# 4 way switch on a telecaster



## Mr.nice_guy (Oct 27, 2020)

I got a fender cs tele classic custom 
She comes with a 4 way switch 
(2nd position is both pick ups in series ) 
And I like it a lot 
My question is what you guys thinks about both pups in series on a tele??

Is it too much ???
It is a great mod or not to on my hot rod 52’?

Thanks Dan ???


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

Mr.nice_guy said:


> Thanks Dan ???


this may be an existential crisis far beyond a 4-way switch mod


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## BMW-KTM (Apr 7, 2015)

Seems to me a guitar with a name like Hot Rod should probably be hotrodded.


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## Hammerhands (Dec 19, 2016)

There’s one position where the pickups sound a littile like they are chorusing, that’s the position you have to have. It doesn’t work with every set of pickups, you might want to test it and see. I use that and the neck pickup by itself.

You could also add an Esquire position. If you had a super switch you could bypass the tone, volume or both the tone and volume, that would be very good.


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## DavidP (Mar 7, 2006)

IIRC, the 52 Hot Rod has a SD mini-humbucker in the neck. When you install a 4-way switch you need to lift the ground cover as a separate lead; if the mini HB has a braided wire lead, you're SOL unless you do some major surgery on that pickup...
On a sonic perspective, I'm a big fan of the 4-way switching on a single coil tele (as well as a 5 way variant with half-out-of-phase setting) BUT I'm not sure why you'd want a neck humbucker and single coil bridge in series -- the neck mini-HB already overwhelms the bridge... It would not be on my to-do mod list for that guitar.


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## Mr.nice_guy (Oct 27, 2020)

DavidP said:


> IIRC, the 52 Hot Rod has a SD mini-humbucker in the neck. When you install a 4-way switch you need to lift the ground cover as a separate lead; if the mini HB has a braided wire lead, you're SOL unless you do some major surgery on that pickup...
> On a sonic perspective, I'm a big fan of the 4-way switching on a single coil tele (as well as a 5 way variant with half-out-of-phase setting) BUT I'm not sure why you'd want a neck humbucker and single coil bridge in series -- the neck mini-HB already overwhelms the bridge... It would not be on my to-do mod list for that guitar.


You’re right my friend !! 
Probably not the mod to do 
Didn’t thought about the mini hum too much 🤪
I like the 4 way so much that I was forgetting about the pups
Lol
Thanks David


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## tonewoody (Mar 29, 2017)

The 52' HR tele came out originally with a SD mini HB neck pu. Later models switched to a full sized humbucker.


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## Mr.nice_guy (Oct 27, 2020)

tonewoody said:


> The 52' HR tele came out originally with a SD Firebird neck pu. Later models switched to a full sized humbucker.


I got the first version
With the mini humbucker 
Gorgeous guitar 
Dark tone for a maple neck 
Beefy neck tone also


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

I would second that you don't want the 3 coils in series. Perhaps out of phase or split the neck.


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

Are they identical pickups?


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## Mr.nice_guy (Oct 27, 2020)

Paul Running said:


> Are they identical pickups?


No I was so excited talking about it that I forgot that my hot rod have a mini humbucker 
Lol


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Here's a (sort of) related question.

Could a four way switch be wired to achieve this in a H-S-S guitar assuming position 1 is the bridge pickup?

Pos 1 = bridge only
Pos 2 = bridge (coil cut / tapped) and middle
Pos 3 = Middle and neck
Pos 4 = Neck only

I just realized that I never use just the middle pickup on a H-S-S and always have to count bumps to get past a (to me) useless pickup position.


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