Converting 5 way toggle to 3 button option

[jmb]

Hello,
I'm new here and am very frustrated at always knocking my 5-way toggle when I play.
I'm wondering if i could use 3 SPST switches to replace my 5-way on my strat copy (s-s-s)

Also any possibility in using an 3 DPDT switches and perhaps making series and parallel options?

thoughts?
thanks
justin

[newey]

jmb-

Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!

I'm wondering if i could use 3 SPST switches to replace my 5-way on my strat copy (s-s-s)

Assuming you are keeping the standard Strat parallel wiring, yes, you can. This also opens up the other 2 parallel choices unavailable on the std. Strat, namely N+B and N+M+B. These will not, however, be hum-cancelling.

Also any possibility in using an 3 DPDT switches and perhaps making series and parallel options?

Yes. But you will also need a 4PDT to switch from series to parallel modes:

Brian May series/parallel for SSS

If one doesn't need the ability to put all 3 pickups into series and/or parallel, there are simpler options to put one pickup in series, or parallel, with the other 2.

[jmb]

Thanks a lot,
Ok... If i wanted the other two options of N+B and N+M+B (one of the other driving forces of a mod) Is there a way to cancel the hum? I had a friend with an 83 elite with the push selectors... Cant seem to find something simple enought for this noob to follow... Would his axe have hummed on the extra selections?

[JohnH]

Dec 10, 2013 12:13:04 GMT -5 jmb said:

Thanks a lot,
Ok... If i wanted the other two options of N+B and N+M+B (one of the other driving forces of a mod) Is there a way to cancel the hum? I had a friend with an 83 elite with the push selectors... Cant seem to find something simple enought for this noob to follow... Would his axe have hummed on the extra selections?

Unless you use noise-cancelling pickups, you are stuck with having a bit of hum in those positions. But its not a big problem. N+B will hum about the same as a single pickup. N+M+B will hum less since two of the pickup hum signals will cancel out (in the same way that N+M or M+B hum-cancel), leaving only one pickup to provide hum, which gets diluted by the other two.

This may help:
How to explain hum cancelling