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4-way switch in reverse: Barden and Duncan Mini

callaway
January 22nd, 2011, 11:53 AM
So I had a Barden bridge pickup and a Duncan '59 (full size, 4-conductor) in the neck, wired to a 4-way switch. So I had the standard 4-way switch positions:

1: bridge
2: bridge/neck parallel
3: neck
4: neck/bridge series

Now I'm swapping out the '59 for a Duncan Mini-HB (SM1-N) which has the Gibson-style single conductor and braided shield. So I thought instead of trying to re-work the neck pickup to isolate the shield and create a ground lead to do "proper" 4-way wiring, why don't I try something different.

I plan to use the 4-way wiring diagram, but wire the Barden bridge pickup as the "neck" because it already has the 4-conductor leads. The mini-HB would then be wired as the "bridge". So my switching would be:

1: mini-HB
2: parallel
3: Barden
4: series

Then I'd just physically turn the switch around so it makes more sense. Does anyone follow what I'm saying? Does anyone see any problems with this? I would just go ahead and try it instead of posting, but I have some other work to do before I get to it, so I thought I'd throw it out there and see if I got response before I get to it.

Deaf Eddie
January 24th, 2011, 06:01 PM
Should work. I've drawn up the "reverse 4-way" for a few people, no complaints - so far! This isn't the order you wanted the tones, but you can see the "theory"...

http://deaf-eddie.net/tdpri-drawings/4-way-bridge-series-neck.jpg

callaway
January 24th, 2011, 09:15 PM
Aha. I thought about figuring out that wiring, but it was easier to just swap the standard wiring and flip the switch. So now my neck/bridge in series is the #1 position. I think I'm going to like it that way, but I'll keep this in mind if I ever want to change it back.