6 way FREEWAY SWITCH HSH (CC pickups)

[the renard]

Hello all,

So I have my own custom guitar I built that has pickups made by pete biltoft at vintage vibe. They are Charlie Christian pickups in the neck and bridge but have a second col for noise reduction. They are essentially humbuckers and pete wound them in such a way that if I decided to split the coils the dominant coil is hotter so there isn't too much volume drop. The middle pickup is a single coil.

I have posted several threads in my journey to achieve the most versatility from my guitar. At one point I was considering going with individual mini toggles and a coil split toggle to get the most combination of sounds. Here are the threads for reference.

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/sho...-toggles-for-each-pickup&highlight=the+renard

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/sho...ots-for-Coil-Split-HELP!&highlight=the+renard

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/sho...placement-Pics-Included!&highlight=the+renard

I have now come across the 6 way free way switch and am thinking that perhaps I don't need EVERY available combination and may find it better to use one switch instead of fumbling around with 4 minis.

Now I need you guy's opinion

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/sho...placement-Pics-Included!&highlight=the+renard

I'm am focusing on the options on page 4 and 5.

I would like to get strat tones position 2 and 4. I essentially want that strat quack. I would also like to get the les paul tones.

If I went with page 4 I could also use a coil split and this would get me

HBN, HBN+M, HBN+M+HBB, M+HBB, HBB, HBN+HBB I could use a coil split to get the strat positions 2 and 4 as well as the tele N+B tone.

On page 5 I would not need a coil split switch the Free way would do the work for me and I would get

The 3 les paul tones as well as positions 2 +4 on a strat plus all 3 singles at once.

My question is in non of these options is there MIDDLE ALONE. How useful do you guys think this option is? Is it worth sacrificing?

Also page 5 looks the most barebone essentials as it splits the coils for you and you can go from les paul to strat in one move. But I would lose the tele N+B option.

Also keep in mind that these pickups aren't even typical Humbuckes so who really knows what the tonal differences of spliting the coils actually will make is anyone's guess.

Should I go with 500k pots or 250? At one point I wanted to go so far as to route the pickups to separate pots depending on single coil/humbucker mode.

Hermetico has provided me with a schematic that will get every tonal option. It requires 4 switches and 2 sets of pots (250k and 500K) Now I wonder how practical this is in a real world setting. Is it overkill??

This free way switch can give me all noiseless settings and the essentials which is for me positions 2 and 4 of a strat and bucked neck and bridge tones.

What do you guys think does too many ingredients spoil the soup?

Also one last opinion 250k, 300k, or 500k pots? maybe still go with separate sets of pots?

Oh aaaaaaaaaand in your HSH experience does humbucker +middle even sound much different than split bucker and middle?

I know this thing is never going to sound like a strat or a les paul it will be its own beast. I think its easy for us to get all wrapped up in all the bells and whistles and forget that in the end how well you play the bloody guitar is what really counts.

*Edit I read that these 6 sway toggles are flimsy and they are also $30+ where as indie toggles are a few bucks only.

 

[the renard]

Re: 6 way FREEWAY SWITCH HSH (CC pickups)

no one wants to take a crack at this? Has anyone ever used one of these 6 way switches? Ive been watching videos of guys with indie toggle switches but they are always taking long breaks to chat about their guitars sand what the switches do so I cant really tell how they are to use on the fly. I tried watching a brian may concert to see how he handles his 6 switches but he doesnt seem to do very much pickup selecting when he plays. seems to stick to one setting and just cranks the volume for lead stuff.

 

[the renard]

Re: 6 way FREEWAY SWITCH HSH (CC pickups)

Also has anyone ever used rotary switches? The also have 6 settings. How are they to use? Can you wire them to split coils like the 6 way freeway switch?

 

[the renard]

Re: 6 way FREEWAY SWITCH HSH (CC pickups)

Decided $30 bucks for a 6 way is out because I can accomplish all those tones by simply adding a push pull that splits the coils and adds the middle pickup

so now its either that or 2 push pulls one to just split coils 1 just to add middle

the only tone im not able to have with all these options is middle alone. That is the only tone justifying going with mini toggles to control each pickup.

Anybody want to chime in on this thread?

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: 6 way FREEWAY SWITCH HSH (CC pickups)

THREAD RESUSCITATION TIME

I just took delivery of a couple of the NSF Freeway 3x3-03 selector switches. These are the 2014 redesign with fifteen contacts on a plate that directly retrofits a Les Paul with no need for modification to the switch cavity. I have always wanted the "Power Out-Of-Phase" selection on my PRS Custom but could never be bothered to rewire the wafer rotary selector switch to achieve it. Now, thanks to the Freeway people, the job has become infinitely simpler.

Enough about me. Back to the OP question.

In my opinion, the bespoke pickups in the bespoke guitar are never going to faithfully recreate the tones of both a Stratocaster and a Les Paul.