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What rotary switch for 3 pickup switching?

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  • What rotary switch for 3 pickup switching?

    So I'm doing a 3 pickup bass and I'm planning on using a rotary switch for pickup selection, I'm wanting to have Neck, Neck/middle, Neck/bridge, middle, middle bridge, bridge, all pickups on and then a mute position. What rotary switch would I need to do that, also what order would you put them in if it was your instrument, I'm mainly trying to figure out where to put the neck and bridge position.

  • #2
    You're switching 3 pickups, so need 3 poles. You have 8 positions, so need an 8 way switch. It's easier to visualize this if you think of it as three separate rotary switches of 1 pole/8 way. Do yourself a drawing (I just did to see how it works out). Getting an 3 pole/8 way switch may be tricky. You may find it easier to get a 3-wafer switch, each on being 1 pole/8 way. You'll need a slimline version to fit in the body.

    You're not limited to switching order, but my own preference would be; neck, neck+middle, middle, middle+bridge, bridge, neck+bridge, neck+middle+bridge, mute.

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    • #3
      You are going to be hard pressed to find such a switch; at least at anything resembling a reasonable price.

      For reasons potentially linked back to the good old days when TVs only had 12 possible channels, and you changed channels with a rotary switch, the majority of commercial rotary switches will have some combination of 12 contacts, roughly. So, it could be a 1-pole 12-position switch, a 2-pole 6 position, 3-pole 4-position, or 4-pole 3-position. Others most certainly exist, but this is what's going to be available in most places.

      Given that, you may want to either scale back your expectations for switching overall, or scale back what you want to do with one switch. So, if you got a 3-pole, 4-position switch, you could easily wire it for neck, neck+bridge, bridge, none. Add a single toggle (or a control pot with a push-pull switch) for the middle pickup, and you have all your desired possibilities, including a silent position. Make that suggested extra toggle a 3-position DPDT on-off-on, and you could also put the middle pickup out of phase with whatever the main switch provides.

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      • #4
        Why do you want to use a rotary switch?

        Rotary selector switches for more than 3 or 4 positions are not that practical. Changing from one position to another requires too much time and attention for quick and accurate sound changes.

        And unless you have some sort of accurate pointer knob and dial plate, you will never know what position the switch is in unless you switch all the way to one end and count positions as you switch back through them.

        There must be 50 different 3-pickup Strat schemes out there, any of which would work for your bass. 3 individual switches, 3 way lever with a separate middle pickup switch, two 3 way lever switches, etc., etc.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by 52 Bill View Post
          Why do you want to use a rotary switch?

          Rotary selector switches for more than 3 or 4 positions are not that practical. Changing from one position to another requires too much time and attention for quick and accurate sound changes.

          And unless you have some sort of accurate pointer knob and dial plate, you will never know what position the switch is in unless you switch all the way to one end and count positions as you switch back through them.

          There must be 50 different 3-pickup Strat schemes out there, any of which would work for your bass. 3 individual switches, 3 way lever with a separate middle pickup switch, two 3 way lever switches, etc., etc.
          I wanted to use a rotary switch because I didn't want to have one switches function be dependent on another switch, eg a strat 5 position with a bridge switch. I was planning on using a chickenhead knob and dial plate. I'd be fine with 7 position and then use my tuner as a mute switch. The plan was stacked volume/tone and a rotary selector switch.

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          • #6
            There are modular switches where you can assemble the wafers to get what you need, but they're too deep for a bass. Somewhere lying around I have some 24 position switches, so it's likely that any division of 24 is available as a single wafer - so that would give you 3 pole/8 way as a version if you can find it.

            The most probable (and easy to source) switch would be a 3-wafer 1 pole/12 position and set the adjustable stop to give 8 positions. But again, the depth would be the challenge.

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            • #7
              C4D0312N-A Electroswitch | Mouser
              Would that work?

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Will_White View Post
                Do you have at least 1.36" cavity height?
                (.792" for first deck, .284" for each additional deck.)
                DON'T FEED THE TROLLS!

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                • #9
                  Electrically it will work.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by rjb View Post
                    Do you have at least 1.36" cavity height?
                    (.792" for first deck, .284" for each additional deck.)
                    I have atleast a 1.38" cavity depth more likely closer to 1.48" so looks like it will fit but just barely.

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                    • #11
                      I'm not a bass player, so this is an entirely naive question: what proportion of the string length is actually above the planned 3 pickups?

                      I ask because the value added by multiple pickups is largely a function of the degree of tonal contrast they provide. The contrast, in turn, is a function of how much relative distance lies between the pickups, such that different harmonic nodes/strengths occur at those different points. One case where you notice this is in guitars that have additional frets. I have a 24-fret guitar in mny home at the moment (a surprisingly playable-for-the-money Samick), and the additional 2-3 frets nudge the neck pickup farther back enough that, even though it is a Strat-style body, there is simply no point to having a middle pickup.; the spacing between neck and middle, or middle and bridge, would be negligible. So they skipped the middle pickup.

                      Which leads me to the question of whether there will be sufficient tonal contrast between the various pickups and planned combinations that it will be worth your while to go to these lengths finding some expensive switch that may not do more for you than turning the tone control down.

                      But again, I have no idea what sort of bass this is, how long the neck is, etc.

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                      • #12
                        A cheap alternative, if you are planning on playing the pickups either by themselves, or in parallel with other pickups?
                        Separate on and off switches for each pickup.
                        You can get any combo with the on off switches, and they are small and cheap.
                        Or you can use a metal plate and switches like on a Jazz Master guitar.
                        Those parts are readily available.
                        On the Pickup locations, usually a bridge pickup, and a middle pickup.
                        The Neck pickup is usually dropped because that location is usually Muds-ville.
                        However there has been opportunities that a neck pickup would be neat to have and most basses have plenty of room.
                        GL,
                        T
                        Last edited by big_teee; 06-13-2015, 09:49 PM.
                        "If Hitler invaded Hell, I would make at least a favourable reference of the Devil in the House of Commons." Winston Churchill
                        Terry

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Mark Hammer View Post
                          I'm not a bass player, so this is an entirely naive question: what proportion of the string length is actually above the planned 3 pickups?

                          I ask because the value added by multiple pickups is largely a function of the degree of tonal contrast they provide. The contrast, in turn, is a function of how much relative distance lies between the pickups, such that different harmonic nodes/strengths occur at those different points. One case where you notice this is in guitars that have additional frets. I have a 24-fret guitar in mny home at the moment (a surprisingly playable-for-the-money Samick), and the additional 2-3 frets nudge the neck pickup farther back enough that, even though it is a Strat-style body, there is simply no point to having a middle pickup.; the spacing between neck and middle, or middle and bridge, would be negligible. So they skipped the middle pickup.

                          Which leads me to the question of whether there will be sufficient tonal contrast between the various pickups and planned combinations that it will be worth your while to go to these lengths finding some expensive switch that may not do more for you than turning the tone control down.

                          But again, I have no idea what sort of bass this is, how long the neck is, etc.
                          Pickup Spacing is going to be pickups under 24th "fret" node, around the P bass position, then halfway between the 60s and 70s j position, at least that's the plan. It's a 35 1/4" scale 5 string build I'm in the planning stage of.
                          And +1 on the Samick's being surprising playable for the money, my current main bass is a Samick 4 string even though I have a nice fender.
                          Last edited by Will_White; 06-14-2015, 04:45 AM.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by big_teee View Post
                            A cheap alternative, if you are planning on playing the pickups either by themselves, or in parallel with other pickups?
                            Separate on and off switches for each pickup.
                            You can get any combo with the on off switches, and they are small and cheap.
                            Or you can use a metal plate and switches like on a Jazz Master guitar.
                            Those parts are readily available.
                            On the Pickup locations, usually a bridge pickup, and a middle pickup.
                            The Neck pickup is usually dropped because that location is usually Muds-ville.
                            However there has been opportunities that a neck pickup would be neat to have and most basses have plenty of room.
                            GL,
                            T
                            I thought about using three switches, and I might still; just trying to see what my options are, I'm in the planning stages of this build so nothing is set in stone yet.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              This isn't for this build, but what is needed to do this with three individually buffered signals, eg. Three pickups with isolated tone and volume controls.

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