Rotary switch help please

[huntgl]

Hello all ;-)

Happy new year and all that!

Can anyone help me with the wiring of a 3 way rotary switch please?

I want to wire a 2 pickup guitar with one tone, one vol and a 3 way rotary. The switch has 3 central prongs and 12 outer. I have found a few bits of info on the web, but nothing that explains clearly what is going on. I have a multimeter, so I can map out the tabs as I think I will have to do this as each switch is different.

Many thanks,
Gary.

[JohnH]

Usually the inside lugs are the poles and the outer ones are what they connect to, usually 12 of them. With 3 middle 'pole' lugs you would usually have four positions so that poles x positions= 12. How many switch positions does yours have?

Working it out with a meter is the best way to check.

[huntgl]

Ok, now things are little bit clearer. What I actually have is a 4 position, 3pt switch! The 3 central prongs are marked A, B and C, and there are 12 prongs around the outside. When the switch is in position 1, Central prong A connects to number 1, 5 and 10; B connects to 2, 6 and 11; and C connects to 3, 6 and 12. And so on...

I was initially going to wire it in the standard Tele format, but now that I have an extra position that I wasn't aware of I need to think of a wiring option that makes sense. I have 2 pickups in the guitar: a Lace Gold and a rails type humbucker. I really like the out of phase sound, but I imagine with 2 pickups that are fairly unmatched for output, this might not work too well; am I right in thinking this?

[newey]

I really like the out of phase sound, but I imagine with 2 pickups that are fairly unmatched for output, this might not work too well; am I right in thinking this?

Just the opposite, actually. The more evenly matched the pickups are, the more frequencies will cancel each other out when wired OOP. The more cancellation, the more you get a tinny, very trebley sound. With pickups that are dissimilar, there will be less cancellation and a fuller sound, which will probably be more useful.

But it's ultimately a matter of taste. You may need to try it and see how you like the OOP sound. Another option with a 4-position switch would be to wire it like a "Baja Tele". which offers both pickups in series in addition the usual parallel wiring of N + B.

[huntgl]

Thanks for the input, i appreciate it ;-)

Is there a guide anywhere to explain the fundamentals of wiring a switch like this? I've searched the web and I can't find anything that really deals with the basic aspects of rotary switches. Most seem to deal with the stacked type and mine is a sealed unit.

[newey]

When you say the "fundamentals of wiring" a rotary, do you mean how to solder the connections, or do you mean fundamentals as in "what wire goes where?" If it's the former, it's no different than soldering to any other type of switch.

If it's the latter, that's what we've been discussing. If you've zeroed in on exactly what you want for sure, we can help with a diagram. Just don't (please) have one of us draw one up, then decide you want something different . . .

[huntgl]

The soldering is fine, it's more a question of how to wire the switch up. I have 2 pickups and I believe I would need to wire the hot leads to two of the central prongs on the switch (A and B for example). I think I have a grasp of the basic connection, but the series/parallel/out-of-phase wiring throws me a bit.

For position 1, if I wanted it to be neck pickup only I presume I would connect A's number 1 prong directly to the vol control?

For position 2, if I wanted it to be bridge pickup only I presume I would connect B's number 2 prong to the vol pot?

For position 3, if I wanted neck and bridge in series, would it simply be A and B's number 3 prongs wired together and then one wire to the vol pot? How would a parallel setup be wired?

As for an out-of-phase connection I wouldn't know where to start!!!

[newey]

OK, I can do a diagram. It may be a couple of days before I can get to it, however. I'm on the road for work at the moment.

In the meantime, you can have a go at a diagram yourself. Do you need a complete wiring diagram (with V and T pots, etc.) or is the switch module itself enough?

Think of it this way. You have three poles, A, B and C. Each pole has 4 outer lugs associated with it, so label them as "A1, A2, A3, A4, B1, B2", etc. This will be easier to deal with than just numbering them 1 through 12.

For your pickup wiring, you will use two of the poles. Wire pole A to pole B, and then wire both to the output (vol pot, if that's next in line). You neck pickup "hot" wires to A1 and A2 (jumper the two lugs together). Your bridge "hot" goes to B2 and B3. You will now have the neck alone at position 1, N + B (parallel) at position 2, and B alone at position 3, if the other end of both pickups is grounded.

But if OOP is desired, we have to be able to switch one of the grounds. You could do either pickup OOP, we'll use the bridge pup. Your C pole will take care of the OOP switching.

Neck pickup ground gets wired permanently to ground. Wired Pole C to ground. The bridge pickup ground gets wired to Lugs C2 and C3, so as to give you the bridge pickup, in phase, at positions 2 and 3. Position 4 will be the OOP position. For that, jumper C3 to A4 (i.e., bridge ground goes to output). B3 (bridge hot)goes to C4, and thus to ground. Now, your bridge pickup is OOP with the neck. But we still need the neck pickup, too, at position 4, so wire A1 to A4.

If you can draw that up, I'll vet it. If you want series instead of OOP, more on that to come . . .

[huntgl]

Lovely stuff! Thanks very much for that explanation, it really helps. I will probably put the switch position/settings slightly differently, but am pretty sure I can do this now after your explanation here :-)