Freeway 10 way blade switch with 2 humbuckers?

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Hi, I have a guitar build which has two humbuckers but also a 5 way switch slot - the humbuckers are both 4 conductors, so all sorts of wiring options available. Does anyone know of schematics or diagrams for the 10 way Freeway with 2 humbuckers? Maybe something like:

A side: Neck Parallel, Neck Series, Both parallel, Bridge Series, Bridge Parallel
B side: Neck Split solo, Both Split Coils (Inner), Both Series, Both Split Coils (Outer), Bridge split solo

Any pointers? Dimarzio has lots of HH diagrams for their 5 way Super Switch, but Freeway doesn't offer many HH configs at all on the 5 ways. So, can anyone":

1. Point me to appropriate schematcs / circuit diagrams?
2. Create such a diagram for me?
3. Explain to me how to create it for myself??

I'm pretty good at basic circuitry, but figuring out how to map what I want onto what the switches offer is perplexing at best.

 

[generic202]

You could look at Freeway's HSS diagrams. Just wire it as if your your neck humbucker is the 2 single coils of the HSS. But IIRC, their HSS wiring would only give you 6/10 options of what you want.

If you haven't bought the switch yet, then I would first suggest you take a look at Ibanez Dyna Mix 9 wiring. This will get you 8/10 of what you want (everything except Bridge Parallel and Both Series) with a 5-way superswitch and a 3PDT toggle switch. It's designed for HSS but once again, you can wire it as if your neck humbucker is single coils.

There is a way to get 9/10 of what you want with a Freeway 10-way switch but it also requires 2 extra push/pull pots or DPDT toggle switches.

Btw, have you tried asking Freeway? They might just draw one for you. Who knows.

 

[dogmeat]

figure out exactly what you want. then you can design. I've done a few and one of the things that has to happen is making the pickup grounds switchable (as well as the output wires)

for instance, you want "Bridge Series, Bridge Parallel". in this case one bridge coil wire can go to the common ground, but the other coil's "ground" must be switched. it has to be switched for normal bucker ops, and again for normal on the other track when doing bucker + bucker etc

you said.... Both Series, Both Split Coils (Outer)..... both as 'buckers?

say exactly what you want... I'll give it a shot

 

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I have emailed Freeway so we'll see. And you're right, figuring out exactly what one wants is half the battle. I'll see what if anything Freeway offers before I ask anyone here to do anything for me.

 

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Got a response from Freeway with a diagram that does most of what I want, just not in the positions I want them. Must study.

 

[unixfish]

Two mini switches with three positions:
1 - Off
2 - Single Coil
3 - Humbucker

Can you make that fit in the slot somehow?

 

[bholder]

Two mini switches with three positions:
1 - Off
2 - Single Coil
3 - Humbucker

Can you make that fit in the slot somehow?

Actually, on my basses, I use a 3 way mini switch per pickup:

1. Parallel HB
2. Split (Inner Coils HB)
3. Series HB

Yes, very versatile, but I want to stick with the blade here.

 

[generic202]

Got a response from Freeway with a diagram that does most of what I want, just not in the positions I want them. Must study.

Can you post the diagram? I'm curious as to how they would wire them.

 

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I wasn't told not to share it, so sure:

 

[bholder]

figure out exactly what you want. then you can design. I've done a few and one of the things that has to happen is making the pickup grounds switchable (as well as the output wires)

for instance, you want "Bridge Series, Bridge Parallel". in this case one bridge coil wire can go to the common ground, but the other coil's "ground" must be switched. it has to be switched for normal bucker ops, and again for normal on the other track when doing bucker + bucker etc

you said.... Both Series, Both Split Coils (Outer)..... both as 'buckers?

say exactly what you want... I'll give it a shot

By "ground switchable",. you don't mean the shield wires, correct? I discovered this on my previous project - because I had series / parallel between pickups and phase switching too, I needed both ends of each coil "floating" until through all of the switching. But the shield wires are always grounded, correct?

 

[dogmeat]

as long as the shield is not also the tied to the coil's "ground", they are not the same circuit, and that is good

 

[bholder]

figure out exactly what you want. then you can design. I've done a few and one of the things that has to happen is making the pickup grounds switchable (as well as the output wires)

for instance, you want "Bridge Series, Bridge Parallel". in this case one bridge coil wire can go to the common ground, but the other coil's "ground" must be switched. it has to be switched for normal bucker ops, and again for normal on the other track when doing bucker + bucker etc

you said.... Both Series, Both Split Coils (Outer)..... both as 'buckers?

say exactly what you want... I'll give it a shot

Ok, here's a diagram I hacked together with Paint from the 3B3-01 blade switch diagrams, combining the 2 HH circuits shown. If something like this could be wired up, I'd be really happy! Oh ignore the switch positions and numbers, just go by the coil pic and relative position.

 

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just bumping hoping someone can teach me how to figure this out... also just emailed the Freeway folks again...

 

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Got a response - as I feared:

The 5B5-01 is to a large extent internally configured to do what it does and it's not so much an "open-ended" switch for custom diagrams - it's mainly intended to be used with our own diagrams. Unfortunately the layout you illustrated can't be achieved with the 5B5-01 for these reasons.

 

[old wrench]

This is about a Free-way switch for HH guitars, although a different model

You might take a look at the Free-way 3x3-04 6 position toggle for HH guitars

I'm more into useful pickup combinations rather than maximum amount of positions (although I might be calling that statement into question with my BB Strat with it's 10-way Free-way switch, we'll see how that shakes out )

I also think that vintage or maybe a slightly hotter vintage humbucker has the most "musical sound" - more sparkle and chime, and less mud

So of course, I don't really care for the sound of a split humbucker, because vintage-wound humbuckers just don't sound right when they are split.

* With the Free-way 3x3-04 you will probably need to flip the bar magnet over in the neck humbucker to take advantage of the different humbucker combinations it offers


edit - Have you checked out Schaller switches? -

They have some interesting blade switches for HH


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[old wrench]

Got a response - as I feared:

Yes, that is clearly how Free-way designs their switches - they come up with a particular set of pickup combinations, and then configure the switch to obtain them

There are quite a variety of multi-blade switches out there (other than Free-way) that you might be able to get the combinations you seek by using jumpers across the multiple blades

I prefer switching that is logical and intuitive - I'm afraid I wouldn't do too well with switching where I need to memorize which pickups are engaged when the selector is in a particular position


edit - Free-way is good about quick responses to questions - I usually heard back quickly from Alisdare or maybe it was Alastaire


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edit - Have you checked out Schaller switches? -

They have some interesting blade switches for HH

will check them out thanks!