Yep. Messed up a 4-way switch.

[HoboJoe]

Hey everyone. I recently just tried to install a 4-way switch in my highway one. The problem is now I'm only getting two sounds instead of 4. I think in the 1 and 2 positions I am getting the normal "2," sound. Then in the 3 and 4 positions I get what the "4," position should be. Any idea on what to do check? I followed (or at least I think) the diagram that can included with the 4 custom shop switch. Thanks in advance!

[MN Punk]

Hard to say what the mistake was.

For a typical series mod, you want to do the following:

Neck + (send): Wire to output
Bridge - (return): Wire to ground
Neck shield cover: disconnect from neck - (return) and wire directly to ground separately.

Terminal on Pole 1: Bridge + (send)
Pole 1, neck-only position: leave open.
Pole 1, parallel-mode position: Output
Pole 1, series-mode position: Jumper to Pole 2 (Neck -)
Pole 1, bridge-only position: Output

Terminal on pole 2: Neck - (return)
Pole 2, Neck-only position: Ground
Pole 2, parallel-mode position: Ground
Pole 2, series-mode position: Jumper from Pole 1 (Bridge +)
Pole 2, Bridge-only position: Open

If you did all that, you should be good to go.

[MN Punk]

It seems the most common mistake is forgetting to disconnect the shield from the pickup wire, resulting in the new ground wire closing the neck-pickup circuit in all 4 positions.

[sjtalon]

MN, I can't make heads or tails out of that 1st post of yours ??

Hobo, in case you don't know what position is what, #1 is the BRIDGE pup alone (switch nearest the vol. control)

check this diagram out as well as the bottom of the page in regards to the modification you have to do to the neck pup.

TAKE YOUR TIME and check EACH wire one at a time, terminal per terminal.

It is a easy mod but just ONE wire out of place and there will be trouble.

http://www.guitar-mod.com/rg_4wayinfo.html

Tap on each pickup with a paper clip as you go through the selector switch positions to check which is engaged.

[tonyw]

I have tried in the last 2 weeks 2X 4 way oak switches and both have failed.
No not the installer.. Bad batch maybe? i dont know just its peein me off.

Have given up on the 4 way for now,back to 3 for me or maybe a 5 way mod.

[jeggles]

Originally Posted by tonyw

I have tried in the last 2 weeks 2X 4 way oak switches and both have failed.
No not the installer.. Bad batch maybe? i dont know just its peein me off.

Have given up on the 4 way for now,back to 3 for me or maybe a 5 way mod.

It's a good idea to get a multimeter and test connectivity between the lugs for each switch position. Firstly it confirms if the switch is working or not, and secondly it helps get into you head exactly how the switch works and how that relates to the diagrams you are following.

A cheap multimeter from Dick Smith is fine, if you don't have one already.

[kypdurron]

if by 1 you mean bridge and by 2 you mean parallel, I had this issue, too. It was a mechanical problem, nothing with the wiring. In my case,the switch was stopped by the switch tip. I did cut away some plastic at the bottom of the tip, and now it works. Picture:



In other cases the slot in the control plate may not be wide enough, so you may have to widen it, or try if the switch can be positioned better, so that all positiones can be switched. If you doubt it that this is the case in your case, you may want to test the positions with the switch removed from the control plate. That should answer the question if it's a wrong wired switch or a mechanical problem.

[MN Punk]

Originally Posted by sjtalon

MN, I can't make heads or tails out of that 1st post of yours ??

Telecaster switches are really two switches on one lever. Each side of it is called a "pole".

For each pole there is one "terminal" lug, plus 4 other lugs (3, in the case of a 3-way switch.)

So when you are switched to what you were calling "position 1" (where people usually want the neck active and the bridge inactive), then the position 1 lug on pole 1 is connected to the terminal lug on pole 1, and the position 1 lug on pole 2 is connected to the terminal lug on pole 2.

Switch to the next position (let's say this is where you want both pickups in parallel), then pole 1, position 2 connects to pole 1 terminal, and pole 2, position 2 connects to pole 2 terminal.

With me so far?

The reason I don't try to just "number" or draw out the positions is because everybody has their own idea of where things should go on a 4-way switch. Some people like to go "Neck", "Parallel", "Series", Bridge. Some prefer "Neck", "Parallel", Bridge", Series", or some other order entirely.

I'd rather explain it in English words so you can know WHY each wire is going where it goes, rather than blindly following somebody's drawing or chart and then being baffled when you discovered you missed something and don't know what it was.

I'll be a little more verbose and try again...

Each pickup has a "send" wire (usually yellow or white) and a "return" wire (usually black.) When you're NOT doing a pickups-in-series mod, you simply connect the black wires to GROUND (the back of the volume knob is a popular choice, but really anywhere that is part of the ground is fine), and connect the white/yellow wires to the switch.

To do a series mod, however, you want one position of the switch to have a single circuit with both pickups in a row, basically chained one to the next. The "send" wire of one pickup goes to the output, and the "return" wire of that pickup goes to the "send" wire of the other pickup. Then the "return" wire of the second pickup goes to ground, which closes the circuit.

So to do that, you need one pickup to be able to NOT have it's return wire grounded, and it's generally easier to have that be the neck pickup.

So, first of all you connect the "return" (black) wire from your bridge pickup to Ground.

You also disconnect your neck pickup cover from the neck return wire (since that wire will not always be grounded anymore), and run a new wire from the cover to Ground.

Then you connect the SEND (white/yellow) wire from the neck pickup directly to the output.

This means your bridge pickup will always be grounded and your neck pickup will always be hooked up to the output. The switch will use one "pole" to connect/disconnect the bridge's Send wire, while the other pole will connect/disconnect the neck's Return wire.

For any position where you want the neck pickup active (alone or in parallel), you want the pole with the neck Return wire to hook up to GROUND.

For any position where you want the bridge pickup active (alone or in parallel), you want the pole with the bridge Send connected to OUTPUT.

Then, for whatever position where you are choosing to have series mode, you want the two poles to be wired together, so the bridge Send connects to the neck Return.

Does that make more sense?

[HoboJoe]

Thanks everyone! I was actually able to get it sorted out. I had messed up the bridge wires. It really is an amazing mod for $20!

[sjtalon]

Originally Posted by HoboJoe

Thanks everyone! I was actually able to get it sorted out. I had messed up the bridge wires. It really is an amazing mod for $20!

[cocoboudin]

Originally Posted by sjtalon

MN, I can't make heads or tails out of that 1st post of yours ??

Hobo, in case you don't know what position is what, #1 is the BRIDGE pup alone (switch nearest the vol. control)

check this diagram out as well as the bottom of the page in regards to the modification you have to do to the neck pup.

TAKE YOUR TIME and check EACH wire one at a time, terminal per terminal.

It is a easy mod but just ONE wire out of place and there will be trouble.

http://www.guitar-mod.com/rg_4wayinfo.html

Tap on each pickup with a paper clip as you go through the selector switch positions to check which is engaged.

Hi, how about if i wire an esquier should i use the same diagram