Texas Special telecaster pickups with 4 way switch.

[heave1]

Bought a new set of Texas Specials Telecaster pickups and connected them to a 4 WAY SWITCH. The set has the 3 wire neck PU. Black, white and yellow. The yellow wire grounds the neck PU metal case. The black and White PUs are both hot? On Fender's wiring diagram, I have to switch the positions of the black and white wire to get sound.
The positions are not what Fender says they are.

Position 1--bridge and neck
Position 2--Bridge and neck
Position 3--Neck only
Position 4--Neck only

I have tried every conceivable 4 way wiring scheme from every manufacturer and nothing changes.
The solder joints are good and the switch is good.
Why are the Neck PU wires reversed and both hot?

Any ideas?

[heave1]

Also, there is no appreciable change in sound in Positions 1 and 2. Neck and bridge sounds the same upon switching. No change.
Also positions 3 and 4 neck only, no appreciable change.

[Bill Moore]

I wired my last "Tele" with Specials, and a 4 way, loved it!
Don't remember what diagram I used, (came with switch), but here is one from Fralin.

https://www.fralinpickups.com/2017/0...witching-tele/

[heave1]

I wired my last "Tele" with Specials, and a 4 way, loved it!
Don't remember what diagram I used, (came with switch), but here is one from Fralin.

https://www.fralinpickups.com/2017/0...witching-tele/

I have wired it like Frailin, Seymour Duncan, Fender and every manufacturer. I had to swap the positions of White/black wires from the Texas Specials to get any sound. There is only Bridge/neck on positions 1-2 and Neck only in positions 3 and 4. They won't make a sound if I hook them up like all the diagrams say to.

[Bill Moore]

Do you have a multimeter?
Check the pickups for resistance/continuity, to see it there is a short/open. I guess there is also a possibility of a defective switch!
Mine had no problems, and in position 4, (both pickups in series), what a fat full sound! I often used it with an AC-3, for a great rhythm guitar sound.

[jrgtr42]

THis is the same setup I have on my Tele - the Texas Specials, with a 4-way switch.
I got the wiring kit from Stew Mac.
IIRC, there was a big deal about making sure the cover from the neck pickup wasn't grounded to the rest of the pickup - the wire from the cover had to come in separately.
Here's the instructions I had for it: https://www.stewmac.com/video-and-id...tructions.html

[heave1]

THis is the same setup I have on my Tele - the Texas Specials, with a 4-way switch.
I got the wiring kit from Stew Mac.
IIRC, there was a big deal about making sure the cover from the neck pickup wasn't grounded to the rest of the pickup - the wire from the cover had to come in separately.
Here's the instructions I had for it: https://www.stewmac.com/video-and-id...tructions.html

That picture from Stew Mac is exactly how I have wired my tele. Except my neck black/white had to be swapped to get sound. If I place them as in the photo on StewMac, no sound.
With the black/white neck wires swap positions, I get sound, but only 2 sounds:
Position1-Bridge and neck
Position2-Bridge and neck
Position3-Neck only
Position4- Neck only.
I'm only getting 2 sounds.

[heave1]

[QUOTE=heave1;646014]That picture from Stew Mac is exactly how I have wired my tele. Except my neck black/white had to be swapped to get sound. If I place them as in the photo on StewMac, no sound.
With the black/white neck wires swap positions, I get sound, but only 2 sounds:
Position1-Bridge and neck
Position2-Bridge and neck
Position3-Neck only
Position4- Neck only.
I'm only getting 2 sounds.

Can someone explain why white and black neck wires both show hot on MM.

[heave1]

[QUOTE=heave1;646015][QUOTE=heave1;646014]That picture from Stew Mac is exactly how I have wired my tele. Except my neck black/white had to be swapped to get sound. If I place them as in the photo on StewMac, no sound.
With the black/white neck wires swap positions, I get sound, but only 2 sounds:
Position1-Bridge and neck
Position2-Bridge and neck
Position3-Neck only
Position4- Neck only.
I'm only getting 2 sounds.

I'm pretty sure the white neck wire is the negative ground, black is the hot wire, and yellow is the cover ground. But the switch should still work correctly, right?

[Bill Moore]

According to the diagrams, the white wires are the "positive", and the black wires are "negative" in relation to each other as evidenced to the bridge black going to ground. The neck black is left "floating" to either series or parallel that pickup to the bridge.
Your multimeter should read resistance between neck black, and white, but both should be open to the yellow.

[jrgtr42]

Heave: is there any way you can post a photo of what you have in there? That may help narrow down what may or may not be going on.
If need be, I'll see if I can figure out how to post a photo and see about comparing them.

[Elrathia]

I’m not the only one that hasn’t visited here in a long time, positively crickets here. Let’s shake it up…

man I hate wiring! I think I have electricity deficiency syndrome. I just was trying to wire up a regular telecaster switch. Why is it that every diagram is different and they all require seven or eight jumpers wired in an macrame imitation? Darn three way switch for a tele has twice as many lugs as a Gibson three way..

[Elrathia]

I hate wiring! Three different schematics, I could get neck and both. I Could get neck and bridge but not both, and I could get bridge and both. Now on my second full control components, and have discovered this switch is 1/8” too big to fit in my control route,.

sheesh. My Gibson’s are a piece of cake. I’ll pull my last tele build and copy that wiring. Drag out the Drexel , I’ll make it fit.