3-way CRL Lever Switch

Installation and wiring diagrams for the 3-way CRL Lever Switch.

This traditional spring-action lever switch is commonly used for Telecaster^® guitars. This switch has 1-5/8" mounting screw spacing, and needs at least 1-3/8" depth in the body cavity. A 1/16" x 1-1/16" slot in the pickguard/control plate is required for the lever.

Included in two StewMac wiring kits
This 3-way CRL lever switch is included in both of our Tele^® wiring kits. These wiring kits contain black and non-shielded wire, plus shielded coaxial cable. Extra black wire is included for running a string ground to the bridge.

Reduce unwanted electrical noise by using shielded coaxial cable for your longer wiring runs (for example, the connection between the controls and the output jack). Coaxial cable contains a center "hot" conductor which is shielded by an outer braid used for the ground wire.

For short connections between components, use standard non-shielded wire. Typically, white wire is used for hot and black for ground.


Wiring Kit for Tele
The lever switch can be installed with the spring facing either side—there's no difference, electrically. String ground on a Tele is usually made by the metal baseplate of the bridge pickup contacting the metal bridge. If your pickup doesn't have a metal baseplate, run a string ground wire from the back of the volume pot to the underside of the bridge (indicated here with a dotted line).




3-way Lever Switch with 2 Humbuckers Diagram

This wiring diagram is suitable for any two-pickup guitar with humbuckers, single-coils or a combination of both.




Optional Humbucker Diagram

For guitars with humbuckers that have a coil-tap or series-link, this wiring makes the middle position a combination of neck and bridge single-coil outputs in parallel.