wiring help - strat switch and a lot of options.

[BarkerBass]

Hello all,
First let me apologise that this is in fact a guitar project, not bass, but wiring is wiring and I need your help.

The theory is that I want to condense a strat and a les Paul into one guitar. The pickups are neck humbuckers middle single coil, bridge humbucker.
The switching intends to be a 5 way pickup selector and a quad mini switch (essential two dpdt using one body, one switch, two positions)

So... http://db.tt/8ojyOts3

Hopefully that link works (even if it doesn't make sense)
So in one position of the quad switch I want the humbuckers to be linked to the 5 way strat switch to allow neck humbucker - 3 lots of both pickups - then bridge humbucker (bear with me) and in the other position of the quad switch it will coil split the humbuckers and insert the strat single coil into the middle position of the 5 way to allow: neck sc - neck and middle sc - middle sc - neck sc and bridge sc - bridge sc. (essentially a strat)

So my question is, I know the coil split is achievable on two parts the quad switch, but I don't know if the other 2 parts can be used to wire the strat sc pickup into the middle position on the 5 way, or wire both humbuckers parallel into the middle position. Sorry if this is confusing I know my scribbled drawing is rushed but I want to get your ideas abs thoughts before the days through. Ask questions if they'll help you help me.

Thoughts? Help is greatly appreciated.

Cheers, BB

[Cadfael]

Indeed confusing ...

I at least know now what the 5 way shall do in one position of the 4PDT (that's how a 2x DPDT is called):
neck sc - neck and middle sc - middle sc - neck sc and bridge sc - bridge sc

But what shall the 5 way positions be when the switch is in the other position???

I can already tell you that the first combination is only possible with a "Super switch" or a "Megaswitch M" (by Eyb/Schaller).

In position 4 (your second) you really want "neck and middle sc" and not "neck sc and middle sc"? This might cause extra problems because then the 4PDT can't be responsible for HB coil splitting! This would already need 3 of the 4 Super Switch layers - or make it impossible.

Best for us:
Tell us what you want

A) 4PDT ON
A5)
A4)
A3)
A2)
A1)

B) 4PDT OFF
B5)
B4)
B3)
B2)
B1)

This makes it less confusing for us ...

[BarkerBass]

Working left to right I'd ideally like:

A) 4PDT ON
A5) NECK HB
A4)
A3)NECK HB + BRIDGE HB
A2)
A1)BRIDGE HB

(A4 and A2 can be anything really but ideally they'd be the same as A3)

B) 4PDT OFF
B5) neck sc
B4) neck sc + middle sc
B3) middle sc
B2) middle sc + bridge sc
B1) bridge sc

Hope that might help, big thanks!

[Cadfael]

I thought about it and I found no solution to do it ...

A "Tele" 3 way switch needs 2 "layers", a "Strat" switch 3 layers.
This means 5 layers, but even Super/Megaswitches have 4 and not 5 ...

What can be done ...
(Layer 1) The Neck HB always works in 5 and 4 ...
(Layer 2) The SC works in 3/4/5. The 4PDT DOWN enables or UP disables layer 2.
(Layer 3) The Bridge HB works in position 1/2 when the 4PDT is DOWN.
(Layer 4) The Bridge HB works in position 1/2/3/4 when the 4PDT is UP.

The 4PDT is also responsible for HB-SC

A) 4PDT ON
A5) NECK HB
A4) NECK HB + BRIDGE HB
A3) BRIDGE HB
A2) BRIDGE HB
A1) BRIDGE HB

B) 4PDT OFF
B5) NECK SC
B4) MIDDLE SC + NECK SC
B3) MIDDLE SC
B2) MIDDLE SC + BRIDGE SC
B1) BRIDGE SC

This can be made ...
For putting both HBs in position 3, you would need a 5th layer ...

EDIT: Here is the wiring diagram as a pdf file.

[BarkerBass]

That is amazing thank you! I'm happy with that switching option on the humbuckers.

Can you clarify if this is with a regular strat switch or a super switch?
The PDF is amazing, thanks for the help, I'm getting excited about the prospects of this coming real.

BB

[Cadfael]

You need a Super Switch or a "MegaSwitch M".
The Super Switch needs more room. It might be a bit easyer where the sliders and where the positions are.
The "MegaSwitch M" needs less room and is really high quality (if it is an Eyb or Schaller). There is a detailed explanation which contact does what ...

In my diagram are the sliders on the left side and the 5 contacts on the right side. It should be easy to wire - even if there are 24 contacts. Maybe use a multimeter to be 100% sure which contact is connected in which position ...

It is not possible to make your wiring with a normal Strat switch ...

- - - - - - -

The 4PDT switch ...
In my diagram the slider connectors are on the left, the positions on the right side.
In reality, the sliders are in the middle. When the switch is up, the middle is connected to the LOWER contact, when it is down, it is connected to the upper ...

- - - - - - -

A WYSIWYG drawing is not only complicated because of the 24 Super Switch contacts but may also confuse. And wiring such a switch without really knowing what you do (and why) can cause big problems when a fault occurs.
So, you better try it your own and "always think about what any why you are doing".

When you have understood my wiring diagram (what happens in the positions), you can surely do the real wiring your own.