Complex HSH wiring. Wiring diagram needed.

[Adam]

I have asked this question in these forums previously, but no one seemed to know what I wanted, so I thought I'd try to reword what I'm asking for and tried to be more more specific as to what I want. I currently have a Seymour Duncan loaded HSH Strat, with a JB in the bridge, a 5/2 in the middle and a Jazz in the neck. I also have an LR Baggs piezo bridge with the CTRL-X as well. My magnetic pickup configuration is shown in the image below:

The JB sounds great through some or lots of gain, but sounds really nasally when clean, which I don't like. The 5/2 sounds great both distorted and clean, by itself or in autotap with the neck and bridge humbuckers. The Neck pickup once again, sounds great clean or distorted. My problem with the Seymour Duncans is: There are still quite noisy despite all the shielding and grounding. I also wanted to get more out of my guitar. I only have one guitar and I plan on only having one, so I would like some more versatility. I recently stumbled upon Lace sensor pickups. I've tried some out at the music store and I found that I liked the sound more. It was "cleaner" as you can pretty much hear each string clearly, and most important of all: there was no noise. I was also drawn to the fact that each "colour" had it's own character to it and they could be mixed and matched to create mismatched humbuckers, which seemed really appealing to me. This mismatching of coils is pretty much the genesis of the wiring configuration that I would like to do.

The new wiring I want to do is based off my current configuration with the 5 way switch set out like:
1-Bridge Humbucker in series
2-Bridge OC + Middle in parallel
3-Middle Pickup
4-Neck OC + Middle in parallel
5-Neck Humbucker in series

All the knobs are push/pull and their functions:
Volume-Coil split
CTRLx-Activate Neck Humbucker
Tone-Activate Bridge Humbucker

When I'm using the lace sensor pickups, I'd probably be viewing each humbucker as two separate coils.

What I want to do is pretty much keep that configuration, but add extras. So as you saw in my current configuration, positions 2 and 4 are autotap positions. I would like to add two additional slide switches for each humbucker to the guitar so I can select each coil when I'm in positions 2 or 4, or when I have my volume knob pulled up, which is the humbucker split.

Eg: Take the bridge humbucker in which the OC is a lace sensor red and the IC is the blue. With the bridge coil select switch, when it is to the left (assuming you are looking at a right handed guitar from the front with the neck pointing to the right), it selects the red coil when the volume knob is pulled up in position 1 or it combines the red coil (OC) with the middle pickup (let's say it's the silver coil) in position 2. When the bridge selector switch is to the right, it selects the blue coil (IC) when the humbucker is split or autotapped in position 2. With the neck coils, the OC is emerald and the IC is purple. With the neck coil selector to the left, it selects the purple (IC) and when the selector is to the right, it would select the emerald (OC) when the volume knob is pulled up in position 5 or when autotapped in position 4. Note OC=Outer Coil and IC=Inner Coil.

I was wondering if I could also add in a series/parallel switch in so that when the switch is in series mode (left), all coil combinations are in series, in the middle, it's bypassed as if the switch wasn't there (as in the humbuckers are in series and the autotaps are in parallel) and when the switch is in parallel mode (right), all coil combinations are in parallel. Coil combinations include humbuckers.

Also I have modified the CTRL-X knob so that it is essentially two potentiometers in one, with the original top wafer controlling the CTRL blend function and the new bottom wafer acting as a tone control.

The way the CTRL-X works is that it has a three way toggle switch:
Up-Magnetics Pickups only, with CTRL-X knob having no function and Tone as a global tone control.
Middle-Both Magnetics and Piezo with the CTRL-X knob acting as a mag/piezo blend and Tone knob as a global tone.
Down-Piezo only, with neither knobs having any function.

I would like to wire it so I have two tone controls with the CTRL-X knob as the neck tone control and the Tone knob as the middle and bridge tone control. But when the CTRL-X switch is used I want it to work like:
Up:CTRL-X knob as neck tone and Tone knob as middle and bridge tone.
Middle: CTRL-X knob as magnetic/piezo blend and Tone knob as global tone.
Down: Neither knobs has any function.

I am aware that this wiring will be very complex, but I was wondering if anyone would be able to come up with a wiring diagram for it. I'm sorry for the long post, but I was trying to be as specific as I possibly could. For those who are wondering what the switching layout would look like:


Lace Sensor pickups are very quiet, so mismatched coils can be used to make humbuckers, which is basically what Lace's "Dually" range are. All coils in this guitar are different, so they would sound different when I select coils and combine them and I don't have to worry about noise from mismatching coils as the coils themselves are noiseless.

If you have any questions as to what I'm asking for, feel free to ask away. Cheers, Adam.

[newey]

Adam-

First off, it will be very difficult to figure out how to modify your existing wiring without having a schematic (or diagram)of the existing wiring as a starting point.

Now, to the specifics.

What type of 5-way switch is in there now? This may affect what can be done.

Also I have modified the CTRL-X knob so that it is essentially two potentiometers in one, with the original top wafer controlling the CTRL blend function and the new bottom wafer acting as a tone control.

The way the CTRL-X works is that it has a three way toggle switch:
Up-Magnetics Pickups only, with CTRL-X knob having no function and Tone as a global tone control.
Middle-Both Magnetics and Piezo with the CTRL-X knob acting as a mag/piezo blend and Tone knob as a global tone.
Down-Piezo only, with neither knobs having any function.

I would like to wire it so I have two tone controls with the CTRL-X knob as the neck tone control and the Tone knob as the middle and bridge tone control. But when the CTRL-X switch is used I want it to work like:
Up:CTRL-X knob as neck tone and Tone knob as middle and bridge tone.
Middle: CTRL-X knob as magnetic/piezo blend and Tone knob as global tone.
Down: Neither knobs has any function.

What type of three-way toggle switch is in there now? I assume that the CTRL-X switch will also continue to switch between piezo and mag pups. To add tone control switching will probably require a switch with additional poles. 4 pole toggle switches are the largest ones I've seen (that will fit into a guitar, anyway.) I don't know how many extra poles switching those tone controls will require, but if more than 4 poles are needed, you're likely to be out of luck.

I was wondering if I could also add in a series/parallel switch in so that when the switch is in series mode, all coil combinations are in series and when the switch is in parallel mode, all coil combinations are in parallel. Coil combinations including humbuckers.

I doubt this will be possible. A DPDT switch is needed to put two coils into either series or parallel. You have 5 coils, and you're essentially requiring that all combinations of those 5 coils can be placed into either series or parallel. Without dragging out the math to figure the permutations and combinations, it will certainly require more than the 4 poles mentioned above. More than 4 poles usually means using a rotary switch, and even there, you'll probably run into fitment issues once you get beyond 6 poles.

The slide switches for selecting individual coils from each HB should be doable, although it's going to be tough to figure out without a diagram of what's in the guitar now, as I mentioned above.

[Adam]

First off, it will be very difficult to figure out how to modify your existing wiring without having a schematic (or diagram)of the existing wiring as a starting point.

My apologies. This is the current wiring:

What type of three-way toggle switch is in there now?

It appears be a 3 way toggle with two poles as it is shown in the LR Baggs installation manual:

I doubt this will be possible. A DPDT switch is needed to put two coils into either series or parallel. You have 5 coils, and you're essentially requiring that all combinations of those 5 coils can be placed into either series or parallel. Without dragging out the math to figure the permutations and combinations, it will certainly require more than the 4 poles mentioned above. More than 4 poles usually means using a rotary switch, and even there, you'll probably run into fitment issues once you get beyond 6 poles.

Yeah, I've had a think about that. I've change my mind about having all coils in series/parallel. What I want to have now is just one switch that only changes the bridge and neck "humbuckers" from series/parallel. Would it be possible to do both humbuckers with the one switch?

[4real]

The JB sounds great through some or lots of gain, but sounds really nasally when clean, which I don't like. The 5/2 sounds great both distorted and clean, by itself or in autotap with the neck and bridge humbuckers. The Neck pickup once again, sounds great clean or distorted. My problem with the Seymour Duncans is: There are still quite noisy despite all the shielding and grounding.

I'm a little concerned as to the wiring that exists given this. I ahve a JB in my strat, dead quiet and renown for 'splitting' really well and generally a full sound...'creamy'...so perhaps it is wired out of phase. The Jazz is the traditional neck 'pair' for this pickup so your description sounds a little off. In 'split mode' it is a true single coild, but is quite quiet in mine so perhaps there is something amiss there and you are not hearing the real sound of the pickup.

[newey]

Would it be possible to do both humbuckers with the one switch?

Yes, it would be possible but you'll need a 4-pole switch. These are available, but you will need to carefully double-check that one will fit if you decide to go that route.

[Adam]

Aug 18, 2013 21:36:16 GMT -5 newey said:

Would it be possible to do both humbuckers with the one switch?

Yes, it would be possible but you'll need a 4-pole switch. These are available, but you will need to carefully double-check that one will fit if you decide to go that route.

That will have to do. I can live with that. Also, a suerswitch is definately needed for this? If so, I have one sitting around.

[Adam]

[/quote]I'm a little concerned as to the wiring that exists given this. I ahve a JB in my strat, dead quiet and renown for 'splitting' really well and generally a full sound...'creamy'...so perhaps it is wired out of phase. The Jazz is the traditional neck 'pair' for this pickup so your description sounds a little off. In 'split mode' it is a true single coild, but is quite quiet in mine so perhaps there is something amiss there and you are not hearing the real sound of the pickup.[/quote]
It's not the wiring as far as I'm concerned. The JB is a good rock pickup, but it's just not really the type of sound I'm after. It's just a tad nasally when clean for my liking.

[newey]

OK, let's zero in on exactly what you're looking at here.

1) Since we're not changing your existing 5-way switch positions, I don't believe a Superswitch will be necessary. But until a diagram is actually worked out, we might run into an issue that a superswitch would solve. We'll see.

2)Each HB will get its own slide switch. These will be three position switches. The center position will be both HB coils (either series or parallel, as selected by a separate switch). Each coil can be individually selected irrespective of the position of the 5-way switch.

3) a 4PDT toggle switch will put both HBs simultaneously into either series or parallel, when both the slide switches above are in the center position.

4) Existing P/P switches stay the same- coil cut, Bridge On, neck on.

5) That leaves the tone pots. There's no more room on the CRTL-X switch for switching tone pots in/out of circuit. I'm not sure if what you want can be done or not, but if it can, at a minimum, you'll need another 4P switch to do so. As I said, I'm doubtful you can get one of these into your cavity, much less two of them.

To be frank, it's not for me to say whether someone should do this or that with their guitar. It's your axe, and you're the one who has to play it. But I think you're wanting to do too much here. The guitar will become overly "switchy" and confusing to use, you probably won't add very many distinct sounds, and most of all, reliability issues may arise with all the added wiring. You can virtually guarantee this won't work right at first, expect to do hours of troubleshooting. Your guitar will be "out of action" probably for weeks.

So, for your own sanity, I'd urge you to rethink your desires here. You might want to consider, first, installing the Lace pups with the existing wiring to see how you like the pickups before modifying anything else. Second, consider other switching options (my thought would be to ditch the 5-way entirely and have individual coil switches, a la Brian May schemes).

But if you insist on going forward, we'll have to look closer at the tone control wiring thing. It will certainly be a week or so before I can get to any diagramming on this, as work intrudes.

[Adam]

Aug 19, 2013 4:46:01 GMT -5 newey said:

OK, let's zero in on exactly what you're looking at here.
1) Since we're not changing your existing 5-way switch positions, I don't believe a Superswitch will be necessary. But until a diagram is actually worked out, we might run into an issue that a superswitch would solve. We'll see.

Sounds good to me.

2)Each HB will get its own slide switch. These will be three position switches. The center position will be both HB coils (either series or parallel, as selected by a separate switch). Each coil can be individually selected irrespective of the position of the 5-way switch.

I was thinking 2-position switches. Similar to how the push/pull knob works in this diagram here:

3) a 4PDT toggle switch will put both HBs simultaneously into either series or parallel, when both the slide switches above are in the center position.

I was thinking I could use the 4PDT mini slide switches I found over at my Jaycar. They're smaller and more compact and seem to work well if it's only just 2 positions.

4) Existing P/P switches stay the same- coil cut, Bridge On, neck on.

You're spot on. Hit the nail on the head.

5) That leaves the tone pots. There's no more room on the CRTL-X switch for switching tone pots in/out of circuit. I'm not sure if what you want can be done or not, but if it can, at a minimum, you'll need another 4P switch to do so. As I said, I'm doubtful you can get one of these into your cavity, much less two of them.

It will fit. I took the dimensions of said 4PDP mini toggle and it will just fit even with a superswitch, assuming that I get the thin ones that oaks-grigby make.

To be frank, it's not for me to say whether someone should do this or that with their guitar. It's your axe, and you're the one who has to play it. But I think you're wanting to do too much here. The guitar will become overly "switchy" and confusing to use, you probably won't add very many distinct sounds, and most of all, reliability issues may arise with all the added wiring. You can virtually guarantee this won't work right at first, expect to do hours of troubleshooting. Your guitar will be "out of action" probably for weeks.

So, for your own sanity, I'd urge you to rethink your desires here. You might want to consider, first, installing the Lace pups with the existing wiring to see how you like the pickups before modifying anything else. Second, consider other switching options (my thought would be to ditch the 5-way entirely and have individual coil switches, a la Brian May schemes).

I've had a long think about this. I'm pretty sure this is what I want, but I shall think about it some more, but I'm about 98% positive that this is along the lines of what I want.

But if you insist on going forward, we'll have to look closer at the tone control wiring thing. It will certainly be a week or so before I can get to any diagramming on this, as work intrudes.

 Thank you so much, I appreciate it. 

[JohnH]

I had a look at your previous thread, and some facts remain true:

You will definately need the superswitch, if you want autosplit and the coil select switches. without one of those, the standard 5 way is OK. I would actually get rid of autosplit, since you can find those sounds with the manual splits. I have an HSS set up, and there is a nice distinction between the humbucker plus middle as compared to split humbucker plus middle, and both sound good. And it would be simpler wiring.

Its still a very redundant scheme in terms of switches and options, but that is what you wish for.

The part I have no idea for is the series parallel switch, in this case, i just cant see any way to do it as you described.

So are you going to have a go at designing wiring for this?

[Adam]

Aug 19, 2013 6:43:10 GMT -5 JohnH said:

The part I have no idea for is the series parallel switch, in this case, i just cant see any way to do it as you described.

So are you going to have a go at designing wiring for this?

I've had a go at planning it out, but I was stuck on the series parallel part as well. I know it's possible to have it with the coil split and if the coil split works with the coil select, it should also work with the series/parallel, but I just have no idea how to put them all together together. I really think it is possible, we just have to find a way for it to work. Another thing I'm stuck with is the superswitch. I have no idea how they work and what each pole and lug do. As for the autotap, I prefer to have that in positions 2 and 4 and just manually activate humbuckers in the middle position but pulling my push/pull knobs as I use the autotaps alot more often and it's more convenient to have it that way. I know having all these pickup combinations might seem unnecessary, but I like to play around with them and I like to have options, even if I may rarely use them, but it's nice to have them there in case you need them or when someone wants to play around with it as well. Hell, I play a 24-fret bass and I rarely go up past the 20th fret, but I just like having the extra 4 frets there so I don't feel limited or when I feel adventurous.

[JohnH]

Heres a 2 minute pre breakfast sketch for wiring your superswitch, to get you started. THe left side relicates one half of a standard 5 way, while the right does your autosplit, combined with your forced split and coil selects.

[4real]

Here's an unusual option to perhaps consider if needing compact switching power...

www.altronics.com.au/index.asp?area=item&id=S1451


You'd have to be a bit inventive as to how to mount them and make sure there is enough depth...I have a few lying about...4pdt...so a fair amount of switching power. Fender used to use this kind of thing (albeit a bit unsuccsessful) on some of their guitars and still do occassionally.

These are actually designed as 'power switches' for things like computers and contain a small LED in them that could be used to light them up if so inclined, say if you are using active electronics. I got them as switches that could be used to operate a sustainer...but as I asy, mounting them could be tricky and they are small and plastic so care in soldering is needed...

Personally, I share the kinds of concerns expressed about 'too many switches' and usually people explore those things on a cheaper axe and grow to like a particular selection of options and can liove without the rest. All my guitars, such as my 30+ selection strat use things like superswitches and push pull pots and so loook /stock. and clean and even small toggle switches are far more practical on a guitar than slide switches in my experience. Mounting slide swithes really neatly, cutting square holes and screwing them and all that can be tricky to get right, compared to drilling a small hole

Just a few things to consider...

I'm still wondering if the SD pickups are wired correctly if you are getting a substandard sound out of them, they are relatively powerful, but not in a metal way and should ahve a full warm sound. They split well too, a more powerful pup tends to be more likely to as when split, half the pickup is a reasonable clean single coil. Then there is the issue of noise. with some pups, running parallel sounds very similar to single coil splits onthe same pup and so both may be redundant, but the parrallel option gives you noise cancelling, something that tends to be more and more important these days, with so many things like computers offering up sources of interference...

[Adam]

Aug 19, 2013 16:03:17 GMT -5 4real said:

I'm still wondering if the SD pickups are wired correctly if you are getting a substandard sound out of them, they are relatively powerful, but not in a metal way and should ahve a full warm sound. They split well too, a more powerful pup tends to be more likely to as when split, half the pickup is a reasonable clean single coil. Then there is the issue of noise. with some pups, running parallel sounds very similar to single coil splits onthe same pup and so both may be redundant, but the parrallel option gives you noise cancelling, something that tends to be more and more important these days, with so many things like computers offering up sources of interference...

Oh, they are powerful pickups. No doubt about it. The JB even when split is powerful. It gives a really mean singlecoil sound. My issue with it is more or less that I don't like the sound it has when it's clean. I could give you some sound samples if you like.

[4real]

Aug 19, 2013 18:49:48 GMT -5 Adam said:

Aug 19, 2013 16:03:17 GMT -5 4real said:

I'm still wondering if the SD pickups are wired correctly if you are getting a substandard sound out of them, they are relatively powerful, but not in a metal way and should ahve a full warm sound. They split well too, a more powerful pup tends to be more likely to as when split, half the pickup is a reasonable clean single coil. Then there is the issue of noise. with some pups, running parallel sounds very similar to single coil splits onthe same pup and so both may be redundant, but the parrallel option gives you noise cancelling, something that tends to be more and more important these days, with so many things like computers offering up sources of interference...

Oh, they are powerful pickups. No doubt about it. The JB even when split is powerful. It gives a really mean singlecoil sound. My issue with it is more or less that I don't like the sound it has when it's clean. I could give you some sound samples if you like.

Fair enough, Lace pups are interesting and very 'clean' if that's what you are after...alumitones are particularly interesting for an almost acoustic wide spectrum sound, but they need special cutouts to mount them in a pickguard...

[Adam]

Aug 19, 2013 15:35:27 GMT -5 JohnH said:

Heres a 2 minute pre breakfast sketch for wiring your superswitch, to get you started. THe left side relicates one half of a standard 5 way, while the right does your autosplit, combined with your forced split and coil selects.

I'm a little lost as to what is happening on the far right of that diagram where theres the volume and two switches which are seemingly joined to nothing. Also the volume on the other side of the switch. Does that mean there's two wires from the switch going to the volume pot. That just seems to cause me a bit of confusion as to where to put the CTRL-X switch, which would usually replace the wire that joins the 5way switch to the volume pot on a strat with stock wiring.

[JohnH]

Both wires marked Vol would go to the volume pot, but if ctrl comes between switch and vol pot then they both go there. Sw3 and Sw4 connect the N and B centre taps to hot or ground to bypass one coil or the other

[Adam]

So based off JohnH's sketch and looking at some other wiring diagrams, I had a go at drafting this. It's not complete yet. There are still a few things left like where to connect the tone pots (one controlling bridge and middle while the other controls neck) and how to add the push/pull wirings from my current wiring so that one push/pull activates the bridge humbucker while the other activates the neck humbucker in any position. Also the switching of tone pots for when the CTRL-X switch is in the middle position. I predict the CTRL-X switch only needs a 3P3T switch instead of one with 4 poles. Could you have a look to see this diagram would work. I'm just using the Seymour Duncan colour scheme and will translate this to lace colour scheme later on. Oh, just pretend that the blue wires are white.

Apologies for the sloppy drawings and terrible handwriting. Cheers.

[JohnH]

yes i think the diagram works, except that if its based on SD colours, red and white should swap or else the coils get shorted out in parallel mode. I think that local type of series/parallel is about as much as you can use here. getting all options to be available in S or P gets too impossible with more than 3 coils.

Just an observation: You have plenty of switches to set up lots of sounds, but also combined them so that coil cut, and parallel options occur on N and B together. Do you make switch moves mid song? One of my favorites is to set up a neck single coil or parallel rythym tone, then move quickly with a five way swipe to bridge humbucker. That would take two switch moves with this design, which would annoy me,but may be of no concern.

[Adam]

Aug 20, 2013 15:33:52 GMT -5 JohnH said:

yes i think the diagram works, except that if its based on SD colours, red and white should swap or else the coils get shorted out in parallel mode. I think that local type of series/parallel is about as much as you can use here. getting all options to be available in S or P gets too impossible with more than 3 coils.

What do you mean by swapping the red and white wires? Do you mean swapping which lugs they go to on the s/p switch from the pickup? As for the pickup switching mid song, I think the only changes I would do are the ones that are already preset by the 5way switch. Eg. bridge HB to neck HB or neck-middle autotap or just from HB to SC. The other changes would usually happen before the song starts depending on the song.

[JohnH]

Just that the lugs that the red and white wires go to should be swapped. In sd colours one coil has black and white and the other has red and green. Fro parallek mode the black and red go to hot and the white and green to ground

[Adam]

Aug 20, 2013 17:45:54 GMT -5 JohnH said:

Just that the lugs that the red and white wires go to should be swapped. In sd colours one coil has black and white and the other has red and green. Fro parallek mode the black and red go to hot and the white and green to ground

Oh wow, I had a brain fart. I was thinking that black and red were the north coil and white and green were the south coil. Thanks for pointing that out!

[Adam]

I have found a solution for my CTRL-X switch. This seems to be the only website that I could find that sells them.
www.guitarelectronics.com/product/SWM43-17/3-Way-4-Pole-Guitar-Mini-Toggle-Switch-Chrome.html
They are quite dear though. The normal DP3T switches seems to only go for a couple dollars at my Jaycar. Are there any other alternatives for this? If not, I guess I'll just have to grit my teeth and bust another hole in my wallet.

[newey]

Your reference to Jaycar leads me to believe you're Down Under, which adds issues of shipping, etc. But in general, you're always better off ordering from electronics supply houses than from guitar websites. I usually use Mouser.com or Digi-key.com. These outfits sell all shapes and sizes of switches, so triple check the dimensions and spec sheets to be sure it's what you need.

[Adam]

Aug 21, 2013 5:40:29 GMT -5 newey said:

Your reference to Jaycar leads me to believe you're Down Under

That is correct. Good guess! Everything is expensive down under. I shall have a look at mouser though. Thanks.

[4real]

Aug 21, 2013 6:00:27 GMT -5 Adam said:

Aug 21, 2013 5:40:29 GMT -5 newey said:

Your reference to Jaycar leads me to believe you're Down Under

That is correct. Good guess! Everything is expensive down under. I shall have a look at mouser though. Thanks.

I'm in Victoria but a lot of times places like mouser will have such huge shipping costs is disolves any savings. Jaycar, altronics and others can be good as well as ebay for some stuff and there are a heap of different sources for all kinds of things. But always check the shipping...places like GFS really do price gouge to australia in the shipping as do many other places. Sometimes though, you can just the right thing with a heap of searching.

Often it is best to look for the 'ideal' rather than find a switch and try and work out how to put it to use IMHO...

[JohnH]

I live south of Sydney, and with 4real in Vic and Gumbo in SA that completes the known GN2 contingent in Aus so far as I'm aware.

Jaycar is a handy shop, in fact its now pretty much the only place with a shop front to buy electronic parts. But it doesnt carry any of the more interesting bits and pieces that we might want for guitars and as 4real says, you have to hunt around different sources. Ive bought pots and switches for guitars from guitar shops such as Global Vintage, the Fender Lounge and even Allans. And you pay more, but you can see what you are getting, or at least get them to order parts in and then you pick them up with no postage cost.

Those 4 pole on on on's are exy though, and a bit rare and probably only available online. What exactly needs to be switched with this ctrlX switch? I havent tuned into what it is really doing.
J

[Adam]

I'm from the south western suburbs of Sydney, so Jaycar and Anthony's music are the only places I know of that sells audio and guitar electronics.

[4real]

Aug 22, 2013 0:14:32 GMT -5 Adam said:

I'm from the south western suburbs of Sydney, so Jaycar and Anthony's music are the only places I know of that sells audio and guitar electronics.

I don't know Sydney too well, and a lot of electronics shops are dying or died..but there is also 'altronics' which is similar to Jaycar with a few different bits and pieces. www.altronics.com.au/

I recently ordered from Jaycar and noticed they are doing free shipping over fifty dollars... www.jaycar.com.au/index.asp You might consider if you are not tooled up for electronics to get some of the basics. A decent soldering iron solder and iron cleaner; they sell mixed bags of wire cheap and a decent pair of wire strippers is a godsend; multimeter...these are all essentials to have but there re other useful things required....and can be added to an order to get the free shipping perhaps.

For specialised things, like a superswitch, there is always 'Stew-mac' of course... www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups.html

There are more industrial types of places with huge ranges but the shipping and such can be excessive so watch that. Places like "element-14" which used to be Farnell can get most things it seems and source world wide... au.element14.com/ ... "RS is similarly a big industrial kind of place, with prices to match some times... australia.rs-online.com/web/?cm_mmc=AU-PPC-0411-_-google-_-0_RS-Brand-_-r%20s%20components_Exact

And then there is 'Google and especially ebay...you can get many things with free shipping out of asia for instance on lots of bits and pieces and electronics things...though perhaps watch the quality...

If ultimate quality, it is sometimes good to learn the brands of pots and such and why they are 'better' and all that and search out suppliers or distributors here...many will sell to you directly or could be ordered through a retailer...

Hope that helps a little...I live out on phillip island with the penguins and seals...and the weather out here lately has been good for little else ;-) ... as I am forced to order online and by post pretty much, I tend to source things from where ever I can, but as always watch the shipping costs and best to try and combine things into one order and place generally.

I did however find a place recently about 100kms away that stock things from jaycar, altronics and many other suppliers and import as a disributor and not a franchise and there may be places like that aobut, perhaps check the phone book.

...

I've a bit of an aversion to slide switches except for very specialised applications. Generally they are not too good for performance switching and the holes and mounting can be tricky to get really neat (compared to a mini toggles say which just requires the drilling of a hole and can be seen and felt and easily switched. If not that 'fussed' one can on a strat, make the cavity a bit bigger to accomodate things under such a large scratch plate and will make little difference and worth it to get the best placement and types of switches for your application...why compromise or make things harder for the sake of a little wood that no one will see?

[JohnH]

Aug 22, 2013 0:14:32 GMT -5 Adam said:

I'm from the south western suburbs of Sydney, so Jaycar and Anthony's music are the only places I know of that sells audio and guitar electronics.

Hmm..you are probably not so far away. In fact Im on my way right now for a jam with the band at
Cocoon studios in Campbelltown.