Pickup Selector Switches

[Jonny]

It's not really a wiring question but it's sort of related, I have pickups and I know the whole leave the green/white together, the black on the back of the pot (if there's a bare does that go to the back of the pot too?)

And the red one goes to the switch.

Now, to the people who are unknown to switches, it sounds alright, red, find the switch, solder it on

But what I don't understand is that, on a 5-way switch, there's eight tabs. Why eight tabs for a 5-way and I'm sure there's more tabs or less tabs on different switches and where on the switch would you solder, and some wires go to one tab then on the same pickup, it goes to another tab, what, in essence does that do? Is that the whole humbucker/middle humbucker split/middle, etc.?

It really really confuses me.

[Lazy_McDoesnothing]

It confuses me too and I wish switches came with a diagram.  I got a new vlx53 switch and new pots to go with my Painkillers and when I wired it all up every position was either parallels or splits with one dead spot which I'm guessing was the ground tab.  Long story short I put the old switch back in and wired it the exact same way and it was perfect. :shock:

[FELINEGUITARS]

On a very simple guitar  with only 3 single coils and 1 vol and 1 tone you would only use one side of the switch and ignore the other.

Chances are that the switch was not originally designed for guitar at all, but was adopted by Fender and has stuck ever since

Look at one side of an open 5 way switch and it becomes clear which tabs connect with which others in each switch position

5 way switches didn't exist prior to the mid 70s anyway - they were all 3 way and players used to wdge them to stay in the in-between positions with bits of matchstick.

[AndyR]

5 way switches didn't exist prior to the mid 70s anyway - they were all 3 way and players used to wdge them to stay in the in-between positions with bits of matchstick.

This bit made me laugh Jonathan - I like me fender reissues. Although I've got other stuff, when we're talking reissue "vintage" type things, I like 21 frets, I like 7.25 radius, vintage frets, blah...  but I'm b*ggered if I'm gonna put up with a three-way switch! :lol:

I'm glad I'm not the only one Jonny - I can cope with what Jonathan describes on a standard 5-way in a strat, makes perfect sense(ish), as long as it's not enclosed, you look at where the sliders go, and you get it eventually...

But I had horrendous problems sticking a 4-way in a tele to get the series position :lol: I thought I was going to copy what's in my Baja tele - but that's got a different switch and LOADS of wires cos of the S1 switch vol control...

I got there in the end - not sure how though. I'm about to do it to another guitar soon, I'm hoping I can open up the one that works and copy it :lol:

You can find all these groovy diagrams on the web - but when it comes to switches, they never seem to match the wretched thing in your hand!!

[Philly Q]

You can find all these groovy diagrams on the web - but when it comes to switches, they never seem to match the wretched thing in your hand!!

Yeah they do  :P  - just use the diagrams on the Seymour Duncan and DiMarzio sites, or the Fender Support site. 

They all look like the actual bits in the guitar - as long as you're using American switches.  I don't really understand how the switches work (not the big super-switches, anyway), but I don't need to.  :)

(I don't understand the wiring of those enclosed Japanese switches either, but I always replace them anyway!)

[Jonny]

The switch in question is my seven string Ibanez 5-way switch. It's as difficult as a Rubik's cube (subjective comparison)

[Philly Q]

Are you planning to rewire it, or just wanting to understand how it works? 

If it's the latter, I wouldn't worry too much, so long as it does work.  :)

and some wires go to one tab then on the same pickup, it goes to another tab, what, in essence does that do? Is that the whole humbucker/middle humbucker split/middle, etc.?

I can't tell you which wires go to which tab, but I can sort of explain what's happening.  If it's HSH and it's set up to split the humbuckers in positions 2 and 4.... what's happening in those in-between positions is that the green/white wires are connecting to ground so only the coil which starts with green and ends with red is working.   

In positions 1 and 5, the tabs green/white are connected to aren't "active" so the pickup acts as a full humbucker.

[Jonny]

Are you planning to rewire it, or just wanting to understand how it works? 

If it's the latter, I wouldn't worry too much, so long as it does work.  :)

and some wires go to one tab then on the same pickup, it goes to another tab, what, in essence does that do? Is that the whole humbucker/middle humbucker split/middle, etc.?

I can't tell you which wires go to which tab, but I can sort of explain what's happening.  If it's HSH and it's set up to split the humbuckers in positions 2 and 4.... what's happening in those in-between positions is that the green/white wires are connecting to ground so only the coil which starts with green and ends with red is working.  

In positions 1 and 5, the tabs green/white are connected to aren't "active" so the pickup acts as a full humbucker.

I'm replacing pickups and rather I understand plus be able to do it, without taking photos and just looking up how to do it, etc.

I want to LEARN (Yes, I said the L word!)

[Lazy_McDoesnothing]

The switch in question is my seven string Ibanez 5-way switch. It's as difficult as a Rubik's cube (subjective comparison)

My previous post was about my Ibanez 5-way in my seven string.  I know you're trying to understand the switch and not just have a diagram to go from, but just in case this is the stock wiring diagram with BKP color codes if you need it:



It worked flawlessly once I realized the new switch's tags were completely different from the tags on the stock switch. :x

[Jonny]

I'm guessing the switch is like:

1 2 2 2 1 according to the little tab sticking out.

But I don't know how you can look at that and go, so in that position its neck/bridge etc.