4 way rotary switch for a Tele-esque project?

jon the art guy

Nerdy Nerd
Hey all, I have a Godin Radiator that I need to get inside and do some electronics work on, and I figured while I'm in there, I'll redo the wiring to a 4 way tele setup with bridge/parallel/neck/series. The problem is that I don't want to cut a hole in the pickguard to install a selector. That got me to thinking; how about a rotary switch?

The original design is neck volume/bridge volume/tone on the controls, which is a bit of a pain in the butt. If I just switch out one of the volume pots for a switch, I can keep the looks and have more functionality.

I've found 5 way rotary switches. What should I do with the last click? Would it matter to have a tone bypass selection, you think? I wish I had a nanomag pickup at this point. It'd be a great click for an acoustic tone.

Thanks for any input you might have!
 
Re: 4 way rotary switch for a Tele-esque project?

I've found 5 way rotary switches. What should I do with the last click? Would it matter to have a tone bypass selection, you think?

A tone bypass really isn't going to do much.

What kind of a selector switch do you have in it now? 3 way blade (Tele style)? Just replace it with a 4 way blade if that's what you want. No need for any other holes.
 
Re: 4 way rotary switch for a Tele-esque project?

I have...NO switches or holes.
Godin decided for some reason to, instead of having a standard switching system, would rather just have 2 volumes and a tone and have the player manipulate volumes while playing to get the sound they're looking for. It's a noble idea, but it really doesn't pan out very well.

I've got a rotary on my EB3 that I don't mind. That's why I was thinking of using one in this situation without having to slice up the pickguard.
 
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Re: 4 way rotary switch for a Tele-esque project?

Hey all, I have a Godin Radiator that I need to get inside and do some electronics work on, and I figured while I'm in there, I'll redo the wiring to a 4 way tele setup with bridge/parallel/neck/series. The problem is that I don't want to cut a hole in the pickguard to install a selector. That got me to thinking; how about a rotary switch?

The original design is neck volume/bridge volume/tone on the controls, which is a bit of a pain in the butt. If I just switch out one of the volume pots for a switch, I can keep the looks and have more functionality.

I've found 5 way rotary switches. What should I do with the last click? Would it matter to have a tone bypass selection, you think? I wish I had a nanomag pickup at this point. It'd be a great click for an acoustic tone.

Thanks for any input you might have!

A rotary can work but, not so comfortable for on the fly switching.
But, there are other options, as having blender + volume + tone, together with series/parallel option and a "direct-bridge-out" switch, by example....
 
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