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I am curious about the Switchmaster setup. I've never played one. Assuming you want three pickups, is the Switchmaster configuration the best way to go?
If you wanted the bridge and neck pickups only, do you put the switch all the way down but dial off the middle pickup?
Thanks.
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11-22-2016 03:59 PM
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I honestly have no idea, but I sure would like to find out! Epiphone used to have a Bluesmaster model, with 3 pups, each with separate vol/tone controls, IIRC. I should have sprung for one when when they were available and I might have been able to raise the dough. CWS....
I have always been fascinated by the tonal possibilities of two pickups, and the prospect of three blendable signal sources just gets my fingers all twirly.
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Until recently, I used to own a Les Paul Custom Black Beauty with 3 pickups. Standard wiring was switched like neck, middle and bridge, bridge pickup. I did a rewiring in a way that instead of 2 volume and 2 tone, I made it 3 volume and 1 master tone. That gave much more blending possibilities. I never understood the standard wiring of that guitar
I have never owned a ES5, but whatever the wiring is like, I guess you can change it to your taste.
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Are you asking about ES-5 wiring (three volume knobs, one tone knob), which I know quite well, or ES-5 Switchmaster wiring (three volume knobs, three tone knobs, four way switch)?
Last edited by Hammertone; 11-22-2016 at 06:49 PM.
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Switchmaster.
I don't really understand it. It looks like you can select one pickup at a time or all of them. Then it looks like you can set the volume and tone of each pickup.
What I'm wondering is how well that actually works. For example, does reducing the tone in one pickup affect the tone in the other? Does dialing down the volume knob in one lead to a treble roll off in the others? Etc!
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I have never tried an ES-5 before - however the ability to blend whatever combination of pickups sounds like fun. Would love to try one. I know that T-Bone Walker sounded really good on his!
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Attachment 37628
Here are two of the wiring schedules. Apperantly, they differ depending on the age of the guitar.
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Isn't the middle pickup magnet reversed so it's out of phase with the neck and bridge? So middle select is middle out of phase with bridge. Steve Howe of Yes used a switch master on the fragile album and I remember reading an interview a long time ago where he said that out of phase Sound was a signature of some of that album. I also thought the 50's 3 pickup les Paul customs were the same i.e. Middle out of phase.
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I thought they did that cool wiring voodoo on the Switchmaster with the single coils because it helped buck the hum?
JD
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Kinda related: ES-357 "ES-Mitch"
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Having looked at the Mitch Holder videos, I can see how three pickups could make sense.
I had a 3 pickup H157, essentially a Peter Framptom LP, that I reworked. The middle pickup was a Phat Cat and the other two could be coil split. This created many possibilities.
In practice, it took a while to get used to what happened when pots were turned and switches were activated. Turning the volume down on the neck pickup altered the tone of the bridge somewhat, for example.
I got rid of the guitar after a while because it weighed 13 lbs. Even using a bass strap, it was no fun after an hour.
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Wow, I had no idea they are that heavy.
Originally Posted by Marty Grass
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Most Heritage H157s are about 10 lbs. I've had a couple in the high 8 lb. range. But some are over 11 lbs.
The exact weight of my heavy one was 12 lbs 13 oz. The guy who had it custom made wanted a heavy guitar, and he got it. Some believe that heavy LPs have more sustain and "monster tone". I don't. But I can attest that the heavy ones feel like they weigh more!
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Did Steve Howe use one with P-90s or humbuckers?
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It's like a strat in the quack positions. Not fully out-of-phase, but the proximity of the pickups in the two in-between positions (neck/middle and bridge/middle) creates some kind of magnetic interference between them that perhaps has a mild phase cancellation effect. It's more subtle than simply wiring pickups out of phase with each other, and the volume doesn't drop dramatically. I've observed the effect with P-90s as well as humbuckers. Sounds great with either. Originally Posted by old tube
Last edited by Hammertone; 11-23-2016 at 01:25 PM.
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MG, Ronaldo told me he weight relieved Peter Frampton's triple pickup WHITE Les Paul Custom (from the Humble Pie Years), because Gibson said they wouldn't do it. Then before the Frampton Album came out and they saw a superstar in the making, they made the black ones for him and they were weight relieved.. Originally Posted by Marty Grass
Most Heritage H157s are about 10 lbs. I've had a couple in the high 8 lb. range. But some are over 11 lbs.
The exact weight of my heavy one was 12 lbs 13 oz. The guy who had it custom made wanted a heavy guitar, and he got it. Some believe that heavy LPs have more sustain and "monster tone". I don't. But I can attest that the heavy ones feel like they weigh more!
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I believe it was sunburst/humbuckers, but not 100% sure. Originally Posted by Encinitastubes
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Well I've tried to figure out what RS/SS stands for, but I can't. Please help me out. Originally Posted by Marty Grass
Last edited by Woody Sound; 11-23-2016 at 04:24 PM.
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Really Sweet/Super Sweet and then of course Really,Really Super Sweet? Originally Posted by Woody Sound
Just a thought. Hopefully someone sane will chime in....
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That is one skanky looking guitar that can only come out of a blaxploitation movie. Richard Roundtree called and would like his axe back, Marty. SHAFT!
Last edited by Jabberwocky; 11-23-2016 at 04:06 PM.
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It drew out comments from all who gazed on it. I referred to it as "the evil one". The cover plate and the TRC Originally Posted by Jabberwocky
RS/SS is a mystery to me also. I believe the poker chip came from another country. But the secrecy adds to the allure.
The original Gibson poker chips seemed dumb to me when I first noticed them. I figured that even a rock guitarist completely stoned could remember what the toggle switch position meant. And if he were too stoned to know, I doubt he'd care what position it was in.
Later I learned that Gibson put that chip on to cover and defects that occurred when putting the toggle switch on.
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Reck Switch/Sridge Switch. The Japanese have a sense of wicked humour.
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Originally Posted by Woody Sound
It was a natural with PAF's. 1959 according to the book about his guitars ......
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Originally Posted by Hammertone
Bit late after my original post, so apologies, but done a bit of reading and it looks like the magnets were not flipped and it is indeed just a magnetic field interaction effect. From what I've now read the depth of the effect seems to vary a lot guitar to guitar; which if course could be down to the fact that until 1960 and the introduction of the shorter alnico 5 magnets into PAF's there seem to be no consistency to what type of alnico Gibson were using for magnets and indeed it may have varied week to week! (or at least delivery to delivery).
On my own older 2 pickup Gibson's I hear the effect when set on both, more so with P90's than Humbuckers and also the effect varies guitar to guitar.
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