Three Way Switch Wiring

[Jeff_H]

Ok. Took my Hamer out of the case to mess with it and the tip of the 3 way has broken off during the move/storage sometime. No big deal, I have 2 spares from several years ago that have never been used. Here is the issue....none of them look exactly like the SD diagram, and neither is like the one in the Hamer. It's an import, so the switch housing is sealed in plastic with 3 solder points coming out of the top, more like a mini toggle or something...., but I can figure that out.

Here's what I need help on. The SD diagram (below) shows 3 terminals for the leads on the front side of the switch (neck pup, bridge pup and ground I think) and one terminal on the back of the switch (?).

Here is what I have to replace the busted one:

and

This second switch has 5 terminals on the front....which I don't understand. To top it all off, I looked at the 3 way switch on my other guitar that has one....and it has 4 terminals on it. 3 in a row on the top and one underneath....not two underneath the top 3 as the 2nd pic shows. None of them have a terminal on the back, or other side of the switch like the diagram shows.

My guess is you guys are going to tell me I can use either of the switches I have, and I'm just missing something simple....but if it doesn't look like the diagram I have a bit of trouble following it. I'm not electrically or wiring savvy like a lot of you are.

So...which switch should I use and what in the H E double hockey sticks is the wiring diagram talking about when it shows a wire connected to the back side of the switch....towards the switch tip?

Thanks in advance for helping the wiring challenged.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Three Way Switch Wiring

you can totally use those switches. they are sg style rather than les paul style so they look a little different. on yours all five tabs are pointing one direction. on a lp style it looks like the duncan diagram when looking down at the switch with the switch tip pointing up at you.

you have the "input" for each pup, if you look at your switch you can see what makes contact. two of the other tabs are the outputs for those pups, in the duncan diagram they are bent together so it looks like one tab but there is really two. the last is usually a ground. on the switch with four either the outputs are already tied together or there is no ground

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: Three Way Switch Wiring

Thanks J. That should solve it for me......I really should learn more about wiring, connections and diagrams. I'm just kind of a monkey see monkey doo kind of person. :lol: