Newb needing some wiring help with 5 way switch

[DaveBiggums]

Hello fellow guitar playing people. How do you do?, 1st post here, be gentle lads.

I have a Jackson guitar that I just put a fender/CRL type 5 way switch into and a new Custom/PG set. I've got it all wired up and something has gone awry.

The output works correctly. I've got sound, tone and volume pots work right, and no noise. My issues lie in the switching. I think I've got the wrong wires all mixed up on the wrong terminals. I followed this schematic and it's wrong for what I'm trying to do

I want this:

Pos 5: Neck Series
Pos 4: Neck Parallel
Pos 3: Neck and Bridge
Pos 2: Neck & Bridge Split (any combo)
Pos 1: Bridge Series

Can someone point me in the direction of a schematic to achieve this? The one I used gave me all kinds of hell. The only thing that was right was the position 1 bridge. The neck was in the middle position and everything else was odd splits or parallel. Also, do I need a jumper that the diagram doesn't make mention of?

Please help this poor old man.

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Newb needing some wiring help with 5 way switch

Hi DaveBiggums, and welcome to the forum! [emoji2]

The diagram you have doesn’t do what you’re asking for. S-D should REALLY take the time to put the results of the switch positions on their diagrams, but they don’t. It makes it EXTREMELY difficult for someone to pick a diagram.

The one they’re giving you does this (I think of “1” as the position pointing at the bridge side of the guitar):

1) Bridge Series
2) Bridge + Neck (both series)
3) Neck Series
4) Bridge + Neck (both split)
5) Bridge Split

Quite frankly, I don’t think you’re going to get what you’re asking for without going to a 5-way super switch instead of a standard switch. Give me a little bit, and I’ll draw something up for you.

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Newb needing some wiring help with 5 way switch

All right, here we go. This should work for you. Let me know if you have any questions. [emoji6]

 

[DaveBiggums]

Re: Newb needing some wiring help with 5 way switch

Hi Briguy, thanks a lot. I agree I couldn't really decipher from their diagram what would correspond to each position. I just kind of assumed position 1 would correspond to bridge (series) and 5 to neck (series).
edit: At least I know I wired it right cause that's what mine's doing lol.

Your diagram is very helpful and I will keep it for future reference.

Is there a way then to use a standard 5 way switch with 2 humbuckers and create any kind of splitting or parallel configurations between positions 2-4 then maybe just have redundancy in a couple positions? At the moment the fender 5 way is all I have and kind of just want to get the guitar working.

If not, is my only option to just wire it like a 3 way and leave out the reds/whites?

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Newb needing some wiring help with 5 way switch

Actually we have some options for splits with the standard 5-way, it’s just parallel that starts turning into a problem. Let me see if I can make your original idea work by giving you a split neck in place of the parallel neck.

 

[gregory]

Re: Newb needing some wiring help with 5 way switch

Since it wasn't spelled out, the above provides the following:

bridge screw coil
parallel combination of the bridge screw with the neck slug coil
neck in series
parallel combination of the bridge in series with the neck in series
bridge in series

While it seems less common in these parts, I go by what I have seen Fender put in their diagrams. For a plain ol' Strat that would be:

1: Bridge
2: Bridge + Middle
3: Middle
4: Neck + Middle
5: Neck

I have no idea which way is up with the above diagram since nothing was provided to distinguish the direction.

FWIW, I prefer the sound of the parallel combination of the inner slug coils. You'll need to flip a magnet and reverse the wiring for in-phase operation that is also hum-cancelling.

 

[DaveBiggums]

Re: Newb needing some wiring help with 5 way switch

Yeah honestly I don't care about parallel at all as long as I can get one or two splits somehow between 2 and 4 while keeping a series bridge as position 1 and a series neck as position 5. I just can't get my brain to comprehend the switch any other way while playing then having it point all the way to the pickup that's on lol.

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Newb needing some wiring help with 5 way switch

Yeah honestly I don't care about parallel at all as long as I can get one or two splits somehow between 2 and 4 while keeping a series bridge as position 1 and a series neck as position 5. I just can't get my brain to comprehend the switch any other way while playing then having it point all the way to the pickup that's on lol.

Lol... I’m exactly the same way. Some switch positions just need to be non-negotiable!

 

[BriGuy1968]

Newb needing some wiring help with 5 way switch

Okay... who’s ready for round TWO?!? [emoji12]

I wasn’t quite able to come up with what I was hoping to do, which was to have 2 be both p’ups split and 4 be just the neck split. I’ll admit that I’m home from work sick today, so maybe I’m missing something due to foggy brain syndrome, but the best I could come up with for a standard Strat-style 5-way is this (which is close):

I’m afraid that if you want to get fancier you’ll have to get a 5-way Super Switch like this one: https://guitarelectronics.com/5-way-4-pole-lever-switch-oak-grigsby/

Again, if you have any questions just let me know.

 

[DaveBiggums]

Re: Newb needing some wiring help with 5 way switch

Does there need to be any ground off of the switch? That config should be good for me. That's what I think I'll give a try later this evening.

 

[BriGuy1968]

Newb needing some wiring help with 5 way switch

You shouldn’t need to ground the switch itself, but at the same time it wouldn’t hurt anything either to be more thorough. If you decide to do it, just ground it to the metal plate... one of these two places:

EDIT: I just realized that pic is a little misleading. Just ground to the plate itself, NOT to the screws that hold it down. If you do that you’ll have a helluva time with installation!

 

[gregory]

Re: Newb needing some wiring help with 5 way switch

I had a look at the wiring diagram which provides the following (assuming the commons are the tabs each marked with a "C" though I'm used to seeing the commons on the other/inside ends)...

1: bridge slug coil in series with the parallel combination of the neck humbucker (in series) and the bridge screw coil

- neck black to bridge red/white
- bridge black to hot​

2: neck humbucker (in series) in parallel with the bridge screw coil

- hot to neck black to bridge red/white to bridge black​

3: parallel combination of the neck humbucker (in series) and the bridge humbucker (in series)

- hot to neck black to bridge black​

4: bridge humbucker (in series) in parallel with neck screw coil

- bridge black to hot to neck red/white to neck black​

5: neck slug coil in series with the parallel combination of the bridge humbucker (in series) and the neck screw coil

- neck black to hot
- bridge black to neck red/white​

I may have made a mistake or two in there, but you get the idea: connecting the split point of one pickup to the output of another pickup puts both pickups in circuit.

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Newb needing some wiring help with 5 way switch

Well ****.

I knew there was something I was missing.

 

[DaveBiggums]

Re: Newb needing some wiring help with 5 way switch

I have another question going back to the original diagram, switch config.
With the original you get split bridge in position 5. If I were to just swap the neck and bridge reds+whites in place of one another, would that then result in a neck split in position 5 instead?

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Newb needing some wiring help with 5 way switch

Well DaveBiggums, it looks like the fever wins out. I’m sorry, but gregory is correct... it just won’t work. I just spent some more time playing with options and I’m not seeing a way to give you what you want. I can tell you, though, that if you just remove the red & white wires from the switch (connected together and taped) it will work like a 3-way with an extra neck and an extra bridge position:

1) Bridge
2) Bridge
3) Bridge + Neck
4) Neck
5) Neck

In the meantime, you could add a dual coil split on a push/pull or even individual coil splits on two push/pulls to this setup. If you were going to do that I’d suggest picking up a Tele-style 3-way switch to make things simpler. All these parts are pretty cheap, but I’m gonna go back to recommending that you get the Super 5-Way.

Sorry man...

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Newb needing some wiring help with 5 way switch

I have another question going back to the original diagram, switch config.
With the original you get split bridge in position 5. If I were to just swap the neck and bridge reds+whites in place of one another, would that then result in a neck split in position 5 instead?

Yes, it would.

 

[gregory]

Re: Newb needing some wiring help with 5 way switch

I can tell you, though, that if you just remove the red & white wires from the switch (connected together and taped) it will work like a 3-way with an extra neck and an extra bridge position:

1) Bridge
2) Bridge
3) Bridge + Neck
4) Neck
5) Neck

This is still pretty helpful!