Help understanding toggle switches??? Custom pickup switching.

Pickups, wiring schemes, switch techniques and onboard active electronics for guitars and basses
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AaronW
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Post by AaronW »

I’m planning a guitar build and trying to figure out the electronics wiring. I don’t fully understand switches, whether to us a DPDT or a 3PDT on/on/on.

Here is what I’m wanting to do:

HSH pickup configuration. 3-way blade pickup selector, wired Neck, Neck/Bridge, Bridge.

Then a separate mini-toggle: up - middle pickup only (shuts neck & bridge off). Middle - uses only the 3 way blade, for just neck/bridge options. Down - middle brought in with the neck/bridge.

I have an idea how this may be done with a on/off/on 3PDT toggle. But I’ll have to wire it up and see if it works. If someone wants to help with a layout, that’d be great. BUT, I’d much rather be pointed to a resource so I can learn about switches and how to wire this, and future ideas.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

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FiveseveN
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Post by FiveseveN »

Would you be willing to settle for middle+others in the Center position of the mini-toggle (instead of Down)? That would simplify it a lot: you'd only need a three-position SPDT normally-closed switch, the Les Paul type. Or any other functionally compatible type like your blade. It would be a traditional 3-way switch in series with another.
Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge. (Charles Darwin)

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AaronW
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Post by AaronW »

FiveseveN wrote: 26 Jan 2023, 19:57 Would you be willing to settle for middle+others in the Center position of the mini-toggle (instead of Down)? That would simplify it a lot: you'd only need a three-position SPDT normally-closed switch, the Les Paul type. Or any other functionally compatible type like your blade. It would be a traditional 3-way switch in series with another.
Yeah middle works fine, then up or down for middle only and only bridge/neck pickups.

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The G
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Post by The G »

I counted 5 positions, so you could get all of them with a single regular (5PDT, 5-poles/double-throw) 5-way guitar switch. You didn't mention if your humbuckers are splittable or if you want to connect them in series or parallel - the technicalities depend on details.
For wiring documentation I like the Schaller site, i.e. https://schaller.info/en/hsh for HSH wirings.

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