How to Install a Fender Telecaster 4-way Switch with Mod

[@steverolfeca]

I love 4-ways on Telecasters! I’d never heard of this mod until I tried a Baja Tele at a GC in the States. It’s like getting a middle humbucker, without losing any of the regulat Tele tones.

[@b.rodclark7349]

I rewired my black Tele 3 years ago with a premium kit that included a 4-way switch and it's still going strong; the tele neck pickup shorted out so I replaced it with a Strat pickup and now it's been swapped for a P90 that fattens up the series mode with the retained bridge pickup and I love it!

[@landonbailey]

Nice! I should do a p90 neck some day

[@McMagpie]

Did you add a metal/Nickel cover to the strat or p90 pickup? Considering that's the wire that needs to go to the switch...

[@b.rodclark7349]

@@McMagpie no. You don't necessarily have to have that extra ground wire unless you have a metal cover to solder it to.

[@lruddy8820]

Got my first obsidianwire kit this week because of your videos

[@landonbailey]

hey cool! how did it go?

[@lruddy8820]

@@landonbailey the website was easy to navigate and the 7way strat switch was shipped same day but thats as far as i got in the process

[@thseed7]

I hope all of these short, mod videos end up sucking up millions of views, subscriptions and likes. I found your channel while looking for Telecaster pickup information a couple years ago. Your camera angles and explanations have gotten so damn good. Great resource material 🤘🎸

[@landonbailey]

oh hey thanks! the full videos can be very long, so I thought I'd break up all the important parts into small chunks. they should be helpful over time. cheers!

[@Ryanvatz]

This has been a great tips series!

[@landonbailey]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Shaun.Stephens]

Great video, thanks. My MrGlyn Cruel Mistress pickups are wired with two conductor shielded wire, the shield is grounded to the pickup cover and soldered to the black wire at the other end. So it's easy to just unsolder them where they're joined (in the control cavity) and then insert them in the correct places in the ObsidanWire connector block.

[@landonbailey]

I haven't heard of that brand. nice!

[@Shaun.Stephens]

@@landonbailey They're hand wound in New Zealand, it's a small one-man business. He does two Telecaster sets, the ones I have (Cruel Mistress) are the 'hot' ones. Google will find him if you're interested. The Cruel Mistress are demoed on youtube somewhere... Just found it for you. :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/hV6ckqJ3jNSnjKM

[@McMagpie]

Blowing on hot solder creates a 'cold joint'.. which will give you a matte looking finish and possibly not have a solid connection to the wire in the joint(ie: be able to pull out/wiggle arround)

[@doneriksen5599]

Another great shorts videos! Thanks Landon.

[@landonbailey]

it's so warm here this fall I can't wear pants

[@doneriksen5599]

@@landonbailey LOL! Thanks for the laugh. :)

[@michaelolz]

My dad taught me an amazing trick if you're concerned about wearing away wooden screw holes. Take a small piece of a toothpick and place it in the hole where you're going to be placing the screw. Make sure it's just long enough to where it won't be coming through the top. Toothpicks are great where they're tapered on the ends so you don't need a very long piece. Just a little one. And that's it! Just screw the screw the screw the screw...(I'll stop) back in and you're done! It holds very well, particularly if you're working with really soft or not very dense woods.

[@landonbailey]

I've done that on strap button holes. it works!

[@Ottophil]

@@landonbailey damn. I did that trick on a neck once. It did not hold

[@brendanf8969]

Great tip with the tape!

[@NHail]

i saw a video for a series mod on a jaguar where they snipped the ground and added wire to the bridge pickup? any reason it would be different as opposed to the neck pickup on this tele?

[@landonbailey]

I have no idea

[@clint4004]

I'm pulling some squire Tele pickups to solder on push back wire ..I figure it will make a small improvement..

[@landonbailey]

ya I don't know if that would make any noticeable difference, other than wire strength and quality.

[@clint4004]

@@landonbailey I have swapped the pots to CTS and cap is a brown drop .047...and just not a fan of the tiny wires but the pick-ups sound good to me..

[@landonbailey]

ah cool! I thought you just changed the wires and nothing else :)

[@dejadejayoutube]

dave onorato suggested to use velcro for that string seperation hack, but your tape method looks as effective + we all have a bit of tape laying aboot. cool mod too🤘

[@landonbailey]

Great tip! ya the tape left some residue on the strings

[@billconnolly5604]

I wanted to update my MIM Telecaster, but wasn’t sure what pickups I wanted and how hard it would be to solder. I watched some of your videos and ended up taking the easy way with the Obsidian 4 way, paired with Vintage style pickups. My Tele never sounded so good. Thanks for the videos!

[@landonbailey]

Nice!

[@Terrysoddy]

What adjustments do you need to do to fit the custom universal for tele in a squire

[@JGAbstract]

Just bought a 4 way switch plate and had the 64' pick ups in my Amazon cart but ended up getting open box seymour duncan vintage tele pick ups at a big discount instead. I really wanted genuine fender but open box seymours were at too big of a discount.

[@robertpowell7319]

Blowing on it does two things. One good and one not-so-good. Blowing will help prevent you from inhaling the fumes. It also has potential of prematurely cooling off the solder joint.

[@landonbailey]

that sucks!

[@williamdon3442]

Dude I was struggling struggling with my obsidian four way. I had my second neck ground going to what gets clipped Upon further inspection tone rider has a small amount of solder there for this mod. I’m at a point where I just don’t want to play guitar but how to fix, set up etc… thank you

[@landonbailey]

glad it helped!

[@eddiejr540]

Landon... I really should get a set of those “helping hands” cuz my 6 yr old whines that it gets too hot and burns her fingers...kids nowadays!!!!

[@landonbailey]

kids are the worst!

[@nocturnal101ravenous6]

Nice love the tutorial, great job Also would love to see you hit up Stew Mac or Dragonfire to make your own custom pickup sets. Try some DImarzio's Strat - True Velvet, Area sets, and for Tele they have the true velvet, Area sets.

[@landonbailey]

hey thanks! so many options out there

[@ZitherBeast]

Cool video Landon. I guess I'm back.

[@landonbailey]

de-subbed!

[@JGAbstract]

Hey landon, where did you get that yellow cable? My first time buying pick ups. Do they come with an extra wire?

[@landonbailey]

I probably had extra from a previous project

[@TheChristafershawn]

What were the pickups you took out....stock?

[@landonbailey]

check out the full video in the description. it's all there! :)

[@drlegendre]

3:20 - First, thank you for not saying "heighth".. it's stupid. Also, I've literally soldered many thousands of connections, and have never found any issue with blowing on them. Maybe it's because I exclusively use SN63 solder, as opposed to the common (kinda lousy, imho) SN60 aka 60/40 stuff.

[@jimbaaab]

Thanks, man. Just about to attempt this 🤞

[@landonbailey]

You got this!

[@vanshankguitars]

I did that mod on a tele I made almost completely out of oak. Sold it to an old friend of mine.

[@landonbailey]

nice!

[@emanuelpbjj]

Awesome!

[@landonbailey]

Thanks!

[@BoundaryElephant]

I love the low level inane patter mixed in with the video content.

[@timothytobin1481]

Break off some wooden toothpicks in those screw holes before putting your screws back in and they'll hold fine.

[@landonbailey]

for the pickguard screws?

[@timothytobin1481]

@@landonbailey Yes. Into any wooden hole that accepts a screw. (I don't mean for this to sound dirty. lol!)

[@Philc231]

Show a normal hook up . Not solderless

[@3cardmonty602]

I got grounded by my wife for modding my Telecaster. I changed the color of my Tele from Blonde to Purple w/an arm cut & a belly carve. Took 2.5 pounds off of it though.

[@landonbailey]

😆