Free-Way Pickup Switch

I installed one of these in a project guitar that I have been working on, but it only lasted about 10 minutes before it started acting up. One of the positions crapped out altogether a few minutes later. Stew Mac's OUTSTANDING service department was all over it however, and I had a new switch in hand just days later. Unfortunately, the new switch was just as bad as the first, so back it went for a full refund.

Stewmac is a trusted supplier, their products are of exceptional quality. This switch is not up to the usual standard. Very flimsy and fragile and non-positive switching. You may get away with it in a studio situation but I am not happy to add it to one of my "live" guitars. After one day of testing there was intermittent connection at the fragile terminals and non-positive switching. Mine is going in the bin. Don't waste your money and time, do it another way.

I like minimal controls cluttering up the face of my guitars, so having the option to split (or other options) with a single control is very cool. It feels more solid and easier to use than a 5-way blade switch, too. Only two small requests: First, the bat for this switch is very long... longer than most regular LP-style toggles. A shorter bat, or one that can be removed and replaced with a custom shorter piece would be great. Second: Black plating! I know a lot of black hardware has been discontinued due to RoHS requirements, but other surface treatments are available. Black powder-coat or anodizing, perhaps? I'd love to have a black option, please!

Very versatile switch. Some wiring combinations are hard or impossible to do with just this switch, yet are possible with the excellent Superswitch.

This switch is GREAT! It should be standard equipment on ALL 3 pickup Gibsons. I put it in my Gibson Firebird VII. My buddy has the Jimmy Page Les Paul Custom that has this switch in it. I was hoping someday I'd be able to get one, and now I (you) can! Practically every combination available. It needed just a little routing under the pickguard to fit.

The switch is now working fantastically. Unfortunately when I got it the sticker was on the wrong way. Got the multi-meter out and sorted it out.

The Freeway switch works perfectly for this setup. I like the sure feeling I get when I move around the switch. It allows for a broader tone palate and makes the guitar more usable to different types of playing and music.

I don't see how one could say that this switch feels cheap. I smack mine around daily and it takes it fine. The action doesn't feel as stiff as a traditional toggle switch but that is because it isn't a tradition toggle. I never find myself between positions. Here is mine in my latest curly mahog custom thru-neck. I have it wired like an Ibanez JS1000 with the lower three positions set up for coil tapping, eliminating the need for a push pull pot. I also hard-wired the high-pass filter to eliminated the second push pull. It's nicely made and I'll use them in future custom projects for sure. Just make sure you have room in your controls cavity because it is rather large.

Very sturdy design. I use these to fire up different colours to my fiber optics..I look forward to some mini version of the same thing.

The idea is nice but the switch doesn't feel sturdy. You'll often miss one of the six positions you want when switching due to the switch mechanism. Meaning if you switch from 1 directly to 6, you end up between 3 and 6 with no signal. It's a great concept but needs a more solid and sturdy toggle, switching design.