ken1
Rookie Solder Flinger
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Post by ken1 on Sept 22, 2006 16:49:43 GMT -5
Hello all! I've got a minor problem, it's an old 3 way switch that I got somewhere sometime in the past, I didn't find a use for it before but, so I replaced it, and let some short wire's stay solded thinking it would remind me how to wire it... Needless to say I've forgot it now, so now I have this guitar I need to finish up and I really need to use that switch. The setup I'm going to use is.. 1 vol, 1 tone, 3-way switch. 1 strat bridge pickup, and 1 (tele, or strat) neck pickup ... Could somebody please be so kind and tell me how to wire this 3 way switch properly ? ... I've done a very basic sketch of the selector  thank you very much in advance //Ken1 |
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Post by sumgai on Sept 22, 2006 17:35:13 GMT -5
//Ken1 You joined last year, and you're just now posting for the first time?!?! That's patience!!! ;D And even for all that, still....  to the forums! If you drew that switch anything like the real world version, then you need to find the nearest File 13 (aka The Circular File), and give it a rousing send-off. That's junk, and it's looking for a place to screw up, just when you most need it to work correctly. You can buy a Fender-type (made by Oak, Claristat and others) that will last the lifetime of the axe, and for a 3-way version, it'll probably be $10, maybe less (on the web - retail outlets may be a bit more). When you've secured the new part, refer to any of the myriad of schematics here that use the switch, and you'll easily see how to make it work for you.  HTH sumgai |
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Post by flateric on Sept 22, 2006 18:09:01 GMT -5
Heh, I recommended you this link from the TDPRI forum. I thought they were a bit rude there, telling you to ditch the switch. Lokos like Sumgai guru says the same, so as he is God, I'd tend to go with his advice. Best of luck!
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Post by sumgai on Sept 22, 2006 21:57:15 GMT -5
Well, I don't really intend to be 'rude', but I was calling it as I see it. Those of us who've been doing this for awhile have learned to recognize the troublesome parts that are undependable. stratattack's drawing is an excellent rendition of just such a part.
ChrisK, one of the true Gawds we have here, likes to distilll the truth down to the barest minimum. To that end, I think that he would say...
Junk is.
If I offended anyone, I apologize, that was not my desire! So I'll bow out, leaving you with a zen-like question..... would you mount one of these in your guitar?
;D
sumgai
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Post by UnklMickey on Sept 22, 2006 22:12:43 GMT -5
... would you mount one of these in your guitar? ... i wouldn't touch that, with a 10 foot........................ |
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Post by sumgai on Sept 22, 2006 22:54:52 GMT -5
unk, Speaking of a 10 foot............, would you please step over here for a moment?......  sumgai |
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ken1
Rookie Solder Flinger
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Post by ken1 on Sept 23, 2006 1:36:40 GMT -5
... would you mount one of these in your guitar? ... i wouldn't touch that, with a 10 foot........................ My question wasn't if one of you wanted the switch, neither was it an inqury to find out what resources there are on the net to find a replacement switch. You are so skilled and so talented that you can tell to ditch or not to ditch just by a glance, it really surprise me that you don't know how it works. Or maybe you do, and decided not to share it with a looser like me. Did it ever occur to you that I have a reason for using it ? maybe I don't have a choice ? ... maybe it's a temporarily solution ? Well anyway, thanks for your time! I'm sorry to sound sarcastic, but I think the whole thing was unfair, I turned to this forum for help, not to be put down. //Ken1 |
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Post by ccoleman on Sept 23, 2006 2:41:09 GMT -5
I think they're just saying that switch has got a super unreliable track record in their collective considerable experience, so take their word for it and best to replace it with a good one now, before it fails you in the middle of a gig or recording session.....
what is most important to you??
If you dont care about that kind of frustration well you are welcome to use it but odds are when it breaks or goes intermittent on you, you would feel really ticked off, and maybe even publicly humilated ...
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Post by sumgai on Sept 23, 2006 3:21:56 GMT -5
//Ken1,
(I hope you're still here with us!)
As I had apologized earlier, presumably before you came back to check on the progress, I didn't, and still don't mean to be rude, superscillious, or otherwise grating on you. But ccoleman did say it very well, we simply can't recommend to you that you continue to use that switch under any circumstances.
While I can, and I think I can safely speak for all of us here on this, understand and commiserate with you on desiring to keep expenses down, the fact is, you did turn to us for help, and in our typically irreverent fashion, we did offer up our best, most informed, opinions and/or solutions. To that end, it would be spurious at best to tell you how to hook up the switch. Again quoting ccoleman, but extrapolating it to the worst case scenario..... if we did tell you how to do it, and it blew up on you shortly afterwards, who ya gonna blame? That's something that we'd all like to avoid, if we can.
Since sugar-coating it with off-beat humor apparently went over like a lead balloon, for which I am profoundly sorry, I must now tell you in plain language that my solution offered above was meant to be practical in the best sense of the word. To that end, I stand by my answer, and that of others who have also chimed in. Please don't take it personally - everyone here knows without a doubt that it wasn't your fault in the first place that you ended up with a cruddy switch! We aren't holding it against you, nor are we laughing at you. Most of us here have been in the same boat, myself included.
Come on, man, why do you think they call this place GuitarNUTZ?!!! <insert Daffy Duck laugh here> ;D
sumgai
p.s. The only losers we've ever had here are the one's we've banned. Wanna take a guess how many times that's happened? If you said "zero", you're correct. We've seen all kinds come through here, and believe me, you aren't even close to being ignorant, let alone a loser!
Guess how many times I've had to explain to a newbie how to insert an image? You got it right on your very first try. Says volumes to me about your ability to learn things. Don't waste your opportunities here, that's my recommendation.
s
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Post by sumgai on Sept 23, 2006 3:38:59 GMT -5
//Ken1 Ya know, I don't happen to have one of those babies hanging around in the parts box (now how would that make me look, eh? ), but if you've got an ohmmeter laying around looking for something to do, you could just test each set of connections, and figure out pretty quickly what terminals are connected in each position. And if you don't have a DMM (digital multimeter), then you might wanna think about getting one soon, they're too cheap not to have on in your tool box. Don't bother with the fancy, expensive stuff, a $10 or $20 unit from Radio Shack will do the trick. But Home Depot/Lowes/other hardware stores, perhaps your local auto parts store, most anywhere that sells fuses and light bulbs, all of these are places where you might run into a meter hanging on the wall. Short discussion: You can go real cheap with a meter, but not with a switch? Am I talking out of my derriere here? No. You can spend as little for a switch as you are comfortable with, provided that you are willing to live with the embarrassment, should your switch fail in public. (If it fails in a recording studio, you're out some expensive time.) But if your new meter fails, who's gonna see that happen, besides you? </discussion> Hope that helped, at least a little bit. sumgai |
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Post by gumbo on Sept 23, 2006 5:05:34 GMT -5
Hi Ken1...
...in fact, you can make a very cheap "continuity tester" with a battery and a torch bulb (globe?)....all you do is wire the battery to the bulb/globe VIA the contacts on your switch (the ones you decide to check)....if the room lights up, hey, you've got a circuit!
...another piece of 'outback electronics' from distant South Australia....:-)
We're all nice folk, really.............just don't mention the war......
Regards
Gumbo
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ken1
Rookie Solder Flinger
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Post by ken1 on Sept 23, 2006 12:18:18 GMT -5
Fair enough, I appreciate the time you've taken with this, and I do see your point with this. I'm sorry to say that I let my frustration get in my way to understand what you meant in the first place.
Maybe I've should have explained this a bit better:
Here's the case, and the reasons:
I've done a prototype guitar using a body shape I think will suit
some special needs. The body is all done, it's blue/green black burst
with one million coats of finishing solvent, polishing stuff and the whole nine yards.
Now the thing is that it is a prototype, and I've used some "cheaper" wood type because I want to work out all the bugs in it before I spend a good amount of an imported piece of wood.
I've made the neck to it as well and all that is left is put the frets on, and a 3 way switch.
Since this is not the "final-real deal" guitar the quality of the pickups, switches is irrelevant, because if I decide the shape of the body is comfortable, and usable .. I will build an exact copy using just the good stuff ...
Ok...
So why am I being such a stubborn bastard about this switch .. well the simple answer is this..
The body I've done is not deep enough to reside any of my other switches that I have ... (oh yes, the final version will be deeper, so that I can use whatever parts I want) ..
So this leaves me with this funky switch that will fit perfectly in the cavity that I've made ...
There you have it! thats why I've insisted .. gonna do the frets tomorrow and then there are just the switch soldering thingy left..
so I really wanted to have a solution so I can finish up my work with this custom solidbody electric guitar,.
After that I am going to play on it for a few weeks, and try to tweak it and experiment with it until I am saticfied ... then I'll build the real deal ..
I will try to find it out using the continity tester thingy ( I have one of those here somewhere that I used to test Twisted Pair CAT 5 cable's with)
Okie dokie ..
thats the story ..
when I jam, I've got some badass strat/tele/soloist -guitars that have all the bells and whistles and costed me a forrest of green ones ..... *grin*
You're right, wouldn't want to do a gig using that dohickie switch...
but in this particular case I am sure you understand the purpose
have a good one
//Ken1
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Post by sumgai on Sept 23, 2006 14:27:43 GMT -5
//Ken1, Different body shape..... who wooda thunk it? <hangs head in shame  > OK, fair enough, for experimental purposes only, let's see what we can do here. Don't hold my feet to the fire, but I believe that the two upper contacts (left and right sides) are both connected together, as are the two lower contacts. I'm not sure what the black wire was doing, possibly a ground, for whatever reason? The two "paired" contacts on each side came from a pickup, and the upper left white wire was/is the common; in this case, it went to the output, probably via the volume control. All conjecture at this point, only a continuity tester of some sort will tell you for sure, but that's a fairly good guess as to where to start. Good luck! sumgai |
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