Individual Pickup Selection

These modifications DO alter the appearance of your guitar.
Switches above show:
Neck = off
Middle = "positive"
Bridge = "negative"
I.e. middle and bridge are selected and out of phase

There are actually three slightly different modifications that fall into this category. The modifications all share one common feature; the factory pickup select switch is replaced by three sub-miniature toggle switches. Each switch controls one pickup independent of all the others. Each pickup can be set for "normal phase" (switch up), turned off (switch centered), or set to "reverse phase" (switch down). Note that, while I've quit building these particular modifications because I didn't find the phasing to be that tonally useful, I do like the way the three toggle switches work (you'll find this same theme in my series/parallel switching mods, for example). Not only do you get more pickup combinations (neck/bridge, neck/middle/bridge) -- I find it very fast to switch between the various combinations and very easy to tell at a glance (or with a touch) which pickups are selected.

The sealed (or at least enclosed) toggle switches are also much less prone to failure than are the open "knife" rotary switches used by the factory.

Each of the modifications will allow you to select any of the following 13 pickup combinations (there are actually more positions than this but the others are functionally duplicates of these):

Here is a description of each of the variations on this modification. I did each of the below modifications on the same guitar. First, I did first modification. Later, I decided I wanted more control over the tone so I added the additional switch for the second version. Still later, I put a 4-wire humbucker in the bridge. When I did that, I put a rotary switch (to control the humbucker) where the volume control was, moved the volume control down one hole, and went to a single master tone.

• Versatile selection with tone on bridge and neck: One tone control is wired directly to the neck pickup, the other directly to the bridge pickup. The tone controls are only activated when the respective pickup is selected.
  • Parts Required:
    • Three - DPDT subminiature toggle switches (on-off-on).
    • Two tone capacitors (0.01uf & 0.02uf with 250k pots, 0.02uf & 0.033uf with 500k pots)
  • Existing Parts Removed:
    • Pickup select switch
    • Original tone capacitor
• Versatile selection with separately switched tone: An extra switch is used to allow independent selection of the tone controls.
  • Parts Required:
    • Four - DPDT subminiature toggle switches (on-off-on).
    • Two tone capacitors (0.01uf & 0.02uf with 250k pots, 0.02uf & 0.033uf with 500k pots)
  • Existing Parts Removed:
    • Pickup select switch
    • Original tone capacitor
• Versatile selection with a single (master) tone: A single tone control is used with all pickup combinations.
  • Parts Required:
    • Three - DPDT subminiature toggle switches (on-off-on).
  • Existing Parts Removed:
    • Pickup select switch
    • One of the original tone pots (on Strats with two tone controls)

I used sub-miniature (tiny) toggle switches with plain cylindrical chrome shafts and mounted them where the factory pickup select switch was. Mount them side by side, with the bodies touching, and they will not have much tendency to rotate in the mounting holes. Mount them so that the toggle is up for "positive" phasing and down for "negative" phasing. Mount the switches in a logical order; front switch for neck pickup, middle switch for middle pickup, rear switch for bridge pickup.

The switches are quite small -- here's a tip and a picture to make soldering all those wires easier:

Phase Switch Wiring
NOTE: For the version with tone controls on neck and bridge, you can attach the leads to the bridge tone circuit at "C" and "D" and those to the neck tone circuit at "A" and "B"

• Mount all the switches on the pickguard.
• Remember that the terminals for toggle switches are "backwards." Ie., the terminals on the "left" side of the switch are shorted to the common center terminals when the toggle is pointing to the right.
• Solder the wires to the center (common) terminals of all the switches first.
• For each of the wires from the pickups:
  • Strip and tin about 1" at the end of the wire.
  • Slip the wire through the eyelet of one switch terminal (slip it all the way up almost to the insulation) and solder it.
  • Slip a thin piece of heatshrink or other thin insulation over the free end (just long enough to cover the wire where it will cross over the center terminals).
  • Cross the free end of the wire over the center terminals to connect to the opposite "side" of the opposite "pole." (The two wires from each pickup will form an "X" arched over the center terminals of the switch.)