Original 'E' Model Megaswitch

The Original 'E' Model Megaswitch brings out the five best possible sounds from 3-pickup combinations of single-coils or humbuckers. It replaces a standard 5-way Strat®-style switch, for new wiring options plus coil-tapping, and lets the guitarist combine pickup coils for hum elimination.

The Megaswitch is recommended for the following pickup combinations:



Before installing the Original 'E' model Megaswitch
Determine the polarity of each pickup coil, and which wires are connected to each coil:

Similar magnet poles repel each other, and opposite poles attract. For a humbucking effect, two coils with opposite polarity must be connected either in parallel or in serial mode. Take the pickup that you want to use in the middle position, and place its top side against the top side of another pickup coil. If their magnet polepieces attract each other, they have opposite polarity. Or you can use the #5127 Polarity Tester to do this without removing the pickups.

To identify the wires leading to each coil of a humbucker, connect the wires to a multimeter (set to 200mV) and slightly touch the polepieces of each coil with an iron-bearing object (a screwdriver or allen wrench). If you get a swing on the multimeter, you have identified that coil's leads.

When you have finished analyzing and soldering the pickups, certain sounds may be “thin,” or out of phase. In this case, exchange the hot wire of the affected humbucker with its ground connection; the shield wire remains grounded. If the correct coils are connected but the sound is still too thin, change the 4-conductor wiring of the affected humbucker as follows: Solder the hot and ground wires together as a new coil-tap. Use the former coil-tap wires as the new hot and ground. Recheck the assignment of the wires to the coils, and connect them according to the next section, "Schematics for the Original 'E' Model Megaswitch".

Always mount the Megaswitch with the printed circuit board closest to the pickups and control pots. Insert the wires from the non-printed side of the plate, and solder from the printed side. The soldering points on the plate are labeled from 1 to 7. On the switch there is a large silver lug attached with a screw. This is not one of the seven numbered lugs above and is not used.

2 humbuckers

Point # Wire assignment 1 empty 2 neck pickup hot wire 3 output to volume pot 4 ground to volume pot 5 neck pickup coil tap 6 bridge pickup coil tap 7 bridge pickup hot wire

Humbucker/single-coil/humbucker

Point # Wire assignment 1 middle pickup hot wire 2 neck pickup hot wire 3 output to volume pot 4 ground to volume pot 5 neck pickup coil tap 6 bridge pickup coil tap 7 bridge pickup hot wire

Humbucker/single-coil/single-coil

Point # Wire assignment 1 middle pickup hot wire 2 neck pickup hot wire 3 output to volume pot 4 ground to volume pot 5 empty 6 bridge pickup coil tap 7 bridge pickup hot wire