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Many guitars have a re-sale value. Some you'll never want to sell.
Stockist of: Earvana & Graphtech nuts, Faber Tonepros & Gotoh hardware, Fatcat bridges. Highwood Saddles.
Pickups from BKP, Oil City & Monty's pickups.
Expert guitar repairs and upgrades - fretwork our speciality! www.felineguitars.com. Facebook too!
Cheers though.
This is the diagram that's causing the issue:
So if using output pole 1, the connections of 2&3; 4&5; 6&7 will have exactly the same effect as using output pole 8 and connecting 6&7; 4&5; 2&3
So yes - it's going to be symmetrical, so doesn't matter which way round.
But having picked up a similar Alpha switch from my bits box and my multimeter I probably have which pole does which wrong. On mine, all the poles are separate and the two output poles are 4 & 5.
On mine, but using your picture above, with switch starting fully right and moving to the left, the 5 positions are:
Measuring from output pole 4
4 to 3
4 to 3&2
4 to 2
4 to 2&1
4 to 1
Measuring from output pole 5
5 to 8
5 to 8&7
5 to 7
5 to 7&6
5 to 6
As @FelineGuitars says, a multimeter (cheap one will do fine as long as it measures ohms resistance) is very useful when working out what switches are doing...and for diagnosing when you finally plug in and hear no sound
So yes - that is an exceptionally unhelpful diagram....but actually is saying the same as I have described above. Crucial, though, is that the second photo shows that poles 2&3 and poles 6&7 are UNjoined. Easy to do with a file or wire cutters if your actual switch has them joined.
So, assuming the switch is in your guitar exactly as your first photo, with the bridge at the right and the neck to the left (envisaging you holding the guitar in playing position):
Output goes to 4
Bridge to 3
Middle to 2
Neck to 1
Hope this helps
Why this mistake persists, I'm not sure - I think it can only be because most people don't actually use the tone controls.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Presumably "5P" is five position, yet lugs 2/3 and 6/7 are jumpered so it wouldn't work in, say, a Strat type guitar.
4 and 5 are the outputs for each pole of the switch. They are always in circuit. Hence, the jumper can remain in situ.
The internal contact wipers for each pole revolve about a central axis. When the lever is towards the end of the PCB marked with the 1, terminals 1 and 6 are in circuit. When the lever is central, terminals 2 and 7 are in circuit. When the lever is towards the 8 end, terminals 3 and 8 are in circuit. For the two "in between" lever positions, adjacent terminals are bridged.
Well spotted.
Ironically, those factory-made jumped connections would be perfect on a 3P switch for Telecaster.
I thought the OP must be either (i) a real switch incorrectly assembled from incompatible parts or (ii) an image composite.
The 2 photos of the back and front of the SW006 show the jumpers across 2&3 and 6&7, which is not correct against the description of what is being sold. The third photo, illustrating the contact arrangement, is actually different and is the correct switch...which I presume is what they are actually sending.
1 = bridge PU
2 = middle PU
3 = neck PU
4 and 5 = output to master volume pot
6 and 7 = connection to lower tone pot
8 = connection to upper tone pot
6 should have no connection for vintage Strat wiring. 6 and 7 can be linked if you want the lower tone control to work on the bridge pickup as well as the middle.
Presumably ignored on the basis that it will be completed by the shielding foil, but we've done that already .
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Also it has unshielded wires to the switch, will fix that too.