HSH 5 way switch 1/1

[jakeac5253]

I am fixing a friend's HSH Ibanez with a 5 way Import switch and master vol master tone setup. I am just looking for reassurance because I am new to this configuration.

Does it matter whether you have the hot leads to one side of the switch or the other? Assume all the hot leads are on the bottom instead of the top (which they are) should I switch them?

The middle position is noticeably quieter than the others and I am wondering if I wired it wrong. I have the middle cold lead wired on the side of the switch that has the other cold leads and the hot lead going to ground (because I want the middle pickup out of phase to get those cool 2 and 4 positions. The other 'middle' terminal is empty.

Should I wire the common terminals together and use one lead to the volume pot's input lug? Right now one goes to the back of the pot and one goes to the input. I think not, but I read somewhere about wiring the commons together, so I thought I'd ask.

[jakeac5253]

Anything? I just gave it back to him btw.

[Sweetfinger]

Some of the stock Ibanez 5 way switches have custom wiring switching schemes built into the switches.
FWIW, The info I have is a 5 way with two humbuckers. Looking down from the back of the cavity, the stock wiring is this:
lug 1: bridge pup red
lug 2: jumper to lug 7
lug 3: neck pup red
lug 4: out to volume
lug 5: bridge pup white and black
lug 6: ground
lug 7: neck pup white
lug 8: neck pup black

[drewfx]

because I want the middle pickup out of phase to get those cool 2 and 4 positions.

The commonly referred to "out of phase" positions 2 and 4 aren't, in fact, out of phase. That's a misnomer. The pickups are wired in phase with each other. The phase cancellation comes from the pickups reading the string at different points.

drewfx

[jakeac5253]

The commonly referred to "out of phase" positions 2 and 4 aren't, in fact, out of phase. That's a misnomer. The pickups are wired in phase with each other. The phase cancellation comes from the pickups reading the string at different points.

drewfx

Not sure I completely understand what you are saying. It sounds like you are correct for the traditional setup. I was referring to switching the positive and negative leads for the middle pickup, at which points the pickup would indeed be out of phase with the others and would cancel the shared frequencies (mostly the fundamentals because as you said they see different parts of the string and as thus very different tonal curves). At least this is my understanding of it.

[drewfx]

If by traditional, you mean Strat-style 5 way switching, yes that's what I was talking about.

It's a very common myth that the middle pickup is wired out of phase on a Strat to get that "quack" in positions 2 and 4 - it isn't.

Wasn't sure if you were aware of that or not when you mentioned out of phase, and those "cool 2 and 4 positions". My bad if you already knew this...

drewfx

[jakeac5253]

Some of the stock Ibanez 5 way switches have custom wiring switching schemes built into the switches.
FWIW, The info I have is a 5 way with two humbuckers. Looking down from the back of the cavity, the stock wiring is this:
lug 1: bridge pup red
lug 2: jumper to lug 7
lug 3: neck pup red
lug 4: out to volume
lug 5: bridge pup white and black
lug 6: ground
lug 7: neck pup white
lug 8: neck pup black

Wow, that is definitely different than how his was wired when he gave it to me. I don't know how I would find out the standard wiring for his particular switch, but I wired it according to the standard Import switch configuration and it sounded fine to me except for the middle pickup being a bit quieter. I've never wired singles before so that's what I was asking about. Could be that I wired it correctly and it is just quieter because it is a single.