Help with strat Super switch wiring

[aboutdrill]

I want to wire my strat so the middle and bridge switch position is unloaded by the tone pot but other switch positions are std. vintage strat wiring.

So it would be like this:

Neck with tone 1
Neck/middle with tone 1 and 2
Middlle with tone 2
Middle/bridge unloaded - no tone control
Bridge unloaded - no tone control

I'm pretty sure I can do this with a super 5 way switch but I don't know how. I looked for diagrams of this configuration but I couldn't find them. Anyone know about this?

I'm looking for a brighter/rawer middle/bridge tone.

Thanks. Derrick

 

[walterw]

why would you deliberately want two tone pots on the N+M setting? that was always the drawback to the original arrangement, because it made that setting too dull compared to the rest of the guitar.

sounds like you just want a regular fender american standard strat, where the first tone is for the neck and the second tone is a "no-load" pot on the middle and bridge pickups.

 

[aboutdrill]

why would you deliberately want two tone pots on the N+M setting? that was always the drawback to the original arrangement, because it made that setting too dull compared to the rest of the guitar.

sounds like you just want a regular fender american standard strat, where the first tone is for the neck and the second tone is a "no-load" pot on the middle and bridge pickups.

Well, I know that is what most people want but that does not address the problem I hear. I like the sound of all the postions of the vintage wiring but the middle/bridge combo - too dull. IMO (with my pups - I'm using SD SSL-1s) ) there is to big of a jump in tone between the middle/bridge postion and the bridge alone postion. I like the cut and brightness of the bridge position (no pot load) but the middle/bright jumps way back and looses too much cut (middle loaded). I have tried it with a no load 2nd tone pot but I find to big of a jump in tone between the neck and neck/middle tones. I find the neck/middle gets too bright and thin - I actually prefer the dbl load on the neck/middle selection! I'm trying to balance the pups based on what I hear. I really like the tone of these pickups but I just wish the middle/bridge combo had more cut.

 

[walterw]

OK, then yeah, a superswitch would be the ticket. you could make any tone pot appear on any switch setting, regardless of which pickups were selected.

conceptually, the superswitch is four 5-way switches. (they're really 5-way, as opposed to fender "5-way" which is just a 3-way with settings to jump the 3 lugs in-between.)

each row has one master lug and 5 contact lugs. wherever the switch is set, that master is connected to one and only one of those 5 lugs. the masters are at the edges, separate from the row of 5.

you would use two of these "sets" to control the pickups themselves:

two master lugs get jumped together and sent to the volume pot; on one row of contacts, the first two get connected together (like with a piece of bare wire) and the neck pickup hot goes there. then, the last two get connected together and the bridge pickup goes there.

on the other row of contacts, the middle 3 lugs get hooked together, and the middle pickup goes there.

now you have the pickup switching done, and the last two rows can be used for your tone pots:

these two master lugs also get jumped together and sent to the volume pot, or to the other two master lugs (doesn't matter).

now, whichever switch setting you want a tone pot on, just jump it to that particular lug. (you can physically see which lugs get connected at each switch setting by looking at the little metal slider underneath.)

with one pot on each of the two rows, you can have one tone pot or both on a given switch setting. for example, suhr uses this arrangement by putting the first tone on the first 4 lugs of one row, and the other tone on just the last lug. that way, every setting has one and only one tone pot loading it, with the first tone for everything but the bridge by itself, and the second one just for that.

you could also have a tone pot just jumped to 1, 3, and 5 on a row, so that each pickup sees a tone pot but the in-between settings are unloaded.

once you get how the switch works, it's easy to make up your own arrangements.

 

[aboutdrill]

Thanks Walter! I'll have to order a super switch and give it a try.