Greenstep Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 (edited) Hi all So, my prestige elite (joking) Squier Bullet 5-way pickup selector was bad to start with, but is getting worse. Rather than a simple replacement, I'm thinking of going the individual pickup toggle switch route. That way, I could just turn on whichever pickup I want, in whatever combination. For buzz-killing effect (like my playing isn't a buzz-kill in itself, lol) neck + mid, or mid + bridge, or neck + bridge. Is that stupid, is there an even better but still simple to wire solution, and where would you order switches from please? If relevant, the pickups are 3 basic single-coils. I never change pickups mid-song. TIA Greenstap Edited November 23, 2023 by Greenstep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 Think carefully before committing to this. The current 5-way switch has been designed so that there is never a case of 'no pick-up selected'. With individual 'on/off' switches for each pick-up, that will no longer be the case. What will happen when all pick-ups are 'off'..? This could be problematic, with buzzing or odd noises going to the amp. A solution to this would be to ground the 'off' pick-up, but this will affect the other, selected, pick-ups. Not easy, I'd say; I'd go for replacement of the duff switch with a decent, reliable, new one. I can't think of a simple solution to having all pick-ups 'off'; maybe someone else has that gift..? Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randythoades Posted November 24, 2023 Share Posted November 24, 2023 20 hours ago, Dad3353 said: Think carefully before committing to this. The current 5-way switch has been designed so that there is never a case of 'no pick-up selected'. With individual 'on/off' switches for each pick-up, that will no longer be the case. What will happen when all pick-ups are 'off'..? This could be problematic, with buzzing or odd noises going to the amp. A solution to this would be to ground the 'off' pick-up, but this will affect the other, selected, pick-ups. Not easy, I'd say; I'd go for replacement of the duff switch with a decent, reliable, new one. I can't think of a simple solution to having all pick-ups 'off'; maybe someone else has that gift..? Hope this helps. I agree with @Dad3353, this seems like an overly complex way of switching and definitely a danger of switching everything off by mistake and causing an issue. It would be a much easier job to wire in a fresh decent 5 way switch, or even one of the fancy 7 way 'Gilmour mod' switching options that give ability use bridge and neck pickups together etc with a push pull pot. There will be wiring diagrams online and it can't be that hard to do (or just buy a replacement harness that will also then upgrade the Squier control pots) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardMarlowe Posted December 12, 2023 Share Posted December 12, 2023 TBH, when it comes to something in the Strat mould, I would tend just to replace the whole lot (with a new plate, ideally, if you can get one that fits right). That way if it doesn't work out as planned, it is a matter of a few screws and a single soldering end with the jack socket to revert to standard. Handy if you wanted to sell later on and not lose on the cost of those mods - or I suppose you could also sell the original plate and put tht towards offsetting the cost of the changes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted December 27, 2023 Share Posted December 27, 2023 Its a lot of faff for not a lot of extra benefit. Why not get a semi super switch from Seymore Duncan? I have them installed on all my strats and they allow bridge and neck pickup combinations instead of the solo middle pickup setting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tele-strat owner Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 Huh ugh, new pickguard with Alnicov 5`s saving the old pickups as/for or exchanging whole new pick guard all switches replaced, I am in agreement with dad3353 and others a ton of work for accident prone off/on, why run through that amount of rewiring creating headaches later. But hey I will stand beside your choice to do it if, you chose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pbassred Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 I did this on my partscaster years ago -except its 4 switches. I think i actuaĺy inverted the phase on one of them. You can have all the pickups on at the same time or even use 1 & 3, which is impossible on a 5-way. Its a gimmic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musical Mystery Tour Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 (edited) I'd be inclined to just bang a new switch in. The only advantage/disadvantage (depending on how you look at it) of going with individual switches is that you could choose their placement and thus get rid of the one major problem the Strat design has - that of the switch being conveniently placed for changing stuff mid song, but unfortunately also in the ideal position to get accidentally knocked into a different selection when playing rhythm - which is something I personally find fecking annoying on the Stratocaster. The pick up toggle switch positioning is far better on the Telecaster and the Les Paul. Leo got most things right, but he dropped the ball on the Strat selector switch positioning. Edited March 6 by Musical Mystery Tour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
