5-way Super switch (Strat)

6L6C

Power User
Does anyone have a favorite brand of super switch ? Basically concerned about the feel.
 
I use it on a dual humbucker guitar. It works great. I came up with a configuration I haven't seen anywhere (took about 10 sheets of paper to finally come up with it). You can really get creative with it.

I initially had a problem with no sound intermittently in the first position. Turns out the mounting screw was barely touching the connection. I trimmed the screw a bit with a Dremel, and problem solved. Solid as a rock since.
 
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I use it on a dual humbucker guitar. It works great. I came up with a configuration I haven't seen anywhere (took about 10 sheets of paper to finally come up with it). You can really get creative with it.
That's part of the fun. :)

In my case a little more modest, just to address something that drives me a little nuts.
Recently came back to stock wiring for my Strat but I hate were the tone controls overlap on positions 2 or 4 on the switch, depending which way you look at the switch. And also the way it's wired (middle tone wired to bridge or middle wired to neck) I have tried leaving the middle pickup out of the tone circuit (when by itself) buy find it too bright compared to the other pickups.
So what I'm doing.
Position:
1) neck, tone 1
2) neck, middle, tone 1
3) middle, tone 2
4) middle, bridge, tone 2
5) bridge, tone 2
 
Personally, I would wire the second tone control to only position 5. 5 and 4 is another option.
Me and the middle pickup by itself on my EJ strat do not get along super much, kind of pointy in an ugly way. Has the stock wiring, so no tone control for it, and I often wonder if I'd like having one there better. But I've never heard it with tone bscked off, because the guitar doesn't have that. Or I might like having neck-bridge in that switch position.

I've also wondered about bypassing the tone controls for 2 and 4, so I didn't have to dime bridge tone for bridge-middle and turn it down for bridge alone.

Any of that needs a fancier switch than is in there.
 
Me and the middle pickup by itself on my EJ strat do not get along super much.

I was the same way with the middle pups on strats until I read about Trower and how that's
mostly what he uses. Tried it playing Bridge of Sighs and there it was - Robin's tone.
Now I use it almost as much as the other two!

znjwPOK.jpg
 
Me and the middle pickup by itself on my EJ strat do not get along super much, kind of pointy in an ugly way. Has the stock wiring, so no tone control for it, and I often wonder if I'd like having one there better. But I've never heard it with tone bscked off, because the guitar doesn't have that. Or I might like having neck-bridge in that switch position.

I've also wondered about bypassing the tone controls for 2 and 4, so I didn't have to dime bridge tone for bridge-middle and turn it down for bridge alone.

Any of that needs a fancier switch than is in there.
That's why super switches are so handy. You can do all that stuff, easy peasy. IMO, the bridge needs a permanent tone control roll off, hence the lower tone control to position 5 only. I'm not a big fan of the middle pickup either. I use it if that's the tone on the original song. It does work for slide though if you roll down the tone control a bit. If I had to choose though, it would rather have the neck/bridge combo than the middle pickup on a strat.
 
Me and the middle pickup by itself on my EJ strat do not get along super much, kind of pointy in an ugly way. Has the stock wiring, so no tone control for it, and I often wonder if I'd like having one there better. But I've never heard it with tone bscked off, because the guitar doesn't have that. Or I might like having neck-bridge in that switch position.

I've also wondered about bypassing the tone controls for 2 and 4, so I didn't have to dime bridge tone for bridge-middle and turn it down for bridge alone.

Any of that needs a fancier switch than is in there.

Just to clarify I do love the middle pick up by itself. But when there's no tone control I just find it the exact way you described it to pointy. What you described for yourself as far as modifications off the top of my head all sound doable with a super switch. But no tone controls for positions 2 and 4? position 4 in the switch may be extremely pointy especially with that bridge pickup screaming with nothing to keep it in check haha.

You had also mentioned the neck and bridge pickup together. You might like this one. I've done it myself, 1 volume 1 Master tone and the second tone becomes a blender pot between the bridge and the neck pickup. Warning though don't expect instant tele sound just because you can combine the bridge and neck pickup. however it is kind of cool in the sense when in the bridge position you can dial in a percentage of the neck pickup when in the neck position you're dialing in a percentage of the bridge pickup when the control is maxed out its just both pickups even doesn't matter what position it's in. By the way for this particular mod you do not need a super switch a standard 5 way will do the job.
 
That's why super switches are so handy. You can do all that stuff, easy peasy. IMO, the bridge needs a permanent tone control roll off, hence the lower tone control to position 5 only. I'm not a big fan of the middle pickup either. I use it if that's the tone on the original song. It does work for slide though if you roll down the tone control a bit. If I had to choose though, it would rather have the neck/bridge combo than the middle pickup on a strat.
You're preaching to the choir here, I'm a big fan of fancy (read flexible) switches and wiring ;) My other guitar besides the EJ is a bastard child I put together from parts, and it has an 8-pole strat-style switch. 76 electrically different combinations, all humbucking, with pretty simple controls and decent ergonomics. Some of them are pretty similar, but they all actually do sound different.

However, I got the need-a-strat bug a while back, shopped around, dug the EJ best of what I tried, and I'm so far trying to leave it stock, instead of hacking it up like every other guitar I've ever owned. not sure if that'll continue...

My biggest beef with it really though is all that single coil interference. Didn't like any of the low-noise strats I tried, but would like to check out a Music Man.
 
Haha, sorry! This damn quarantine has made me more talkative on the forums :tearsofjoy: Where did you find an 8-pole switch? That sounds awesome! I just rewired both my Suhrs with my own little mad scientist wiring. Super switch + 3PDT toggle. Having an 8-pole switch might have made the whole thing less complicated.

Speaking of Suhr: Their SSCII system is the best I've heard. It's totally passive, so it doesn't mess with the resistance or impedance like the active system Music Man uses might do. The Music Man system is buffered, which you might like or don't like, but it sure sounds different than a passive output.
 
Haha, sorry! This damn quarantine has made me more talkative on the forums :tearsofjoy: Where did you find an 8-pole switch? That sounds awesome! I just rewired both my Suhrs with my own little mad scientist wiring. Super switch + 3PDT toggle. Having an 8-pole switch might have made the whole thing less complicated.
Switch came from here: https://www.eyb-guitars.de/produkte/megaswitch.html

I'm not sure there's info online about the 8-pole version, or if they're even still available, but you also try Günter Eyb <eyb-guitars@t-online.de>.

The 8-pole one is just more stacks of that same assembly shown on the site.

I may have some of their older version if you'd be interested; save yourself time and shipping from Germany. It's not as nice, much harder to wire up physically due to how it's made.


Speaking of Suhr: Their SSCII system is the best I've heard. It's totally passive, so it doesn't mess with the resistance or impedance like the active system Music Man uses might do. The Music Man system is buffered, which you might like or don't like, but it sure sounds different than a passive output.
I've only played one Suhr in my life, wasn't blown away. It was SSH, and the bridge pickup alone was way louder and bassier than every other position. Tone in general was ok, didn't blow me away. Wasn't overly fond of the neck, but having gone EJ for a while I might feel differently now. For how much they cost, I wanted to love it, didn't.

My non-EJ has a buffer, so I'm not against them necessarily. I'd love to actually play an EBMM, but I'm definitely Not Going Shopping for a while...
 
If the switch looks like the ones on site, but with 8 poles, I can only imagine how hard is to solder. Must be pretty cramped? The swe in my name is actually short for Sweden, so Germany is not to far away. I order most stuff from there :)

If it was something like a SSH+ in the bridge, then that would explain it. I'm a big fan of their lower output humbuckers. Used SSVs for years, now Thornbuckers. They both work really well with singles in terms of volume and tone. And they also have a lot of neck options, not all of them are for everyone. I like their vintage C standard and even C slim. I don't care for any of the fatter even C profiles, which might have been what you tried.
 
Switch came from here: https://www.eyb-guitars.de/produkte/megaswitch.html

I'm not sure there's info online about the 8-pole version, or if they're even still available, but you also try Günter Eyb <eyb-guitars@t-online.de>.

The 8-pole one is just more stacks of that same assembly shown on the site.

I may have some of their older version if you'd be interested; save yourself time and shipping from Germany. It's not as nice, much harder to wire up physically due to how it's made.

Do you happen to have a spare EYB 8 pole switch that you would sell? Was looking into these and about to reach out to them to try to order one. Would love to avoid the hassle and wait time (and help you out by emptying your spare parts drawer).

I want to rig up some gnarly wiring stuff with a Fishman Fluence Keith Merrow HH set with visions of adding a middle Single Width middle single coil down the road, and can't do everything I want with just 4 poles. My dream is a 5B5 type of Free-Way switch with 6+ fully customizable poles, but that is a pipe dream. Looks like there are some rotary switches that could get close to this kind of functionality, but, even if they would fit, they are not worth the inconvenience of usability for on the fly switching based on my experience with PRS rotary switches.
 
I was the same way with the middle pups on strats until I read about Trower and how that's
mostly what he uses. Tried it playing Bridge of Sighs and there it was - Robin's tone.
Now I use it almost as much as the other two!

znjwPOK.jpg
Brave Sir Robin....
 
Another nice trick with the 5-way super switch is splitting a bridge humbucker on a HSS Strat.

On mine, since the singles are hum-cancelling, I series/parallel switch the bridge humbucker instead. In all but the bridge-only spot, it is parallel. In the bridge-only spot, a mini DPDT chooses series/parallel....
 
I put a superswitch in most of my Strats, largely because they each have some different strengths / weaknesses, so it lets me experiment with the combinations while I'm dialing them in.
When I'm doing that experimentation, I wire up the pickups with longer leads, and use a special pick guard that I modified by separating the section that holds the switch / pots. That way I can mount the smaller section with two screws, mess around with the guitar, then made modifications as necessary without needing to remove the entire pick guard. When I'm trying to figure out the best overall combination of caps / switching, I just clip them with alligator leads. Once I have it dialed in, I remount everything on a regular pick guard.
 
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