Switchcraft 3-way Toggle Switch
Installation and wiring instructions for the 3-way Toggle Switch.
The Switchcraft double-pole 3-way switch has been the standard in Gibson® and other 2-pickup American guitars.
Notes on wiring
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 to the bridge.
About our kits
Stewart-MacDonald wiring kits contain black and white non-shielded wire, plus shielded coaxial cable. Extra black wire is included for running a ground to the bridge.
#2193 Gibson® Les Paul® Push-pull Wiring Kit
Wiring kits with CTS push-pull pots split the coils of humbuckers for single-coil operation when wiring your Gibson® Les Paul® or SG®. These are for humbucking pickups with series link access (3 wire, 5 wire, etc).
#2194 Gibson® SG® Push-pull Wiring Kit
Wiring kits with CTS push-pull pots split the coils of humbuckers for single-coil operation when wiring your Gibson® Les Paul® or SG®. These are for humbucking pickups with series link access (3 wire, 5 wire, etc).
#2133 Gibson® Les Paul®, #2133-SP Les Paul Special® and #2134 SG® Wiring Kits
Alternate volume control wiring
You can wire both of the volume controls of a Les Paul (or any other dual volume control instrument) so that you can blend the volume of the pickups independently. This solves the problem at the middle position of the selector switch, in which turning down one volume control affects both pickups.
Gibson® Jimmy Page Les Paul® Wiring Diagram
This JPLP wiring option lets you coil-cut the bridge pickup using a push-pull tone control. The other feature of JPLP wiring is that in the middle position of the pickup selector, the bridge pickup is out of phase with the neck pickup.
In this setup, the bridge humbucker cannot be a 2-conductor pickup. The pickup must have 3 or 4-conductor wires, plus a shield or bare wire. Follow your pickup manufacturer's specs, and wire the series-link (coil-cut) to the push-pull pot as shown in the diagram. Connect the bare wire and the typical "hot" wire to ground (typically the back of the volume pot). Then wire the typical ground wire to the input lug of the bridge pickup volume control. This should give you an out-of-phase sound in the middle position. If not, simply reverse the bridge pickup's hot and ground wires.
#2136 Wiring Kit for 2-Pickup Guitar
This wiring diagram is suitable for any two-pickup guitar with humbuckers, single-coils, or a combination of both (master volume, master tone).
