Two volumes, three-way blade switch?

[Willie Johnson]

I just did up my Super Sonic with Lace Sensors and stuck with the stock two volume/no tone scheme when I took out the humbuckers. It uses a toggle switch, and I did the two leads from the switch to the second lug to each pot, with hot leads from the pickups to the first lugs. In the middle position, the volume of the pickup I don't want to accentuate works like a tone knob if I turn it way down--so if I want a jazzy neck tone, I turn the bridge almost off, and vice versa for a darker bridge tone (and all the way off, no signal). Some of the middle blend tones are cool too. I'm using Lace Sensors with two ground wires and one hot lead.

My question--could this work on my Tele with a regular 3 position blade switch? This seems even more versatile than Broadcaster blend wiring, and without the resistor and cap.

 

[eallen]

Switches all act the same in that they route a path of continuity thru them to the designated output lug. If I am understanding the desired goal as long as you route the switch output for a given pickup to the desired volume potentiometer before going to the jack you should be good.

 

[Willie Johnson]

Thank you, good point--switch don't care. Most of the wiring schemes I see for Telecasters and 3 way blade switches have just one wire coming off of the switch, but I see other ways to do it.

 

[Peegoo]

Send the pickup signal to its own volume pot, then to the switch, then to the jack.

 

[moosie]

Wired as @Peegoo shows works well, with one exception. Turn one vol to zero (or near zero), and the entire guitar is silenced. The same is true of modern Les Paul wiring.

I assume this will be a problem for you, because you mention ....

--so if I want a jazzy neck tone, I turn the bridge almost off

The fix is to wire the vol pots "backwards". Pickup connects to wiper (middle terminal), and the wire from the switch connects to the leftmost terminal (as shown in the diagram, with pots upside down for soldering).

The side effect is even more treble loss than usual, when rolling back volume. It may work to your benefit if you seek darker jazzy tones. But if it becomes a problem, consider installing a treble bleed circuit on each vol pot that gets too dark.

 

[Willie Johnson]

Thanks, all. One other advantage is the ability to "preset" one kind of pickup tone in the middle position and then switch to position 1 or 3 for a full, unattenuated pickup sound.