6-way switch - which order?

[krick]

When wiring a 6-way switch to a single humbucker, is there any order to the combinations that is more intuitive or makes more sense? I'd like to get some input before I start soldering.

For example, one site offered a schematic that had the combinations in this order...

1) Series in Phase
2) Series out of Phase
3) Parallel in Phase
4) Parallel out of Phase
5) Coil 1 only
6) Coil 2 only

Another schematic had this order...

1) Series in Phase
2) Coil 1 only
3) Parallel in Phase
4) Parallel out of Phase
5) Coil 2 only
6) Series out of Phase

My gut is saying that this might be more intuitive...

1) Coil 1 only
2) Series in Phase
3) Series out of Phase
4) Parallel in Phase
5) Parallel out of Phase
6) Coil 2 only


This is another similar variation that might work...

1) Coil 1 only
2) Series in Phase
3) Parallel in Phase
4) Series out of Phase
5) Parallel out of Phase
6) Coil 2 only


Any thoughts? I'm trying to figure out what makes the most logical sense and would be the easiest to remember without a cheat sheet.

[thetragichero]

rotary switch?
the last is closest to what i'd like, but i'd go a step further and put the out of phase selections at the end
unless you have songs that need you to switch quickly from in to out of phase... then place them in the order that fits the best for 'one click' switching for fewer mistakes in the heat of the moment
or go from thickest to thinnest... series/parallel/neck coil/bridge coil/poop
although i cannot help with where soop would go.... it's a sound i've yet to explore

[krick]

Yep, it's a 6-way rotary switch. Actually, when I'm done, there will be THREE 6-way rotary switches. One on each humbucker, and a third to mix two pickups together. If my math is correct, there's 156 different combinations, though I imagine some will sound like crap.

I'm actually doing the wiring for a friend who wants a guitar with a ton of sounds for playing around in the studio, so I don't think quick switching is that important in the grand scheme of things, but you never know.

[JohnH]

I have one with two 5 way rotaries, leaving out poop. I put the standard series wiring as number 1, since that is the most used, then

series in phase, parallel in phase, coil 1, coil 2, soop. Poop would go at the end

John

[krick]

Aug 4, 2011 15:26:02 GMT -5 JohnH said:

I put the standard series wiring as number 1, since that is the most used.

series in phase, parallel in phase, coil 1, coil 2, soop. Poop would go at the end

1) Series in Phase
2) Parallel in Phase
3) Coil 1 only
4) Coil 2 only
5) Series out of Phase
6) Parallel out of Phase

That makes sense. The only reason I was thinking about having the single coils at each end was so that it would be easy to remember.

Now if I follow your strategy of putting the "standard" wiring in the first position then for the third 6-way that will combine the two pickup 6-ways, would you order the options like this?...

1) Both Pickups - Parallel in Phase
2) Both Pickups - Series in Phase
3) Neck pickup only
4) Bridge pickup only
5) Both Pickups - Parallel out of Phase
6) Both Pickups - Series out of Phase

Or would you do something like this the order below, as was suggested on another site because the first three selections are the same as standard 3-position switches...

1) Neck only
2) Neck/Bridge in parallel (in phase)
3) Bridge only
4) Neck/Bridge in series (in phase)
5) Neck/Bridge in parallel (out of phase)
6) Neck/Bridge in series (out of phase)


I understand the reasoning for putting the most used choices at the beginning of the rotary switch, but I'm thinking that it might be harder to remember. Of course, I'm probably going to have to label everything on the guitar anyway so it might not really matter in the end.

[newey]

My vote would be for keeping the OOP settings at the end of the switch, together, since these will probably see less use. Same is true between the 2 pickups, I would think.

[gumbo]

..as you originally said..

..some will sound like OOP

...some will sound like POOP.. ;D

[ashcatlt]

I think your friend might be better served if his guitar was just a little less complicated to work with. It looks good on paper to have every conceivable sound available, but many of these (the intra-pickup OoP positions) will likely never be used in practice.

Another thing to keep in mind is that all three of your switches will be 4P6T rotaries, which are going to take up quite a bit of cavity space. Unless I missed it you never told us what type of guitar this is nor what other controls it's going to have in it, but I can tell you that the 4P5T rotary in my Rick 330 just barely fits depthwise - once wired up and installed it almost touches the back of the guitar. Any body much thinner than that will give you some trouble.

In my HHH Xavier I've got a 3P4T rotary for each pickup to give: off-series-SC-parallel and toggles to do the inter-pickup S/P and phase thing. Mine are single-sized rail pickups so there isn't enough difference between the two coils to be worth having both available. In an HH design there'd be even less point. Just pick the coil from each which cancels hum when the two SCs are combined. Since the pickups are turned off on their own there's no need for the individual pickup selections on the "selector" switch - it becomes more like a "mixer" or "mode" switch. You could use a 4P4T rotary to get S/P/SOoP/POoP, but that's still going to be a double-decker so you might as well got with a ..5T and have a Master Kill position as well. In a Tele you could use a Superswitch and the thing would look stock!

The rotary in my LP is wired - off/Series/Neck/Parallel/Bridge. The "Mode" switch (the 4P monstrosity) in my Rick goes - Parallel/Series/POoP/SOoP (IIRC - the "normal" mode comes first after off).

Don't know if this helps any, but I can find you some links if you want to peruse some of these.