5-way Tele wiring with a twist

[Tony_H]

Hello everybody, I've been a member for a long time but have not been active lately.
I want to wire a Tele-style guitar for the following pickup combinations: 1. bridge; 2. bridge+middle; 3. middle; 4. bridge+neck; 5. neck. I assume the standard 5-way switch will not work for this. I have a Stew-Mac Super Switch that could do the trick but don't know how to wire it. Does anyone know? I did a little research on the web and here on the forum but have not found my exact answer.
Can anyone help? Thanks. Tony

 

[Blille]

Re: 5-way Tele wiring with a twist

You can accomplish that with a normal switch by wiring the bridge pickup where you would normally wire the middle pickup but you will have them in a different order. Otherwise you will likely need a superswitch.

 

[jeremy]

Re: 5-way Tele wiring with a twist

which super switch do you have?

 

[Tony_H]

Re: 5-way Tele wiring with a twist

Thanks for your input guys.
I have this switch:
https://www.stewmac.com/How-To/Onli...nd_Electronics_and_Wiring/Super_SwitchI1.html
I tried to figure out the "diagrams" but have not been able to grok it.

 

[hamerfan]

Re: 5-way Tele wiring with a twist

I think there are problems understanding what you have and what you want. You have a 2 pickup guitar like a tele or 3 pickups like in a strat. All of them are all single coil? Does the + mean series or parallel?

 

[Tony_H]

Re: 5-way Tele wiring with a twist

Okay, it's a Tele-style guitar that I want to put three pickups in. All the pickups are single coils. The bridge and the neck pickups are standard Tele pickups, with a Strat pickup inserted in the middle between them. The "+" means just that the pickups are combined, like "and". In the combined positions (two and four on the switch) I want the pickups to be wired in parallel, like you would normally get with a standard 5-way switch. BUT, what I want is the following pickup combinations:
1. bridge pickup alone
2. bridge + middle pickups (like with a Strat, position two)
3. middle pickup alone
4. bridge + neck pickups (like with a Tele, middle position)
5. neck pickup alone

I have a Stewart-MacDonald Super Switch with two rows of twelve lugs each, and I know it allows for some creative combinations. I just can't figure out how it could give me the combinations I want.
Does that make more sense?
Thanks for your patience

 

[Tony_H]

Re: 5-way Tele wiring with a twist

You can accomplish that with a normal switch by wiring the bridge pickup where you would normally wire the middle pickup but you will have them in a different order. Otherwise you will likely need a superswitch.

Thanks for this suggestion. It took me some time to understand it, but this seems like a simple and clever idea. I may go this route eventually, I just have to get used to the different switch positions relative to the individual pickups. Thanks again.

 

[Blille]

5-way Tele wiring with a twist

Thanks for this suggestion. It took me some time to understand it, but this seems like a simple and clever idea. I may go this route eventually, I just have to get used to the different switch positions relative to the individual pickups. Thanks again.

My pleasure.

For the record, my favorite setup for a SSS is the one that drops the middle only position in favor of neck+bridge. ie

You can achieve that easily with a Megaswitch E. I don’t use the middle only but like the rest, you may be a middle only fan

 

[Tony_H]

Re: 5-way Tele wiring with a twist

My pleasure.

For the record, my favorite setup for a SSS is the one that drops the middle only position in favor of neck+bridge. ie

You can achieve that easily with a Megaswitch E. I don’t use the middle only but like the rest, you may be a middle only fan

Thanks for the suggestion, this looks intriguing too.

 

[Mincer]

Re: 5-way Tele wiring with a twist

I've used the Megaswitch E...I can't believe how much I like the middle position being the neck & bridge. I actually use it now.