4 way tele switch - what have I done wrong?

[DazH]

I wired up my tele today & my switxh seems to go: bridge > series > neck > parallel

I need to swap the parallel & series round the other way, what have I done wrong?

[Curly]

hard to say without seeing the wiring, and the schematic you followed

check that you have the third wire - the ground - coming from neck pickup, and properly wired

also, some switches are different, and have the #1 lug below instead of above (or vice versa) -- in which case, your wiring should be "mirrored".
Sorry, I don't know how else to explain that.

[DazH]

Yeah, I have a horrible feeling it neesd to be switched horizontally or vertically. I wired it up really neatly & desoldering it will make it a mess which i'l be gutted about.

I followed this one:

[ArtieToo]

Green #4 is the series link. The only way you could have "series" out of order is if you have #2 or #3 jumpered together. Do you?

[DazH]

I'm not joking, it just fixed itself. I didnt do anything at all! just sat there badly playing some skynyrd repeating the words "bloody thing.." and now it works 100% now I've just gotta finish adjustments & after a good year of work the tele will be finished.

Thanks for the help guys, I genuinely dont know what's happened but it did just suddenly work out of the blue.

[ArtieToo]

Cool . . . but you aren't out of the woods just yet. From that last symptom, I'd say that you might have one of the "bare" wires, which are generally uninsulated, in close proximity to one of the "hot" lugs of either the 4-way, vol or tone pot. Probably, what you heard before wasn't series/parallel per se, but just a short that changed the sound from what you expected.

Look for the problem to return with normal playing vibration. Then open up the guitar and isolate/tie-down that stray wire.

Just a thought.

[DazH]

Thanks mate, i'l check it over but i'm keeping my fingers crossed it stays this way.

[DazH]

bleh, played it this morning & at 1st I thought it was the correct way round still but now it isnt. I genuinely dont know if I just confused the two & it hasnt been working the right way all along.

position 2, to my ears is louder - but it's also much brighter/sparklier
position 4 is dark but not as loud.

maybe I shouldnt be concentrating so much on volume output? my pickups dont match output yet if that makes any difference.

[Curly]

position 4 was a lot louder for me

check that all wires are clear of the switch as it's pushed into place

also, if you are using pickups of different brands of pickups, they can have phase differences

you might check SD's 4 way schematic for comparison

[JumpMarine]

position 4 was a lot louder for me

check that all wires are clear of the switch as it's pushed into place

also, if you are using pickups of different brands of pickups, they can have phase differences

you might check SD's 4 way schematic for comparison

Pos 4 was the same for me, almost P90 like.

[DazH]

it was out of phase when I originally wired it up, I swapped the positive & negative wires round on the neck pickup that connects to the switch. Surely that's not it though? should I have swapped the bridge instead?

[Curly]

I'd suggest posting a pic.

[DazH]

Ok, I think I see it. The part of the switch that is always "on" i.e the metal tab at the end is on my bridge hot lead side, the duncan diagram is the other way around (although neither label which is the always on tab or not - which to be honest they should) & that would leave my neck negative (in this case positive for phase reversal) on the always on point.

I guess I have to reverse the whole switch? ARGH! x200

[DazH]

Out of curiosity. is it possible to wire up a 3 way switch with series in the center instead of parallel?

now I know which one is which, I quite honestly dont like the parallel. The series option is awesome though, exactly the sound I need.

I'm sure hermetico/artie must have a diagram somewhere, i'm sure people have asked about series center 3 way switch before, it's just hard to find via the saerch function.

[ArtieToo]

Doing series with a 3-way is pretty simple. Just do this:

[DazH]

Thanks mate, so there are no jumper wires between any of the connections? just 3 tabs being used only? Also, my pickups are out of phase normally, i'm guessing it doesnt matter which way I switch them.

I'l try it now.

Edit: I havent tried it yet, wont be able to for a couple of hours - i'm looking at my oak 3 way & I cant figure out how it works with your scheme (yeah, no surprises there) the bridge ground is attached to the "always on" tab right? or is it the opposite way (vertically)

looking at the switch I basically get to select 4 tabs (+4 the other side) in sequence of tabs [1+2] [1+3] [1+4] (1 being the always on)

well, that makes it as follows:

[1+2] [bridge ground & ground] [] - surely without any hot this will give me nothing?
[1+3] [bridge ground & ground] [neck hot & volume] - neck is the only hot so neck only?
[1+4] [bridge ground & ground] [neck ground & bridge hot] - bridge is the only hot so I guess bridge?

also [1+3] is the only one with output to volume, I guess I just dont understand these guitar electronics, heh.

[ArtieToo]

Is your switch one of these?

[DazH]

yeah, it's most similar to D in terms of connections. Basically it's A the other way around. What i'm describing as always on tab is what the hand is pointing to.

[ArtieToo]

What i'm describing as always on tab is what the hand is pointing to.

Just for future reference, thats what we call the "common" tab. Its common to all other lugs.

Basically, you're connecting both pups in series. So, only the neck positive goes to "out", and only the bridge gets grounded. The 3-way, then, shorts out each pup. SO, the middle position has no connection.

Like this:

[ArtieToo]

Refresh your browser (F5). I just made one adjustment to the diagram.
Added labels.