6 position 4 pole rotary switch: wiring help

[schmolze]

Alright, so I have two four-conductor humbuckers and a 6-position, 4-pole rotary switch on the way and I'd like to wire it all up as follows:

1 = neck only
2 = bridge only
3 = both in parallel
4 = both in series
5 = both coil-tapped
6 = ?

I'm not sure what to do with the 6th position, and I'm interested in hearing people's suggestions, but should this be possible? If so, can anyone enlighten me as to how to proceed?

Thanks!

[ashcatlt]

Welcome!

I'm assuming that in position 5 you're talking about both humbuckers split in parallel with one another? In that case the obvious choice for 6 seems to be both split in series.

How about this?

The options are not in the order you specified, and may not be optimal, but it gets it done.

1 - bridge
2 - bridge+neck
3 - neck
4 - bridge*neck
5 - split parallel
6 - split series

The only way I could find to do it with just 4 poles was to split by way of shorting. Some folks disapprove of this method.

I've also taken the liberty, since we've got those poles, to short across the unused pickups in position 1 and 3, partly in order to stop a certain sumgai from hollering about hangin coils.

[ashcatlt]

I guess maybe I should add something to this. You'll noticed I've chosen the outside coils from each humbucker in the split positions. I figured this would give you the "bridgiest" and "neckiest" combinations. You may prefer the sound of the inner coils, or you might not be able to tell much difference.

Of course, I've assumed here that like wire colors correspond to coils with like magnetic polarity, which makes the split positions hum-cancelling. If this happens not to be the case for your pickups you'll need to adjust things accordingly.

[schmolze]

Thanks ashcatlt, I'll give that a shot as soon as my switch arrives and will report back.

[schmolze]

I'm ready to get started on this wiring, but I need clarification on a couple points. I'm using this switch: static.zoovy.com/img/guitarelectronics/-/swr61_500 , and I'm not sure which terminals/poles on the switch correspond to the above diagram. I'm assuming everything below the black line in the diagram corresponds to the contacts on the bottom of the switch in the URL, while everything above it corresponds to the upper layer of contacts. Correct?

Also, I have a tone and volume pot that I need to integrate into the circuit, and I'm not totally sure how to do that.

Thanks.

[ashcatlt]

Yeah, there's two poles on the bottom and two poles on top. On the bottom layer, the two terminals toward the center of the switch will be your "P" (common) connections. On the top, I'm thinking the ones that stick out in the center are the commons.

Note that, on each of the layers, the 1,2,3... for each pole will be diametrically opposed. So if 1 is at 12:00 on one pole it will be at 6:00 on the other (on the same layer).

Of course, the easy way to find out for sure would be to use your meter. You've got one no?

When you say a volume and a tone, I assume you're cool with master volume and tone? Because this is the one I've got in my Favorites, I'll link to it. Just tack on everything after switch to what I posted.

[schmolze]

So I wired it all up and everything seems to be working, but for one little oddity: there is a significant output drop in positions 1-4 compared to 5 and 6 (the two split positions). Any thoughts?

[schmolze]

Note to self: double-check wiring before asking for help. It works fine now =]

[sumgai]

schmolze,

Note to self: double-check wiring before asking for help. It works fine now =]

That automagically promotes you to the ranks of Electronics Technician Emeritus - you're now officially one of us!

Which earns you a big welcome to the NutzHouse! ;D



sumgai