3 Selector switches

[HarryBB]

So my with my ibanez im doing up iv been having a dilly of a pickle with the selector switch. i have 2 buckers and a single coil.
i was trying to use a on-on-on DPDT (i think its called)but that just hasn't worked.
so now im trying my luck with on-off-on DPDT, by having 3 of them. one for each pickup. But as you could imagine its a bit annoying having to switch one on and switch the other one off so is there some sort of bypass or something that when i move one into (on) that deactivates the other ones?

OR any help and suggestions with the (on-on-on)?

Peace ☮

[Mark Hammer]

If you want it for rapid switching in a gigging situation then the triple-switch solution is more of an impediment than an assist.

What are the half dozen or so preferred sounds you would like to be able to get, and that you know you use?

As for the exotic stuff, I'll repeat what I've been saying for over 30 years: there are plenty of sounds whose subtle differences are audible when playing at low volumes with clean tone, but their differences completely vanish when the volume gets pumped up even a bit.

So, what sounds remain clearly different from each other under most playing conditions?

[HarryBB]

well iv got an EMG 81 in bridge, seymour duncan lipstick in middle, rockfield fatass at neck.
how will the selector switch change the sound cos im a bit confused about what yo sayin.

[Steve Conner]

I think what mark's trying to say is: 3 switches give you 8 possible tones, but not all of them will be useful (one of them is "no sound at all"!) so you should use a different kind of selector switch that skips the useless ones.

An on-on-on switch won't let you choose between three pickups. It'll give you one, the other, or both, out of two pickups. To select between three pickups you need a 3-way rotary switch, or better still one of the 5-way switches used in Strats.

[drewfx]

How about 2 3-way on-on-on's? Gives you all 7 possible combinations and no "dead" positions:

1. SC, SC+HB's, HB's
2. HB1, HB1+HB2, HB2

There are also rotary 5 and 6-way switches, but I never liked rotaries on a guitar, YMMV

[axpro]

Having done up a few guitars over the years with multiple switches, there are some neat tones, but changing sounds fast isn't an option. (I also had phase switches lol 6 mini switches!)

I'd say use a 5 way blade switch. lets you get the traditional combinations, and is easy and fast to change sounds.

What you haven't seemed to answer, is whether you are looking for specific combinations of pickups??? why were you thinking of 3 single switches originally?

[HarryBB]

hey thanks but iv set it all up and just have 3 on off ons.
thanks

[Mark Hammer]

Correct.

I assume that the use of 3-position toggles is ntended to do stuff like flip the phase of a pickups, or perhaps cancel a coil. As such, the use of 3 switches includes more than the 8 sounds Steve suggests. So, of the several dozen possibilities, which are the ones you like and use a lot?

For example, is it the case that the lion's share of what yu play involves neck, bridge, or both, and the other combinations of pickups and phase/coil are seldom used? Well, then maybe what you want is a standard knife or toggle switch for neck and bridge, and a second one to perhaps cut a coil from the neck in one position and add the middle pickup in another. That wouldn't get you everything the 3 switches currently do, but perhaps it would get you rapid access to the thngs you use the most.

That's what I'm trying to get at.

[David Schwab]

well iv got an EMG 81 in bridge, seymour duncan lipstick in middle, rockfield fatass at neck.
how will the selector switch change the sound cos im a bit confused about what yo sayin.

You do realize that the EMG wont play nice with the two passive pickups, right?

Do you only want to use one pickup at a time?