Rotary switch plus 3-way . . a success!!

[bull]

My original thread must have vaporized (the boards were down recently, right?) so I'm posting again to follow up. Basically, I was looking to set up my Les Paul with a rotary switch that would change the configuration of the pickups but retain separate volume and tone knobs and the 3-way pup selector switch.

I finally got everything wired up and it works great!! Many thanks to everyone who offered help, particularly ArtieToo who sent me a wiring diagram seemingly moments after I first posted the question (forgive me if I've got the wrong guy, I can't refer the original thread).

The rotary switch is a six-way and fits (just barely!) in the cavity for the 3-way selector. The 3-way I moved down just above the rhythm volume (on the inside, it comes out in the channel that leads to the pup cavities).

Here are my rotary/ 3-way options:

1 - series neck / series bridge / both
2 - series neck / parallel bridge / both
3 - parallel neck / series bridge / both
4 - parallel neck / parallel bridge / both
5 - neck+bridge north coils serial / neck+bridge south coils serial / both
6 - I might try north coils / south coils in parallel here

By the way, the pups are pearly gates neck and c5 bridge. I'm lovin this setup right now . . .

thanks again,
bull

 

[Mattt]

That sounds cool!

I've always said that if i had a Les Paul i'd wire it like Jimmy Page but with push-pull pots rather than switches.

But you're alternative sounds great too...

So you've got the rotary where the selector was? So where's the selector now, did you drill a new hole for it? Or did you sacrafice a tone pot for it or something?

 

[jeremy]

thats a lot of versitility from one ax, good choice on the pups. i had that combo in my sg until i sold it (actually its still in there i just dont have the guitar) and i was very pleased and all i had was a phase switch and coil split switches

 

[HolyDirt]

crazy! very creative wiring decision, i bet your happy

 

[Lightning]

What combinations do you like best and which will not be on your next switch?

Chuck

 

[bull]

Yeah, I drilled a new hole for the 3-way selector. It's just above the rhythm volume knob (the one closest to the tailpiece). The whole idea was not to sacrifice any of the knobs because on some songs I like to use them to blend the pickups together in the middle position. The pearly gates is pretty bright, so with both pickups on, I can turn the vol up on the custom 5 to add a little bottom end, or switch to PG series / C5 parallel to add some body but keep it on the bright side.

Basically, I don't really do any foot switching of pedals / amp channels. This config lets me setup and switch sounds fairly easily and with a lot of versatility. The rotary switch alone is constricting, I think. It's harder to flick to the bridge for a solo. I haven't tried push/pulls, but I would venture that it might be less "user-friendly."

I haven't played with all the combinations enough to say what I like the best yet, but so far the PG series / C5 parallel is quite interesting, especially being able to adjust the ratio with the volume knobs. The PG parallel isn't quite as big a change as the C5. Probably the biggest change I would make would be to reorder the rotary positions . . .

bull