Who’s using the HyperSwitch? Yay or nay?

[Chris EmCee]

I know there’s at least one 7-page thread about the HyperSwitch already, but it appears to be from when it first came to market.

Now that it’s been out for a bit, who is using it, how do you like it, and have there been any firmware or app updates that have brought anything new to the table since it’s been released?

And more specifically, is there any workaround yet for getting a pickup wired in parallel AND in phase?

My default wiring with two humbuckers on a 5-way switch is “Ibanez wiring”, ie:

Bridge series
inner coil of both pickups
both pickups in series
neck parallel (in phase)
neck series

That's how Ibanez has done many of their two humbucker guitars for decades, and frankly, that position 2 and 4 are very good sounding, very musical settings, so that’s how I’ve always preferred to wire my HH guitars.

That may very well be what I’d want to stay with, but with the HyperSwitch on the market now, I wondered how people are liking it. What are some of your favorite HH tricks that you’re doing with it?

 

[Mincer]

I did some of the beta testing, and I think it is a cool idea. The wiring I like is not too difficult to do with a super switch, but if I were an enterprising fellow, I'd make a circuit board I could retrofit in all of my guitars (same as yours, but instead of neck in parallel, it is outer coils of both humbuckers in series).
The software was in beta when I tried it, but I could see the possibilities. I don't know how successful the HyperSwitch is currently, though. I would, however, love to see more passive customizable dip-switch enabled 5 ways, though. Once I settle on a scheme I like, I would rarely have to change it, so I don't know if I want a battery in the guitar just for the switch.

 

[Chris EmCee]

I did some of the beta testing, and I think it is a cool idea. The wiring I like is not too difficult to do with a super switch, but if I were an enterprising fellow, I'd make a circuit board I could retrofit in all of my guitars (same as yours, but instead of neck in parallel, it is outer coils of both humbuckers in series).
The software was in beta when I tried it, but I could see the possibilities. I don't know how successful the HyperSwitch is currently, though. I would, however, love to see more passive customizable dip-switch enabled 5 ways, though. Once I settle on a scheme I like, I would rarely have to change it, so I don't know if I want a battery in the guitar just for the switch.

Yeah, that’s one of the things that’s holding me back, the battery. I just redid my electronics (still deciding on the final redo), and I HAD a battery in the cavity before, that I just took OUT, because I was tired of replacing the 9V battery (it was just lighting the LED ring around my kill switch, which looked pretty cool, but the switch still worked without the LED ring, and I replaced the kill switch with one that didn’t have an LED ring because I was tired of battery changes.).

I wish there was a way to configure the HyperSwitch and then only need to have a battery connected if/when you want to make changes (and therefore needing to connect to the app), but it has to be connected for the switch to work, period, and I’m not sure I like that idea.

That, and it sounds like I wouldn’t have my usual Position 4 available, so I don’t know…I guess I’m probably going to end up wiring up another Super Switch, which isn’t that difficult, it’s just that soldering isn’t my favorite. Some apparently find it relaxing, but I find it tedious.

 

[Artie]

I'd love to mess with one, but parallel is one of my favorite modes. No software update can fix that because they physically tie red & white together. That's a shame, because the simple old 4066 analog switch IC will cover all five modes of a humbucker. Maxim makes a chip will do two humbuckers, and combine them in any mode on one chip. I have it done on paper, with a simple PicAxe controller.

 

[Mincer]

I think several years ago there was a company that offered a 5 way with a series of DIP switches which did some of the things passively. I don't think they are around anymore.

As far as the Hyperswitch, I can see if you have a favorite guitar and you are recording, and you are trying to get different sounds. I just think guitarists, as a whole, use mostly what they are used to, so new tech really has to overcome that. Maybe if power was only needed to store something in the switch, or if it used some kind of fast charging cell with a small USB port, I don't know...thinking out loud. I don't like batteries, either.

 

[magillver]

I'm a (the?) big fan of the Triple Shots, easy to install and every coil configuration...

 

[jeremy]

yeah, i like the triple shots. an easy solution to get lots of options, looks clean, and is easy to get used to

 

[Seashore]

I think several years ago there was a company that offered a 5 way with a series of DIP switches which did some of the things passively. I don't think they are around anymore.

As far as the Hyperswitch, I can see if you have a favorite guitar and you are recording, and you are trying to get different sounds. I just think guitarists, as a whole, use mostly what they are used to, so new tech really has to overcome that. Maybe if power was only needed to store something in the switch, or if it used some kind of fast charging cell with a small USB port, I don't know...thinking out loud. I don't like batteries, either.

The Fishman rechargeable battery is an imperfect solution IMO, but the charging port is convenient, if that's a thing that appeals to you.

I don't know how it would work with the switch. I found myself wishing I had gone with rechargeable standard 9V batteries so I could just swap them out.

 

[Mincer]

I did like the Triple Shots, but sometimes sounds took a few moves to get to...switch the pickup switch, go over to one pickup ring and make a switch (or 2) and then to the other. It is easy at the beginning of a song, but not easy in the middle of a solo.
I also didn't use all the sounds, so I found it easier to just wire up a switch to the sounds I would actually use.

 

[magillver]

That's absolutely fair, Mincer. I'm much more of a tinkerer than a performer these days, so changing tone mid-song doesn't effect me too much, but the techs at my local shop, who are all active performers, said almost the exact same thing about the TS's ...

 

[jeremy]

i am basically only a live performer. i typically use the p90 option as my base tone, and might switch for parts, but i never had issues. at most i might switch from p90 to parallel mid song for a chimey part or maybe to series for a fat solo

 

[Mincer]

Yeah, I never could get the hang of switching the Triple Shots on the fly. I still think they are good ideas, even if they don't work well for me.

 

[jeremy]

im so used to switching pups and adjusting volume and tone settings, even in the middle of a phase, pushing two little switches one way or the other became second nature as well.

 

[Mincer]

Yeah, doesn't work for me with sweaty hands in 100 degree heat here.

 

[magillver]

And to be fair, the teensy black switches in the black trim ring can get a bit tough to see. I always put a tiny dot of white paint on the upper side of the switches, so I can see them easier...

 

[jeremy]

thats not a bad idea, though i pretty much only go by feel now.