Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I've been watching a lot of Youtube videos of James Burton the last couple of nights. And I'm kind of interested in how he's had his Telecasters modified with 3 pickups and a 5 way selector switch. So I was wondering if anyone on the forum had ever put a 5 way selector switch on say a 350, for example, or some other 3 pickup Rick. Give us the story, and the details, please.
JimK

Jim: I would use Glen Lambert's vintage loom wiring which will give you all pickup combinations. You will lose the 5th knob blending but it is a small price to pay.

As to the Fender mod, a push/pull switch will allow the bridge pickup to be added to any other pick up combination.

jimk wrote: I've... So I was wondering if anyone on the forum had ever put a 5 way selector switch on say a 350, for example, or some other 3 pickup Rick...

RIC did on the SH's 350, unless is was modded later. The production version had typical RIC wiring. I agree with Peter I would convert the 5th knob/pot for the middle pickup.

Stewmac sells a 6 position toggle switch, I think it's called the FreeWay. It will fit where the regular 3 way is, and could do series switching, etc, without push pulls.

Very interesting. I was just wondering if it could be done, and if anyone has done it. I don't know whether or not I'll have the opportunity to conduct such an experiment myself.
JimK

I use a push-pull on the 5th knob so all controls retain their original purposes. Here's what my mods do:

push pull down, selector switch:
up - neck pickup
mid - neck + bridge pickup + .0047 capacitor inline to the bridge pickup
down - bridge pickup + .0047 capacitor inline
(standard vintage 330/360 wiring)

push pull up, selector switch:
up - mid pickup
mid - mid + bridge pickup without the inline capacitor
down - bridge pickup without the inline capacitor

This gives another completely different pallette of tone colors not available on a standard RIC, but it doesn't change anything structural about the guitar, so it passes the "five-foot" test and the "borrow" test. (Can't tell it's been done from five feet away, even if you're looking for it with the push pull up, and another guy sitting in with the guitar doesn't have to rethink what the controls do).

There is a multi-page thread on my mod, called the "iiipopes mod" thread, on the RIC forum.
Send me a PM if you want a schematic of the mod. It uses only RIC parts, the same push-pull that is on the 4003 bass.

Great modification Scott.

I rewired my 340 to have the 5th knob as a volume control for the middle pickup. I also put a toaster in the neck position and a humbucker in the bridge position.

admin wrote:Great modification Scott.

Thanks.