5 way switch on a Telecaster ????

Rocker · September 2021

A video from Stewmac popped up on my computer, the video shows how to fit a 5 way switch on a Telecaster. Apart from the usual 3 selection options, it offers humbucking and an out of phase combination.

I have a USA built Fender Tele that I like and am 'thinking' about buying one of those switches and getting a Tech to install it for me. Does anyone here know anything about these switches and/or are the additional sounds on offer worth the effort installing the switch?

Apologies if this subject has been dealt with in the past. Thanks for your replies.

Funkfingers · September 2021

There is a Schaller Megaswitch that can do that circuit.

The "humbucker" selection is actually two single coils, connected in series, in phase. It will only cancel hum if one pickup is built RP/RW with respect to the other.

For reasons known only to Schaller, their circuit does the phase reversal via the bridge pickup. This requires ground conductor modifications between the baseplate and the coil start. (As opposed to on the neck pickup cover.)

SteveRobinson · September 2021

For me the beauty of a Telecaster lies in its simplicity - you have three good, distinct and usable sounds easily selectable from a 3-way switch. I don't know why you'd want to mess with that.

ICBM · September 2021

Funkfingers said:

For reasons known only to Schaller, their circuit does the phase reversal via the bridge pickup. This requires ground conductor modifications between the baseplate and the coil start. (As opposed to on the neck pickup cover.)

Not on most modern Teles which have no baseplate on the bridge pickup. In these cases lifting the ground on the bridge pickup is easier.

You often still need to get the bridge off though, because the bridge ground wire and the pickup ground wire are both connected to a terminal screw in the body (which also grounds the shielding paint) rather than both being led separately back to the control cavity.

Funkfingers · September 2021

SteveRobinson said:

For me the beauty of a Telecaster lies in its simplicity - you have three good, distinct and usable sounds easily selectable from a 3-way switch. I don't know why you'd want to mess with that.

My preference is for the Freeway 3B3.

One "bank" is the three familiar sounds, in the familiar places.

The other "bank" is the other three possibilities. Series in phase, series out of phase, parallel out of phase. (Add capacitor for a more convincing "Stratty" sound.)

Roland · September 2021

My Telecaster shaped guitar has a 5-way “superswitch”, and a tapped bridge pickup. I agree with @SteveRobinson about simplicity, and can’t cope with secondary switches and push/pull tone knobs. What I can cope with is one lever switch which gives:
1. 50s broadcaster bridge
2. 60s bridge
3. neck and 60s in parallel
4. neck
5. series
You can do the same with a rotary switch, but it’s harder to operate, and you can’t tell which position it’s in without looking.

CasperCaster · September 2021

I have a 5-way.switch in a Tele and find the HOoP setting to be quite useful. I'm less enamoured of the series sound, but could see it working for some people. I slightly widened then routed a rebate in the control cavity so I can fit a regular Superswitch, but a slimmer Electroswitch/Oak Superswitch is now available from the likes of Axecaster and SixStringSupplies which should fit in the narrow Tele control cavity without modification. I never liked the 4-way switches (e.g. Baja Tele) as I felt 'disorientated', but with the 5-way at least the regular Tele sounds can retain their usual physical positions as 1, 3 and 5 with the extra sounds in 2 and 4.

If you fancy trying the series sound the Baja Tele has a series sound on its 4-way, and I believe the current Vintera version of that guitar retains that selection - if you know anyone with one of these, or a local store you could try it? The stock out of phase switch on the Baja (S1 down) is not a HOoP sound, just the regular thin out of phase sound.

I presume you are aware that you will have to separate the earth from the neck pickup cover (unless it's already three wire) for this mod.

andy_k · September 2021

My Esquire has a 5 way switch, with a single coil bridge pickup.
There's a few cap modded positions, a standard tone circuit, and a blower, guess which position it usually lives in.

Rocker · September 2021

Thanks guys for all your comments. There is a lot in what @SteveRobinson wrote, the Tele is a fine simple guitar. I will talk to a Tech when next I am in Dublin, I am not sure about the neck pickup earth wire situation as alluded to by @ICBM. ;

Still interested in the idea but unsure if it is worth the effort assuming it is possible on my guitar.

ThePrettyDamned · September 2021

I played a mij squier tele recently (in lovely butterscotch, and a very nice finish it is too) and it had a 5 way. It wasn't as useful as I thought it might be.

Funkfingers · September 2021

Rocker said:

I am not sure about the neck pickup earth wire situation, as alluded to by ICBM.

Regular Telecaster single coil pickups have two output conductor wires. The metal screening part on each pickup is grounded via the black conductor.

Series interconnection of the two pickups amounts to linking the white output conductor of one pickup to the black output conductor of the second pickup.

This, in turn, demands that the metal screening part of one pickup should now be grounded via a separate insulated wire.

It is less work to perform this modification on the neck/Rhythm position pickup.

•

On Telecasters with a humbucker that has four-conductor output cable, it should be unnecessary to perform the modification at all.

•

Series, in-phase is louder, with increased midrange. IMHO, more overwound P90 than humbucker. This makes it useful for overdriven sounds and overbearing for clean.

Series, out-of-phase is oddly honky. Loud and scratchy clean but kinda Brian May Red Special with high gain.

Parallel, out-of-phase is horrid and wiry à la Smells Like Teen Spirit intro. Add a capacitor to the ground side of the neck pickup as a filter and you get the "half-out-of-phase" sound mentioned by CasperCasper. Much more like the Stratocaster in-between sound.

ICBM · September 2021

Funkfingers said:

Regular Telecaster single coil pickups have two output conductor wires. The metal screening part on each pickup is grounded via the black conductor.

Series interconnection of the two pickups amounts to linking the white output conductor of one pickup to the black output conductor of the second pickup.

This, in turn, demands that the metal screening part of one pickup should now be grounded via a separate insulated wire.

It is less work to perform this modification on the neck/Rhythm position pickup.

It depends on the bridge pickup

. Modern ones without a baseplate don't need to be modified at all.

Even then, I'm not sure it's actually less work to do it to the neck pickup than simply snipping the link wire on the bridge pickup and adding a separate bridge ground wire - which in my opinion is an improvement anyway, since on old Teles it's not unknown for enough corrosion to get into the contacts between the pickup height screws and the bridge to make the grounding less effective.

Funkfingers · September 2021

ICBM said:
depends on the bridge pickup . Modern ones without a baseplate don't need to be modified at all.

I beg to differ. IMO, plastic bobbin Telecaster pickups should be modified by immersion in flame!

ICBM · September 2021

Funkfingers said:

IMO, plastic bobbin Telecaster pickups should be modified by immersion in flame!

lol or wis? Hard to choose!

CasperCaster · September 2021

ICBM said:

It depends on the bridge pickup . Modern ones without a baseplate don't need to be modified at all.

Even then, I'm not sure it's actually less work to do it to the neck pickup than simply snipping the link wire on the bridge pickup and adding a separate bridge ground wire - which in my opinion is an improvement anyway, since on old Teles it's not unknown for enough corrosion to get into the contacts between the pickup height screws and the bridge to make the grounding less effective.

W. R. T the original query about the 5-way mod with additional series and phase/HOoP sounds, it is my opinion that it makes more sense to snip the earth to the neck pickup cover and either earth it separately or not depending on your views on the sound of the neck pickup with/without an earthed cover and/or noise issues.

If you wish to perform HOoP with the bass cut on the neck pickup it will be necessary to mod the neck pickup anyway, since hot and earth to the neck pickup need to be reversed for the out-of-phase sound. You no more want the neck pickup cover connected to the hot side of the circuit when phase is reversed, than you would during series connection (assuming the 'normal' version of series connection, where the bridge pickup is the earthed coil and the neck is the hot coil).

I do agree that a separate string ground under the bridge is a sensible precaution on Tele's, rather than relying on the path from the bridge pickup.

Just my opinion/experience.

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5 way switch on a Telecaster ????

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