# Using a 5 way switch as a 3 way?



## vehemence (Mar 6, 2009)

ok heres my problem. my ibanez has a 5 way selector switch, and i am wiring new blackuts into it. 1 vol, 1 tone, i have a diagram...... im just confused about the selector switch, the diagram shows a 3 way switch..... but i dont want to take out the 5 way or mod my guitar..... anyway to use the 5 way as a 3 way???

*edit* i read that it is possible to wire the 5 way as bridge/bridge/both/neck/neck but i cant find a diagram... this true?


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## scott from _actual time_ (Mar 6, 2009)

vehemence said:


> *edit* i read that it is possible to wire the 5 way as bridge/bridge/both/neck/neck but i cant find a diagram... this true?


yes, i think this will work.

but first--is your Ibanez a H/H two humbucker guitar? then it has the "Special" 5-way switch for two humbuckers. that switch looks like a normal strat-style 5-way, but it's not--it works way different. so you can't use wiring diagrams from any old site to wire it up because those diagrams are all for standard strat-style 5-ways.

if your Ibanez is a H/H guitar, try wiring the bridge hot where it should go on the wiring diagram for your 5-way and the neck hot where it should go. you should still get bridge/??/both/??/neck. what might happen in those middle positions, who knows, but you would still have the other positions.

if your Ibanez is a H/S/H or H/S/S guitar, that means it has a standard strat-style 5-way. in that case, post back and i can describe how i think you could get the bridge/bridge/both/neck/neck with that type of switch.


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## caughtinamosh (Mar 6, 2009)

I do not recommend using a 5 way switch in a 3 way configuration. You will have "dead spots" in positions 2 and 4. This can cause bursts of noise when the knob is moved into these positions that may damage speaker cones. New 3 way swithces are not expensive, so I'd plump for one .


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## vehemence (Mar 7, 2009)

scott from _actual time_ said:


> yes, i think this will work.
> 
> but first--is your Ibanez a H/H two humbucker guitar? then it has the "Special" 5-way switch for two humbuckers. that switch looks like a normal strat-style 5-way, but it's not--it works way different. so you can't use wiring diagrams from any old site to wire it up because those diagrams are all for standard strat-style 5-ways.
> 
> ...




i do believe that it is this switch






if i cant figure out how to wire the ibanez 5 way switch like bridge/bridge/both/neck/neck..... what 3 way switch will fit in it? its an ibanez s series


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## scott from _actual time_ (Mar 7, 2009)

vehemence said:


> i do believe that it is this switch



i think that is a standard strat-style 5-way, from how the contacts on the other side of the circuit board look. here's how to wire it bridge/bridge/both/neck/neck. (which, *caughtinamosh*, will not have any bursts of noise in the in-between positions because they will not be left unconnected. that's what causes that.)

first, how a strat-style 5-way works: it has two sets or banks of four poles. three of the poles are for the bridge, middle, and neck pickups; the fourth is the 'common' or hot output that they all switch to. if you numbered them it would be 3 2 1 0. sometimes the switches even have tiny numbers printed on them.

your switch looks like its poles are 1 2 3 0 0 1 2 3, going across the switch. without testing it with a voltmeter i can't be positive, but i would bet a cold beer on it. you might be able to tell yourself by watching the piece move inside the switch as you switch it.

to wire it b/b/both/n/n, you want to connect the bridge pickup hot wire to poles 3 and 2 in *one* bank of poles (not both). then connect the neck pickup hot wire to poles 2 and 1 of the *other* bank of poles. then connect the hot wire from the volume pot to *both* common poles #0.

it's impossible to tell from your picture if position 3 is all the way toward the neck or toward the bridge. so if you wire it up and the bridge pickup is on when the switch is in the neck position, either rotate the switch inside the guitar, or swap each of your pickup hot wires onto the opposite bank of poles (put the bridge pickup hot wire on the *other* bank's poles 3 and 2, etc).

there ya go--good luck.


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## vehemence (Mar 7, 2009)

its one of the cortek switches, hear are some actual pictures, this is the standard way the humbuckers are wired, sorry for shit quality.






3PS1SC5







thats the actual switch
http://www.seymourduncan.com/images/products/electric/humbuckers/501020-110.pdf
is the diagram for 1 vol, 1 tone....


anyone draw me up a diagram for this? or should i jsut bite the bullet and wait a couple more weeks and buy a 3 way switch


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