Tele 4 way switching - worth it or not?

axisus · July 2023

Anyone use it/tried it?

I often find that a lot of these fancy switching mods aren't really worth the bother. Anyone consider this worthwhile?

mrkb · July 2023

Yes for me, I use the neck/bridge series setting alot

Winny_Pooh · July 2023

Deffo, it rocks really nicely on a thin sounding tele.

munckee · July 2023

Yep great addition to a teles sound.

springhead · July 2023

I have it on a Tele with a firebird neck pickup and like it for an extra boost. I’ve got the series position one click back from neck only. Works well for me.

Roland · July 2023

Definitely worth it, especially if you’ve got a Strat style neck pickup to ensure that the “both” sound doesn’t get too muddy. You need to disconnect the neck pickup from any earthed cover, and use a two track superswitch so that you can swap the neck pickup direction for parallel and series operation.

All my Teles use @OilCityPickups Wapping Wharf bridge pickups, which are tapped single coils. With a 5way superswitch I can get five useable options. Full bridge, tapped bridge, tapped in parallel, neck, tapped in series.

ElectricXII · July 2023

I had a four way switch on a Roadworn Tele with Tex Mex pickups to give the neck and bridge pickups in series. I never used the extra position as it was too bassy and unblanced compared to the other positions.

Blueingreen · July 2023

Recently got my first Tele, which has four way switching. To be honest I’m not loving the stock Tele sounds and am looking at changing the pickups, possibly a twisted Tele in the neck and a P90 in the bridge. But oddly I do like the series setting. Not sure what I’ll do with it after I change the pickups.

axisus · July 2023

Maybe I'll try it. The complication in the mix is actually that it won't be a Tele, it is a 2 pickup guitar though. It will have two P90s.

OilCityPickups · July 2023

ElectricXII said:

I had a four way switch on a Roadworn Tele with Tex Mex pickups to give the neck and bridge pickups in series. I never used the extra position as it was too bassy and unblanced compared to the other positions.

The usefulness or otherwise of a four way is very much dependant on the characteristics of the individual pickups.

Funkfingers · July 2023

On a Telecaster, I like having the series, in-phase sound but dislike the unsprung four-way selector switch.

Instead, I use either the Freeway 3B3 six-way switch or the Schaller Megaswitch M five-way (circuit SS3).

axisus said:

Maybe I'll try it. The complication in the mix is actually that it won't be a Tele, it is a 2 pickup guitar though. It will have two P90s.

Two P90s, connected in series, tends towards Mud City. Furthermore, one of the pickups will need 2-conductor + shield output cable to be the second coil in the series chain.

ICBM · July 2023

A friend has a Baja Tele which came stock with it. I don't like it. I thought I did when he found a pair of pickups that worked better with it than the stock ones, but he still wasn't loving it so I took it all out and fitted a standard 3-way. It sounds *much* better now.

There is a reason for this - it's that with the way the switching works, the hot end of the neck pickup is still connected to the circuit when the bridge pickup is selected. This slightly alters the sound of the bridge pickup, and also adds noise. In fact, all the positions seem quieter with the neck pickup cover grounded at the pickup end rather than via a separate wire - I'm not sure why.

I've found the same more than once before, either fitting or removing a 4-way - it just doesn't sound as 'right'.

Neilybob · July 2023

I went for Bloodstone 5-way switch mod - adds “dark tone” in position 4 and series/humbucker mode in position 5 when I added a goldfold in the neck of my esquire. Very easy to install.

The dark sound is great for bright amps but is very dark. I do love the series/parallel positions.

Bloodstone also do a 4 way tele switch harness.

http://www.bloodstoneguitarworks.com/shop/telecaster-wiring-loom

CaseOfAce · July 2023

I have it on my recently acquired JV Modified '50s telecaster.
I'm in two minds whether to revert to the standard 3 -way (ICBM's comment has made me more likely to).

The far left neck and bridge in series is supposed to give a bump for solos right? Which would be really useful but for me the increase in volume is never enough to use for that. You also get this sort of honky tone to it...maybe my pickup heights are off...

?

Then again I had my Strat bridge pickup wired to the bottom tone control which would allow possibility of a humbucker sound that everyone says you can get...nope. I'll take Leo's original.

SteveRobinson · July 2023

When they first became popular I used to fit a lot of 4-way switches to Telecasters.

Now I mostly take them out.

Funkfingers · July 2023

CaseOfAce said:

neck and bridge in series is supposed to give a bump for solos, right? Which would be really useful but, for me, the increase in volume is never enough to use for that. You also get this sort of honky tone to it...maybe my pickup heights are off?

I only find the series, in-phase selection of use with high gain overdrive. Roll back the tone control a bit, stomp on a delay pedal, get smooth legato lead sounds.

Although the series signal is louder, I do not think of it as a solo boost. If anything, in series mode, I want to roll the volume off a little.

FWIIW, series out-of-phase is scratchy (THINK Brian May Red Special) and very rarely useful.

•

For me, the critical aspect is habit. I expect Tele switching to be neck PU at one end, both in the middle and bridge PU at the other end.

The Schaller Megaswitch M conforms to this and adds its two other selections in the 2 and 4 positions.

The Freeway 3B3 offers two "banks" of three sounds. One bank is the three you expect, where you expect them. The second bank is the other three possibilities.

Cranky · July 2023

I like mine, but it’s a build, not a mod to an existing setup. I got the proper pickups (CS Texas Specials) to work with it so I didn’t need to modify the neck pickup itself. I don’t think I would bother with the mod if I had to mod the pickup along with the switch wiring. But as is, mine wasn’t difficult to wire and I like the 4th option quite a lot.

Yorkie · July 2023

I added lots of options when I built my Telecaster. Six months later, I only use the bridge pickup on high output mode, and the neck pickup. I am the kind of person who packs a suitcase with 15 t-shirts for a holiday and ends up using 3.

To me, the greatest appeal of the Tele is that it's simple and straightforward.

JayGee · July 2023

OilCityPickups said:

ElectricXII said:

I had a four way switch on a Roadworn Tele with Tex Mex pickups to give the neck and bridge pickups in series. I never used the extra position as it was too bassy and unblanced compared to the other positions.

The usefulness or otherwise of a four way is very much dependant on the characteristics of the individual pickups.

This is of interest to me…

[Eyes unfashionable ‘80s six saddle, top-loader Tele with slightly flaky electrics which is reaching the top of the “to do” list]

…any suggestions on what sort of combination works and what doesn’t?

impmann · July 2023

JayGee said:

OilCityPickups said:

ElectricXII said:

I had a four way switch on a Roadworn Tele with Tex Mex pickups to give the neck and bridge pickups in series. I never used the extra position as it was too bassy and unblanced compared to the other positions.

The usefulness or otherwise of a four way is very much dependant on the characteristics of the individual pickups.

This is of interest to me…

[Eyes unfashionable ‘80s six saddle, top-loader Tele with slightly flaky electrics which is reaching the top of the “to do” list]

…any suggestions on what sort of combination works and what doesn’t?

FWIW, I have a Mojo 52 in the bridge and a Mojo 60s Strat pickup in my green Tele connected to a four way. Sounds ace - and to my ears fitting the 4-way had *no effect* on the sound of the 'regular' sounds. In that guitar I have four very useful sounds.

Funkfingers · July 2023

JayGee said:
[Eyes unfashionable ‘80s six saddle, top-loader Tele with slightly flaky electrics which is reaching the top of the “to do” list]

…any suggestions on what sort of combination works and what doesn’t?

Before contemplating pickup changes, find out what your guitar really sounds like.

Job #1 - Ditch the TBX tone control.

Job #2 - Install a CTS A250k pot as your new tone control.

Maybe, choose a push-pull type. This will make possible some fancy wiring possibilities without making any new holes in your guitar.

thomasw88 · July 2023

I don't like it.. I've had a couple of guitars which had it on and I've swapped it out for a 3 way switch.

I think thats what I like about a tele is having 3 great sounds. Keep it simple...

JayGee · July 2023

Funkfingers said:

JayGee said:
[Eyes unfashionable ‘80s six saddle, top-loader Tele with slightly flaky electrics which is reaching the top of the “to do” list]

…any suggestions on what sort of combination works and what doesn’t?

Before contemplating pickup changes, find out what your guitar really sounds like.

Job #1 - Ditch the TBX tone control.

Job #2 - Install a CTS A250k pot as your new tone control.

Maybe, choose a push-pull type. This will make possible some fancy wiring possibilities without making any new holes in your guitar.

No TBX here - the guitar is the early-to-mid ‘80s “Jeff Buckley” style model and the tone control has since been replaced with a push-pull to switch the Kent Armstrong “Sky” warm rails bridge humbucker between series and parallel coils. I’ve been very happy with that configuration for going on for 30 years but tastes change, I play different stuff now, both of the pickups have become a bit microphonic, the push-pull is a bit tired and occasionally mutes, and I think it’s time to put the guitar back into a more traditional configuration.

The idea of retaining a “more” option with a traditional Tele pickup set appeals though, and the four way, both pickups in series option seems something worth exploring…

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Tele 4 way switching - worth it or not?

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