Guitar Switches DeMystified

Another Breja ToneWorks (DIY) video - this time we deal with the various type of switches you can add to your guitar circuit. This isn't about your standard 3-Way or 5-Way switches, rather the mini-toggle, sliders or push/pull switches that are available.

[@asdf9890]

Wish this guy was still making videos, they are the single most useful guitar tech videos I've found. No fluff or bs, just straight, concise info.

[@foadrightnow5725]

ASDF - Much agreed! His videos took out all the mystery and confusion of guitar wiring for me. Cheers!

[@foadrightnow5725]

@@JYZProductions - Wow! Such a great channel recommendation! I subbed instantly! Why haven't I heard of this guy sooner? I'm still a huge fan of Breja ToneWorks! Their channels compliment one another! Thanks! Cheers!

[@keithklassen5320]

0:33 SP/ST or Single Pole, Single Throw switches 2:08 SP/DT or Single Pole, Dual Throw switches 2:52 DP/DT or Dual Pole, Dual Throw switches 3:42 DP/DT push/pull pots 4:55 4SP/DT or 4 Single Pole, Dual Throw switches, aka Fender S1 6:06 Alternate DP/DT switch configurations 7:21 Splitting Humbucker Coils 8:09 In/Out Of Phase Thanks for the info! I love how clearly you lay everything out; just a huge fan!

[@joelbourdier87]

This video is abundantly useful, as are your other wiring videos; I've used them for reference for a few years now. They provide all the information I want, and no clutter. I appreciate your work!

[@jaymartinson3236]

These are the best videos on guitar wiring. I had never even soldered before this, but using your videos, I'm currently building an HSS strat pickguard with series/parallel switching for both the humbicker and single coils and a normally open/normally closed killswitch.

[@annawithers6937]

Watching your video tutorials give me the confidence to go for it. Thanks..I'm not intimidated any longer.🎸

[@Findyournextguitar]

Thanks this was really helpful, I was looking for an alternative to the typical les paul toggle switch

[@nojuanatall3281]

This is exactly what I needed to fix the funk switch on my Morley dual bass wah. Thank you so much!

[@yippy327]

Damn! I wish I would've found this a few months ago. This is going in my favorites. You rock, man! Thanks!

[@jameskrys5286]

GFS now has push-push pots. Push on, push off, dpdt. I just purchased two of them for SG rewire. It's sometimes hard to pull that knob up unless you have Tele style knobs.

[@BrejaToneWorks]

Hey James... My only caution to you is to measure the values of the pots before you use them. You want as close to 500K or above as you can get. Lower will make the SGs pickups very bass-heavy (unless you like that tone). I've bought stuff from GFS and other sites but pots are a tricky thing. Sometimes I get lucky - other times I'm off to buy different ones because the values are low. Best of luck... Don

[@DMidNyte]

Thank you so much for your videos. I always had a tech do my wiring. I thought it was complicated. You've shown me that everything comes down to basically two wires. Your concise and easy to follow instructions have made it possible for me to buy my own tools and equipment to do the wiring myself on three different guitars for three different objectives. Thank you so much for putting these videos together and helping me save hundreds of dollars and teaching me some very valuable information in the process

[@DougHinVA]

I wonder whether a mini-toggle switch (6 tabs on the back side) can be used to do ther '7-way Strat Mod' as well as coil split a bridge humbucker at the same time. Demand on the neck pickup and also split the bridge HB at the same time... It would be cheap, effective, and give 2 good results a lot of guys want

[@abhinavguitar]

I am so very thankful for your time and effort in your videos. The information in this one is to the point and very valuable! Thank-you!

[@jesusramonmolinagrijalva6181]

This video its really helpful. I gonna experiment these switches on a musicman clone bass, the pots of tone and coiltap doesnt work anynore, anyway I dont use a mid term pot resistance, or its open full or not, cant tell a detail diference in between. So gonna try simple toggle on off for those wirings.

[@ManseiSon]

I appreciate your videos and all the effort you put into them, but sometimes they bring up more questions than they solve. I learned a long time ago it's POLE, not pull or poll. It would be more informative to see why you're using Double Pole Double Throw (DPDT) switch in the first place. Do we have two wires coming from a single pickup? Are we putting two separate pickup leads, one from each pickup into each of the two poles? What is going into the common(s) in the middle of the switch, and what are going out of the throws, and where are these leads going to out of the switch throws? Showing three lugs on a pot and six locations on a DPDT switch do not clarify much.

[@RichardChau]

Thank you for doing this.

[@tronics666]

BTW: It's Single Pole, Single Throw . Cheers :-)

[@jeremydyar7566]

Damn beet me to it

[@lithium122003]

For alternate DPDT Switches, which wires we should solder to the DPDT (Humbucker Humbucker) and in which pin we should solder to the Potentiometer and Ground ?

[@robertprice9052]

I am putting together a guitar for my son. I don't play, but I have a good understanding on electronics (but not with guitars). Here's what he wants; a Red Special, David Gilmore, Strat, LP hybrid. Here's the build; Strat knockoff body, three hot rail pickups, three on-off-on selectors, and three DPDT to phase switch, a master volume, and two tone (push pull) One for humbuckers, the other when single mode. I've got most figured out, but Im stuck on separating out the tone pots for HB and single on separate tone controls. The push pull part will bring in tone caps for a little extra variety in sound. My question is "Can you draw this out?" any help would be awesome! Thanks

[@haiaokuwa]

This is fantastic! I’d love to explore this in some detail; like a few more examples

[@sayedmohamad7415]

dear sir, how to connect wires to pole in correct way?

[@thephoenixcycle8854]

Interesting with good info. However l want to know more about what they do with all the options. See some guitars that all these switches and knobs and l don't know what they do. I have project guitar that I want to use some switches but i don't all my options on what they do

[@JohnDoe-bl9ck]

Do you have any videos showing how to wire a hot rail strat pick up with a push pull as shown here but also how to wire that pot for a tone control in position closest to volume pot?

[@osmartakashi]

Man, this is a fantastic explanation! Thank you!

[@RRoosa]

Very useful information as always. Thanks.

[@davedupuis2069]

Very well done and understandable. Thanks!

[@janee7995]

6:18 why is that half red half green? Is it connected at that point? As I need a low medium and high setting with 1 switch.

[@kaoe145]

I have a hss Jackson with two knobs I want to coil split and I want to be able to use the bridge and the neck together split and un split

[@noodlehair6566]

hello. I have a question. I am not that knowledgeable about electronics and I am trying to wire an active gain boost to my guitar with a 3-way switch using this configuration: position 1: Guitar pickups ----> Volume pot ----> Gain boost ----> Output position 2: Same as position 1 but with an additional LED battery level indicator connected to the 9v battery position 3: Guitar pickups ----> Volume pot ----> Output (gain boost is bypassed; connection between 9v battery and the gain boost is broken to prevent battery from draining when not in use) what type of 3 way switch do i use and how do i wire it up? thanks

[@harry_mair]

Do you have an explanation on 3pdt switches and uses in guitars. I saw this Ibanez wiring needing a 3pdt and was wondering what that would mean

[@Yvero94]

Your videos are great. This one is really instructive. I have a Tele wired as shown in one your video with bridge, both, neck using a 3 ways switch. I would like to add the possibility to bypass totally the tone pot. Which switch do you recommend I should use and/or is this the best way to do it ? Thank you

[@saz123ful]

Thank you for your videos. I need a little help although.. I have a push-pull tone pot in a strat for 2 capasitors and I want to add a third capasitor. What switch I need and how connect them(I dont want on/on/on to blend 2 caps in middle)? And I have a push-pull volume pot for a treble-bleed and without, and I want to add a second treble-bleed. What switch for this and how I connect them?

[@jamesgourlay6877]

thx! you are a life saver!

[@eddyleger2222]

Hi...im new.....bought a couple freeway-ultra 6 pos toggle.....thank you

[@richard8297]

Excellent informative video.

[@josuegavi]

Hey, awesome videos. I was trying to get why sometimes when in middle position of my 3way blade selector just the bridge pick-up sounds, so I started to watch this videos in order to understand a little better how my guitar is wired. I was wondering what software you use to make the graphics for your videos 'cause I want to make the ones to put together my guitar's wiring. Thanks in advance, I've been learning so much from you, your videos are awesome to learn this stuff.

[@CurtHegel]

what setting do you need the multi meter on to test a on/on/on DPDT switch?

[@Ottonic6]

I believe it is double/single "pole", not "pull".

[@neyfidelrosario4679]

What would be the best way to turn on and off a dummy coil

[@MarcosMendozaJr]

I use a Demon Tube screamer pedal with a 6 lug switch. Up is ts 9 and down is ts 808. Instead of switching, can it be wired to use both sounds at once? No toggle since the sound difference is barely audible. Thanks.

[@DaveViner]

Very handy video!

[@bojanstojadinovic6070]

Guys, i need help! I have 3 single PUs, and a 5 way switch! I want to have a middle and a bridge in series on a 4th(or 2nd) position, depends of point of view! Can i do that without using any other switch or push pull! Thanks!

[@joerox6003]

Can I use one push pull on the volume for coil splitting and another on the tone for the in and out of phase?

[@fotolookconde]

Please Breja Toneworks could you answer this question? Can I swap a 3 way toggle for an alternate DPDT slider switch maintining the same functions as the 3 way toggle? That is because my guitar body it's so thin that the 3 way toggle does not fit properly and the pickguard it's actualy not laying flat on the guitar body! Thanks in advance.

[@brad657]

How can I use a push pull pot to turn on and off a pickup

[@totaltom0001]

Great video!

[@FinleyGaming]

im trying to wire a hh jaguar, with the rhythm circuit to be used as a kill switch, any help here?

[@localbod]

I am a little confused and would welcome any advice or suggestions. I have a USA standard Telecaster (1992 ). I recently fitted a Seymour Duncan ST-59 in the bridge position. I discovered that I needed to swap the black wire ( hot) with the green wire (cold) on the Seymour Duncan for it to be in phase with the Fender neck pick up. I have a 3 way selector and a coil tap on a micro switch. But I want to replace the TBX tone pot ( without an earth !??) with a push pull pot so I can select out of phase for the middle ( parrellel ) position. But I am unsure how to do that.

[@SteveRodgersChannel]

localbod two of the terminals on the TBX should be grounded to itself by a resistor and another 2 grounded to itself by a capacitor.

[@thaatsriight]

I have an s-1 switch that I'd like to install on my strat to make a 7 sound strat. So in the up position the pickup combinations remain unchanged but when the switch is engaged I'd like to get bridge and neck for position 5 and bridge neck and middle for position 4. I'd also like to be able to have both tone controls in the loop (I have already paired the bridge and middle tone controls) can you tell me how I should wire up the s-1 pot?

[@BrejaToneWorks]

Hey Mike... email directly at [e-mail] and I'll give you a hand. Don

[@TMoody]

Very informative ..... thank you.

[@ryanmckenna3088]

brilliant.

[@kokitoxdxd]

dude, how do i know whick is the input and output for dpdt switch??

[@BrejaToneWorks]

+Jorge Ortega Rodriguez Dude :) The middle lugs are typically input and the top/bottom ones are output.

[@Alfgunnarp]

What kind would you recommend for a coil split/tab application? And how do I wire the two wires?

[@BrejaToneWorks]

Normally you'd use a small SDPT or DPDT toggle switch or a Push/Pull DPDT Pot for Splitting Humbuckers. You need to have Humbuckers that have 4-wires if you plan on splitting.

[@Alfgunnarp]

I have a DPDT and a mini humbucker w/4 wires. I tried using your scheme, but it didn`t work... I must have done something wrong. I wired the two (red & green) in the middle tab, and ground to the tab at the end.

[@BrejaToneWorks]

Alf Pedersen Ok... Did you make sure you have the right wires connected? Not every pickup is going to use the same wire scheme. You need to verify with your particular models. Then - when you say it didn't work... what does that mean? What doesn't work? Email me: [e-mail]

[@Alfgunnarp]

Breja ToneWorks Thank you, I`ve sent a mail. :)

[@glennwaters3023]

THANKS YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@PhilORourke]

tnanx

[@darkinertia2]

you should do one on pots!

[@BrejaToneWorks]

darkinertia2 What are you thinking?

[@darkinertia2]

Breja ToneWorks just how theyre used in general, im still confused on what each lug does, dispite how many wiring jobs ive done on my guitars im not exactly sure on how they work, and theres not a clear vid like this for pots

[@fivefingerfullprice3403]

Single Poll

[@spazatron-uu4kb]

Duuude he said buckethead!!!...alright

[@dlees8432]

tytyty

[@stratboy2]

Pole, not Pull!!!

[@poohelmet321]

doo doo