Axesrus replacement 3 way switch wiring

hobbio

I bought one of these switches to replace a duff one on my DIY tele kit guitar (with a tele tip, obviously):

But I have no idea how to wire it up. It's completely different to the existing switch and the proper tele one, and for some unknown reason Axesrus don't have a wiring diagram on their website. All I want to do is have neck - neck+bridge - bridge in their relative positions. I'm not brilliant at wiring so I don't know how to work it out for myself. Can anyone help please?

Megii

I had one of those, and I do remember talking to the chap at Axesrus about it - in the end I tested all the contacts to find what connected to what in each position, and sent Axesrus my findings, which they put on the website with the listing. I guess that's not there any more.

I seem to recall him saying they were good quality switches originally made for the no longer produced Maverick guitars. It is definitely possible to use for normal purposes anyhow - I'll see what I can find in my sent email box and let you know.  

hobbio

@Megii that would be tremendously helpful mate, thanks. I've emailed Axesrus too.

It's a bit frustrating because I've been sitting on the job for months now, and the day I try to do it I'm stymied. I just assumed that they would have a diagram on their site or that I'd be able to find one elsewhere but Google doesn't seem to know.

Megii

Actually, scratch what I just said, I don't think it's the switch I was talking about after all...  ">

But I'll still see what i can do, assuming no one else gets there first.

hobbio

Ah well, thanks anyway. 

I've got a multimeter but I don't really know how to use it  ">

Megii

There's definitely a way of doing it... Just need to get my thinking cap on, or see if @ICBM can help...

Megii

This might just be the solution?

http://www.axesrus.com/Electronics/wiring diagrams/TeleWiringImport2.jpg

hobbio

Ok, so if I'm reading that correctly I need to connect 1 and 8 together, connect the bridge to 2 and 3, the volume pot to 4 and 5 and the neck to 6 and 7?

Wiring really isn't my strong point. I'm assuming that the pot in the middle of the diagram is the volume and the pot with the cap on it is the tone?

2 and 3, 4 and 5, and 6 and 7 are already lugged together on the switch.

ICBM

The first thing to do is to throw that switch away and buy a proper CRL one.

They're shit really not very good.

If you insist on using it, they're usually arranged with pins 4 and 5 being the rotor connections, so the easiest is to wire it with both those connected to the volume pot, 2 and 3 to the bridge pickup and 6 and 7 to the neck pickup (or the other way round depending on which way round you've fitted it into the guitar - I think that diagram is wrong, but it depends on the exact way the switch is made).

And make sure you leave enough wire so you can easily replace it with a proper switch when it breaks .

Megii

oh thank heavens, the cavalry has arrived - I was just looking at that diagram and thinking it might be wrong...  

ICBM

Not only that, the diagram is *definitely* wrong regarding the jack.

hobbio

Right, I've wired it as per ICBM's post and there's *no sound* through the amp, not even a hum or buzz. I've even tried connecting 1 and 8 together as per the incorrect wiring diagram too.

My soldering is not the neatest, but the connections are secure and there's no shorts. Prior to this it was working on the bridge pickup only through the old switch.

Could I have killed the volume pot soldering or something? I've checked the jack connection and it looks fine.

hobbio

The net result of fixing my guitar today has actually made it worse...

In fairness, all of the electronics are the cheapies that came with the kit except the switch and pickups, and the switch was a cheapie that I got from Axesrus. I think I need to buy a decent switch, 2 decent pots, decent wire and a decent jack socket and wire them up from scratch.

Megii

Sorry I was such a source of unhelpful information @hobbio. I do know it's always possible to work out how the wiring should work if you're able to test the switch with a multi-meter (I know, I know...). If I had the same switch I could test it and figure it out, but...

hobbio

@Megii it's not your fault mate. I've probably screwed something up somewhere along the line

I'll figure out how to test switches and report back with my findings. I did try earlier, but the results were... confusing.

ICBM

1 and 8 are not connected together, that's a representation of the switch body.

You can find out where the short or open circuit is.

Take the control panel out and plug the guitar into the amp. Set the guitar volume control to halfway up.

Touch the middle terminal of the volume control. (Using a screwdriver with your finger touching the shaft, if you can't get your finger in on its own.) Does it buzz? If no, the problem is at the jack or the volume pot. If yes, does touching the top terminal of the pot also buzz? 

hobbio

@ICBM I've tried this, and there was no buzz when I touched the terminal just a really quiet click. I did get a little bit of a hum when I held the wires connecting to the jack, but I've not had any loud buzzes.

I've got 1 connected to earth, cos that was how the previous switch was wired. Is that wrong too?

Thanks for your help man.

ICBM

1 and 8 shouldn't be connected to anything. The old ground tab was separate and may not be on the new switch.

hobbio

So, I snipped the misplaced earth wire and I have sound! Well, sort of. It works on the neck pickup now, but not the middle position or the bridge.

Ianpdq

Where are you if your close I can help

ICBM

hobbio said:

So, I snipped the misplaced earth wire and I have sound! Well, sort of. It works on the neck pickup now, but not the middle position or the bridge.

You have another short in the bridge pickup wiring somewhere. If it was an open circuit you would get neck pickup only in the middle position.

How is the bridge grounded? Is there a separate wire to the bridgeplate, and does the pickup also have a baseplate?