One very odd pickup switch...

[beaubrummels]

BTW, I have a call and an email in at CTS, to see if they have anything like this still in production. I was also thinking that a switch like this might have been used for something else outside of guitars. I know Fender didn't make a ton of these instruments, so there is a chance they didn't get it custom made.

For what it's worth, while I was searching, a lot of the results for this type of switch appeared to be for the aerospace industry, though I don't know what that kind of switch would be used for.

CTS is a big operation. They do 10s to 100s of thousands of part runs for individual customers, and they have a lot of customers. There's a bit of bureaucracy to get through to get answers for us 'little guys' with our guitar hobbies, but they will answer as soon as they can. When I went through this, I had to call the HQ, who routed me to a local office, who routed me through 2-3 people in that office, just to answer my first question, then routed me back to HQ to discuss how to find, order and/or spec a part, who then routed me to the Taiwan division to actually get some parts made. (I realize you aren't making parts, but just saying, it's a big org and prepare to be routed all around the country to get your answers.)

[Mincer]

those are some interesting options for sure. im sure id use 1, 2 & 5. how do 3 & 4 sound?


1. Bridge
2. N+B in parallel
3. N+M in series
4. N+B in parallel, with the middle in series
5. M+B in series

Thicker. Like putting the tone knob on 6, and boosting the volume 30%.

[ArtieToo]

those are some interesting options for sure. im sure id use 1, 2 & 5. how do 3 & 4 sound?


1. Bridge
2. N+B in parallel
3. N+M in series
4. N+B in parallel, with the middle in series
5. M+B in series

I did something similar with my boys' mini-Strat, just to give it a different flavor. It used a standard 3-way, and a SPST on-off switch. (Diagram shows a DPDT because that's what I had on hand.)

You get, with switch off:

1. Bridge
2. Bridge / Neck parallel
3. Neck

With the switch on:

1. Bridge & middle in series
2. Bridge & neck parallel, with them in series with the middle (Same as Mincers #4.)
3. Neck & Middle series

(Tone control not shown.)

[LukeW]

You can get a lot of those combinations using a Freeway Switch if you are looking for a way to get this on a new guitar. I have one on my HSS strat. You move the switch to either side to get 10 positions instead of 5.

Mine is
1. Bridge humbucker split
2. Split Bridge and middle in parallel
3. Middle
4. Middle and neck parallel
5. Neck

1. Bridge humbucker
2. Split humbucker, middle, neck parallel
3. Neck Split Bridge series
4. Neck Split Bridge parallel
5. Neck middle series

[Mincer]

For what it's worth, while I was searching, a lot of the results for this type of switch appeared to be for the aerospace industry, though I don't know what that kind of switch would be used for.

CTS is a big operation. They do 10s to 100s of thousands of part runs for individual customers, and they have a lot of customers. There's a bit of bureaucracy to get through to get answers for us 'little guys' with our guitar hobbies, but they will answer as soon as they can. When I went through this, I had to call the HQ, who routed me to a local office, who routed me through 2-3 people in that office, just to answer my first question, then routed me back to HQ to discuss how to find, order and/or spec a part, who then routed me to the Taiwan division to actually get some parts made. (I realize you aren't making parts, but just saying, it's a big org and prepare to be routed all around the country to get your answers.)

Yeah, looking around their website, it is amazing how big of a company it actually is. By comparison, most musical instrument specific companies are tiny. I would imagine back in 1982, the choice of types of switches for guitars (especially a 4PDT type) was almost non-existent. The S1 switch might be a more elegant way to do this today, but back then, they probably needed to look at a switch that might have been on Skylab.

[jeremy]

cts has been around for 120+ years, its a big company with an international foot print. fender was just getting what was available

[Mincer]

cts has been around for 120+ years, its a big company with an international foot print. fender was just getting what was available

Yeah, I doubt it was specially made for this particular strange limited edition model from 80-82. My hope is that it is current production.

Also, this guitar was just dropped off today to get a stainless steel refret, and re-spraying of the maple fretboard. They are also going to slightly flatten the radius to 9.5".

[Mikelamury]

Yeah, I doubt it was specially made for this particular strange limited edition model from 80-82. My hope is that it is current production.

Also, this guitar was just dropped off today to get a stainless steel refret, and re-spraying of the maple fretboard. They are also going to slightly flatten the radius to 9.5".

What was the radius on it when you dropped it off?

[Mincer]

What was the radius on it when you dropped it off?

7.25".

[orpheo]

That listing is very weird. He lists it as "used-mint", but in his description he says that they are new production. And is that price for just one switch or is it his cost for the 25 that he is ordering? Even if it is his total cost, $550 for one switch is outrageous.

Wouldn't the current S-1 switch do the same thing? Plus you'd get a push switch instead of a rotary (in my opinion that is a much easier switch to use).

That seller is from Germany, and to me it makes more sense Because the price in Euro's is 12345 euro's. He just typed in 1,2,3,4, and 5, and decided to write more in the description box.