tones in a multiplicity of applications, but you are still limited to subjective ingredients, ie; Solid body vs Hollow body, high output pickus vs low output pickups, true single coils vs stacked single coils, scale length, string gauge, and we haven't even gotten into amp selection and tone stack setup.

I got your point. I don't try to achieve every possible sound. I just want to get some useful tones, not many though.
Anyway thanks for the advice!