More holes than I can handle

[ihasmario]

Hey WeirdBits, great diagrams. I see how you're doing it now with the push/pulls. Very inventive.

What's the best way to check the wires? Hook them up to a multimeter and tap the coil with a screwdriver?

Is there any alternative to the 4p3t on/on/on? For example, can I use a 3 pos 4 pole rotary instead or is there a problem getting them into hollow bodies up the top?

Otherwise is a Switchcraft Right Angle 'Double Neck' Toggle Switch basically the same thing? Is there such a thing as on/on/mom.on?

Thanks.

[WeirdBits]

What's the best way to check the wires?

What brand and model are the pickups? We may be able to get the info without having to test them. Failing that, a multimeter is the best option. This video guide explains it pretty well.

Is there any alternative to the 4p3t on/on/on? For example, can I use a 3 pos 4 pole rotary instead... ?

To include the kill switch position I needed to use the 4-pole On/On/On (4P3T) with its specific contact sequence for it to work. If you're willing to drop the kill position and just have the phase switching the you can use any old On/On DPDT switch, much simpler and cheaper.

A double-neck 4-pole right angle switch would probably work, but I'd need to check the contact sequence to be certain (I don't have one here, so I'll have to do some research).

You could use a multi-pole rotary if you want, the problem is it may not fit through the f-hole. For example, with a wafer style rotary switch on the ES-1 kits you have to shave down the wafers and bend its lugs to squeeze it through the f-hole (or disassemble the switch, feed its parts through the hole then reassemble it inside the cavity... but I'm not willing to try that). However, it does look like the Starcaster's f-holes may be slightly larger, so it may work. With a multi-pos multi-pole rotary you could do in/out phase switching and series/parallel switching all on the one switch, but it would be a little clumsy as kill switch in my opinion.

Having said that, the volume pots in the above diagrams are wired in the traditional LP style, so when the pickup selector is in the middle position if you turn either volume to 0 it mutes both pickups... so you have a pseudo kill/mute built in, sort of.

Is there such a thing as on/on/mom.on?

It's possible somewhere like Mouser may have something along those lines, but number of poles and contact sequence would determine if it was a viable option. I suspect it would be more cost and effort than it's worth just for a kill/mute setting.

I suggested the phase switching as I thought that would better suit your taste for clean tones, if I'm remembering your tastes correctly. But, the pickup options alone will give you a wide variety of sounds, so if you particularly want a kill switch then I'd just forget the phase switch and put a dedicated kill switch in there instead. You could even use an old 3-way toggle for that, though not ideal.