4-way vs 5-way Tele Switch

[Big K]

Looking to change out the switch on my Tele with either a 4 or 5 way selector switch in the following configurations:

4-way
Position 1. Bridge Pickup
Position 2. Bridge and Neck Pickups / Parallel
Position 3. Bridge and Neck Pickups / Series
Position 4. Neck Pickup

5-way
Position 1. Bridge Pickup
Position 2. Bridge and Neck Pickups / Series
Position 3. Bridge and Neck Pickups / Parallel
Position 4. Bridge and Neck Pickups / Series & Out of Phase
Position 5. Neck

any recommendations for one or the other, suggestions

[WackyT]

What tone is made with series & out of phase?

[Big K]

sounds in order:

1 NECK
2 BRIDGE and NECK in SERIES
3 BRIDGE and NECK in PARALLEL / Regular Tele Sound
4 BRIDGE and NECK in SERIES / Out of Phase
5 BRIDGE

[WackyT]

That is really thin sounding for the out of phase one. I do like the in series one.

[duhvoodooman***]

Series pickup wiring for single coils is really cool. Maintains the overall character of the stock parallel-wired combo, but really fills out the tone and is (as you could clearly hear in this clip) significantly louder. I still haven't gotten around to wiring in the push-pull pot on my Nashville Tele to get the bridge in series with the other p'ups, but that clip is powerful motivation....

[marnold***]

IIRC, the four-way will be much, much easier to wire up which may or may not be an issue for you, depending on how handy you are with a soldering iron. I'm planning on putting a four-way in mine plus a push-pull pot for a Jerry Donahue-type mod (It's a phase switch with a capacitor to bleed off the low end of the neck pickup so that it doesn't get phased out of the bridge pickup. It gives sort of a Stratish quack sound).

[Big K]

It does take a bit of wiring but not much more than the 4-way (see attached) I am leaning toward the 5-way tele switch (five tone) scheme but the scheme 5 way with cap is simpler using a regular 5-way switch...

[abraxas]

I have made a "Jerry Donahue wiring" mod to my Tele and I believe it gives a very versatile set of sounds.

[tot_Ou_tard]

That is really thin sounding for the out of phase one. I do like the in series one.

I like'm both. The out of phase has some cool funk to it.

Why not go with the 5-way. That's 1 more innit?

[marnold***]

It does take a bit of wiring but not much more than the 4-way (see attached) I am leaning toward the 5-way tele switch (five tone) scheme but the scheme 5 way with cap is simpler using a regular 5-way switch...

The wiring is simpler, but you almost need to tape a cheat sheet to your guitar to remember what position does what. With one of the "super switches" I believe you can get it so that you can get the positions in the order you listed in your first post. Of course, the wiring is much harder.

[ShortBuSX]

Is a "super switch" really necissarry?

[Big K]

Is a "super switch" really necessary?

I think that I would need the super-switch to get the series-out of phase sound... with the regular 5 way I could only get a parallel-out of phase i believe....

need some electronic wizard's help here?

[marnold***]

Is a "super switch" really necissarry?

To get the five settings that Big K wants? Probably not. To get them in some logical order? Yes. Here is a diagram for doing exactly what Big K wants in his first post with a five-way super switch. Positions 1, 3, and 5 would be exactly the same as a standard Tele so you'd know automatically what those settings do. Settings 2 and 4 and the series and series/out-of-phase settings, respectfully. That'd be easy to remember.

My head would cave in trying to remember which setting is which using a normal 5-way switch as Big K posted in message #7.

BTW, I got that diagram from guitar-mod.com. That page has a veritable bevy of wiring goodness guaranteed to turn on your soldering iron without it even being plugged in.

[marnold***]

Also on message #7 it appears that the cap on the switch would basically function as a Jerry Donahue mod. Having thought about all of this before, I decided to go with a four-way switch and a push-pull for the Donahue mod (out-of-phase with a cap). That way, you can get the quacky sound with the pickups in either series or parallel and the neck pickup with bass roll-off if you like.

I've been toying with adding a second push-pull pot for a plain phase switch, but I'm not sure I like the tone of that enough to bother. Of course if it might be interesting to hear what would happen with both pots engaged, the first swinging it out of phase with the cap and the other swinging it back into phase again. The mind boggles!

[Big K]

My head would cave in trying to remember which setting is which using a normal 5-way switch as Big K posted in message #7.

Agreed,

I originally got the idea from Deaf Eddie but your diagram is identical and a little cleaner and easier to read..thanks... I'm headed to GC to grab a super-switch, another set of Shaller/Fender's and test drive to a couple of fuzz/overdrive pedals....

I do have a 500k push pull that may have to go in that Tele also...

[duhvoodooman***]

I would tend to agree that the superswitch, while adding some expense and additional soldering complexity, would be much easier to use when the job is done. Much more logical switching sequence.

And keep in mind that you can always do series and out-of-phase wiring using push-pull pots, as an alternative....

[Big K]

I would tend to agree that the superswitch, while adding some expense and additional soldering complexity, would be much easier to use when the job is done. Much more logical switching sequence.

And keep in mind that you can always do series and out-of-phase wiring using push-pull pots, as an alternative....

Yes sir, agreed............

[Big K]

the Series out of phase solo starts at 1:53... they did a ZZ Top vibe I like it

[WackyT]

That sounded good in that song, Big K.