Any experience with the Freeway 10 position strat switch?

Dave Merrill

Dave Merrill

Axe-Master
I'm really wishing for neck+bridge especially, and getting all 3 pickups plus series combinations, without extra switches or holes, seems ideal.

Does anyone have any experience with this switch?
Long term reliability?
Ease of use?
Room for its depth in a normal strat (EJ)?
 
I hate the ergonomics of the push-pull pots I've tried, really awkward with a pick in your hand. Also, you have to switch two things to get from some combinations to some others, where this is just one switch to change.

Plus this gives 10 positions, and more is better, right? ;)
 
Not the strat one, but I put the 6-way Freeway in my Washburn Nuno N7 about 6 months ago. It completely changed the usefulness of that instrument for me and it's pretty much my go-to now.

The feel takes a little getting used to, but it seems well-enough made and the install was straightforward once you get the leads all sorted out. I'd expect the Strat one to be similar (and honestly, I didn't realize they made one in that style, now I'll have to see what I can do with some of my Ibanez RGs).
 
yea, I've used the 5 way and 3 way blade style switches, and the toggle style switch as well.

Personally, I found the 5 way and 3 way switches to be a little awkward to use- I use my switches while playing quite a bit, and I just wasn't able to accurately land on a switch position when moving quickly with them- the feel is slightly different- they don't land quite as solidly in the positions as a more traditional switch does. If your style of playing doesn't involve as many fast switches, I could see it being much better. The flexibility was great, overall, and I did have a minor issue of the 5 way switch getting a little dirty after the install, but some pot cleaner cleared it up. I just found it was hard to adjust to while playing. The 3 way was somewhat easier to use, but I still ended up with the switch sitting between the middle and bridge position quite a bit. Really, it just comes down to playing style and how comfortable you are with being a little more intentional and careful when switching.
I did not need to remove wood with the 5 way switch on my old G&L Comanche pickguard that I put together, but I did need to remove a little bit of wood to get the 3 way into my ASAT Special.

Now the freeway switch that I actually really love is the toggle switch- I have one installed on my G&L Doheny V12, and it's fantastic. I find it totally intuitive and easy to use, and I haven't had any issues at all with it. tempImageGkzdrG.jpg
Overall, I think they're really good switches, it's just a matter of figuring out what works most intuitively for you.
 
I have a Freeway 10-position in my Strat and a 6-position in one of my Wolfgangs. Works great! All those extra positions without adding new switches. Opens up a lot of new tones. You could do something similar with a push/pull on a pot, but this gives you access to your pickup positions with one control as opposed to two.
 
I combined the 5B5-01 with a push/pull for phase switching of each pickup on my G&L Legacy.
I like the fact that it works as a regular 5-way switch and when you flip it, it gives you 5 extra positions - mainly series.
The hardest part is remembering which position gives you what combination.
With the phase switches I can get Brian May type sounds.
I was thinking of trying it with three on/on/on DPTD switches and a Series/parallel switch but this would give me about 54 sounds and I think that would be even more of a pain to remember.
But I'll try it anyway. Maybe I'll see which combinations work best and try to remember those and then see what works best.
BTW, I have a 6-way switch on my Larkin Semi and I love it.
 
this freeway 10 position switch just popped up on my radar today and thought about throwing it in my Fender Performer Strat (SSS). Would you guys say the extra positions are quite useable? and/or are the difference in sounds with those extra positions very noticeable? For example, in series, do the bridge/middle combined get you in humbucker territory?
 
If a push-pull isn't something you like, there's always push-push. I'm a big fan of mini-switches and a 3-way pickup selector myself; it goes a long way to clear up ambiguity! I looked at the freeway stuff for a time, and I think it's a great idea, but I honestly started to feel that even a 5-way was too easy to switch to the wrong position. But I often will switch quickly, and I always want to know for sure that I've landed in the right spot. I use the mini-switches to ensure I have all the variations available to me, but they're all routed to a 3-way for quick switching. To me, it's the best of both worlds.
 
If it was me I’d just add a small toggle switch like Gilmour did. It would be hard to keep track of 10 positions. I don’t have a pure singles Strat I have a Duncan P rail in the bridge. 2 S1 switches control that. Added a small toggle to add the neck to the bridge. I use it sometimes but not often. Maybe it’s better on all singles.
 
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