3 pickups with a mini toggle

[Brandenburg]

Re: 3 pickups with a mini toggle

Well it's one way to select between 3 pickups, but I think gregory is inferring (as I did) that the OP wants an A-B-C switch operation, no combinations. Your setup will select A - B - B+C with a standard Type 1, A - A+C - B+C with a Type 1a (inverted; right side switches first), or A - A+B+C - B+C with a Type 2.

I'm willing to be proven wrong, but I don't think A-B-C selection can be done with a single DPDT. There may be a scheme where you essentially wire the pickups in series and then use the DPDT to creatively change the hot and ground pickoff points in the chain, but I'd have to trace it which will have to wait.

With a DP3T slide switch, with or without a common terminal, it's pretty easy to do this, but those switches have quite a bit larger footprint than a mini toggle.

yea.. i see it.. still think it would be easier with a 3PDT or even better... a freeway switch

headache is not making me think clearly.. im wrong in this instance but considering how many diagrams i have done.. my track record is still pretty good..

 

[Brandenburg]

Re: 3 pickups with a mini toggle

http://www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_...nd_Parts/Switches/Free-Way_Pickup_Switch.html

well you run into the same problem as you would a 3PDT.. but this gives you so many options

 

[gregory]

Re: 3 pickups with a mini toggle

Why spend $50 if a $5 switch can get the job done?

 

[gregory]

Re: 3 pickups with a mini toggle

I'm willing to be proven wrong, but I don't think A-B-C selection can be done with a single DPDT.

Alas, through all the noise, I pointed this out in my third reply.

If the pins in your drawing are...

1 2
3 4
5 6

...and the operation is (4-2,3-1), (4-6,3-1), (4-6,3-5), then...

A goes to 2
Out goes to 4
6 goes to 3
B goes to 1 and
C goes to 5

Apologies in advance if it seems upside down or otherwise awkward.

It was "Type 2" (based on this image) and in reverse-order (down, middle, up), but easily fixed by swapping columns and labels. It's all relative.

 

[tjbackstage]

Re: 3 pickups with a mini toggle

Wow! Thanks for all the responses! So, just to be clear, does this mean that this on/on/on 3-way mini toggle from Stew-Mac will do the job if wired as described in post #20 here on this thread? http://www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_..._and_Parts/Switches/Mini_Toggle_Switches.html
My application for this is my Telecaster, which currently has a bridge pickup with a tapped output and a Stratocaster 5-way switch, so I have the neck pickup going to the middle position on the 5-way and the 2 outputs for the bridge pickup going to the ends on the 5-way. I bought a Stratocaster middle pickup, also with a tapped output, and a new control plate with a hole for a mini toggle, and I want to have the neck pickup and the 2 outputs for the middle pickup go to the 3-way mini toggle and have the mini toggle go to the middle position of the 5-way Stratocaster switch to be able to use with either output on the bridge pickup.

 

[Liko]

Re: 3 pickups with a mini toggle

Wow! Thanks for all the responses! So, just to be clear, does this mean that this on/on/on 3-way mini toggle from Stew-Mac will do the job if wired as described in post #20 here on this thread? http://www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_..._and_Parts/Switches/Mini_Toggle_Switches.html
My application for this is my Telecaster, which currently has a bridge pickup with a tapped output and a Stratocaster 5-way switch, so I have the neck pickup going to the middle position on the 5-way and the 2 outputs for the bridge pickup going to the ends on the 5-way. I bought a Stratocaster middle pickup, also with a tapped output, and a new control plate with a hole for a mini toggle, and I want to have the neck pickup and the 2 outputs for the middle pickup go to the 3-way mini toggle and have the mini toggle go to the middle position of the 5-way Stratocaster switch to be able to use with either output on the bridge pickup.

I'm not sure. There are two basic types of on-on-on switch:

For the wiring setups Gregory and Brandenburg have suggested, you will want a switch that works like the left side; in the middle position, one side of the switch is thrown the opposite way from the other. This is what I've been calling a "Type 1/1a" switch. The mechanism can be mirrored so that the other side moves first, and there's really no standard for identifying them; either orientation will work for you, but you must know which contacts are connected in the middle position and mirror the connections in the diagram if needed.

The operation on the right hand side is what I've called a "Type 2" switch, where the middle position connects both outer lugs to the center on each side, similar to an LP pickup selector. This switch won't do the job; you'll end up with all three pickups selected in the middle position. This kind of switch is wonderful for other wiring setups, so both are offered by various suppliers, but many, online retailers especially, don't bother to tell you how the middle position operates.

 

[gregory]

Re: 3 pickups with a mini toggle

I haven't seen a lot of what you're calling a type 2 in a double pole, but it's not fun rolling the dice and coming up empty.

It was nice when I could go into a surplus electronics store, borrow the shop's multimeter and determine whether a particular part would suit my needs. Sadly those days are long gone.

 

[tjbackstage]

Re: 3 pickups with a mini toggle

So like this one? Would this work? http://www.guitarelectronics.com/pr...N-Mini-Toggle-Switch-w-Bat-Handle-Chrome.html

 

[gregory]

Re: 3 pickups with a mini toggle

So like this one? Would this work? http://www.guitarelectronics.com/pr...N-Mini-Toggle-Switch-w-Bat-Handle-Chrome.html

Yes.

If you were to use it as an A-B-C selector...

C to pin A1
B to pin B1
A to pin B2
Connect pin A2 to pin B0
pin A0 gets the selection