# How does a standard 5 way toggle switch work?



## silentrage (Jan 13, 2009)

I'm so freakin confused here, I'm trying to wire up a pair of buckers with 1 volume 1 tone and 5 way toggle switch, and I can't for the love of god figure out which pins on the 5 way switch correspond to which positions of toggling,
help please?!?!?!


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## WarriorOfMetal (Jan 13, 2009)

there are a few different 5-way switch designs out there. can you post a pic of the one you have?


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## silentrage (Jan 13, 2009)

http://www.seymourduncan.com/pdfs/support/schematics/2hb_1vol_5way.pdf

http://www.schecterguitars.com/schematic/schecter_BLACKJACKS.pdf

I'm looking at these trying to figure out which pins are getting connected to hot when you go to each position but it's killing my mind. arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. 
If anyone can help me, it's you ari.


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## Andrew_B (Jan 13, 2009)

first off, its a 5way blade switch... not toggle...

second off, that second wiring diagram shows exactly how the lugs are layed out,
front lug is on the left, that will be active when the switch is in the rear position.
rear lug is to the right, that will be active when the switch is pushed to the front.
you can guess what those middle ones are for i hope..

lol 

should do a search here and on project guitar.... or go all out and google it... hell of alot of info out there if you look


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## silentrage (Jan 13, 2009)

Andrew_B said:


> first off, its a 5way blade switch... not toggle...
> 
> second off, that second wiring diagram shows exactly how the lugs are layed out,
> front lug is on the left, that will be active when the switch is in the rear position.
> ...



I did search on google, for like 2 hours, but nothing actually explains which lug does what, there are 8 lugs and only 5 positions, that's what confuses me.
Will you please kindly explain that part? Sorry I'm not very electronically inclined.


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## Andrew_B (Jan 13, 2009)

ahh so your not just looking to wire it up? your wanting to know physics behind it?

well man... you gotta tell us what the switch is....


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## silentrage (Jan 13, 2009)

Andrew_B said:


> ahh so your not just looking to wire it up? your wanting to know physics behind it?
> 
> well man... you gotta tell us what the switch is....



I wanna know which lug is being connected on which position because I don't wanna use any existing diagrams but use my own.
It's the exact switch you see in the blackjack diagram.


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## Andrew_B (Jan 13, 2009)

the switch in the blackjack diagram is a drawing 

Unusual 5-way switch - Seymour Duncan User Group Forums

5-way Guitar Switches Explained

Schematic of actual 5 way switch - Jemsite

Opinions: 3-way Vs. 5-way - Fender Stratocaster Guitar Forum

http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://www.alloutput.com/Wiring/5_way_switch.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.guitarguru.net/&usg=__PtjU-Sg6Jp3zyTw7zPVuBAUxMEY=&h=415&w=560&sz=28&hl=en&start=1&sig2=vYelR64jXYVTh8mwGrYajQ&um=1&tbnid=xiBcwh2dfL_6wM:&tbnh=99&tbnw=133&ei=hkttSYXECIyUswKXpPGnBA&prev=/images%3Fq%3D5%2Bway%2Bswitch%2Bexplanation%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

YouTube - Jackson Dinky Dk2 pickup selector switch wiring explained

Can someone explain the Schecter C-1 5 way mega switch? - Jam Session - The Guitar Player's Discussion Forum

CRAIG'S GIUTAR TECH RESOURCE - Wiring Diagrams


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## silentrage (Jan 13, 2009)

my god I just figured it out, out of the 8 lugs, 1 is hot, 2 are grounds, the rest are the 5 positions. *Sigh*

I'm just gonna post it here for future reference.
I don't know if 5 way switches are usually a bad acid brainfuck to the face, but this blackjack 1 sure as hell is.

Position 1 on switch (neckward): lug 2 goes to hot
Position 2 on switch: lugs 1 and 7 go to hot
Position 3 on switch: lug 1 goes to hot
Position 4 on switch: lugs 2 and 5 go to hot
Position 5 on switch (bridgeward): lug 1 goes to hot again

This is straight from my trusty multimeter, oh multimeter, why didn't I think of you sooner.


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## WarriorOfMetal (Jan 14, 2009)

silentrage said:


> http://www.seymourduncan.com/pdfs/support/schematics/2hb_1vol_5way.pdf
> 
> http://www.schecterguitars.com/schematic/schecter_BLACKJACKS.pdf
> 
> ...



if i still had that guitar here to look at, i could figure it out easy...that's a different switch design than anything i have on hand here, though. has it arrived yet? (hadn't even realized it was you who posted this thread, too )


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## 7 Dying Trees (Jan 14, 2009)

There's loads of switching options you can do. Normally the ones I buy have 2-4 independant sets of plates with 6 lugs on each. 5 input lugs, one output. I find them easier to wire, and allow for loads of retarded wiring


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## silentrage (Jan 14, 2009)

WarriorOfMetal said:


> if i still had that guitar here to look at, i could figure it out easy...that's a different switch design than anything i have on hand here, though. has it arrived yet? (hadn't even realized it was you who posted this thread, too )



Yeah, it arrived with no damage.  
Took me like 7 hours to figure out how the freakin switch works, 2#$%[email protected]#[email protected]##^#%^!!~```eleven

There's 1 little thing though, 1 of the metal rings that holds the strings right behind the bridge popped out when I was putting on a string, do I just super glue that sucker back in?



7 Dying Trees said:


> There's loads of switching options you can do. Normally the ones I buy have 2-4 independant sets of plates with 6 lugs on each. 5 input lugs, one output. I find them easier to wire, and allow for loads of retarded wiring



This one appears to just have 1 plate(?) with 8 lugs. 
1 output, 2 grounds, 5 inputs, but the inputs are all freakin retarded, see my previous post.


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## WarriorOfMetal (Jan 14, 2009)

silentrage said:


> Yeah, it arrived with no damage.
> Took me like 7 hours to figure out how the freakin switch works, 2#$%[email protected]#[email protected]##^#%^!!~```eleven
> 
> There's 1 little thing though, 1 of the metal rings that holds the strings right behind the bridge popped out when I was putting on a string, do I just super glue that sucker back in?



cool, would you mind giving me iTrader feedback for it? should be in the original for sale thread.


the ferrules were never glued in...just press it back into place. don't worry about it, that happened to me a couple times, too.


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## silentrage (Jan 14, 2009)

WarriorOfMetal said:


> cool, would you mind giving me iTrader feedback for it? should be in the original for sale thread.
> 
> 
> the ferrules were never glued in...just press it back into place. don't worry about it, that happened to me a couple times, too.



Oh @#$% I forgot about the iTrader thing. Going now.

I just finished installing the pups, gonna be playing around with it for a while. 
The upper fret access is terribad, lol, but it should kill for rhythm, we'll see.


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## scott from _actual time_ (Jan 15, 2009)

silentrage said:


> This switch appears to just have 1 plate(?) with 8 lugs. 1 output, 2 grounds, 5 inputs, but the inputs are all freakin retarded, see my previous post.


the 5-way switches used in most two-humbucker guitars are _not_ standard strat-style 5-ways, so that does often throw people for a loop. they have weird connections in the middle positions to give neat combinations of the different humbucker coils that aren't possible with a strat-style 5-way. 

the best thing is to go straight to the manufacturer's wiring diagram, like the Schecter one *silentrage* posted. the Ibanez special 5-way for two humbuckers is completely different from this one, so it requires an Ibanez diagram. they all look like strat-style switches on the outside, but on the inside they're totally different.


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