4-Way Switching For Your Tele

We get asked about 4-Way Switching a lot. It’s a simple mod that when added to your Telecaster, puts your pickups in Series, instead of Parallel. You can get a pretty beefy tone with both pickups on like this, and it adds a new dimension to your favorite guitar.

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PARALLEL AND SERIES?

Fralin Series and Parallel

In a standard guitar, like a Strat or a Tele, your pickups are in Parallel. What this means is each pickup has its own path of output. For instance, the White (hot) leads connect to the switch, and the Black leads attach to Ground. Series wiring puts your pickup’s outputs into your other pickups. To illustrate, we’ve made an illustration:

Parallel Wiring gives the pickup the shortest possible distance to the Output Jack. Series wiring gives the signal a much greater distance to travel. The signal experiences more resistance, thus getting bigger and beefier as a result.

You might have noticed a volume drop when you switch between pickups in the middle positions. With Parallel wiring, the perceived sound decreases when combined with another pickup.

For instance, if you only selected your Bridge pickup, it’s output is 100%. When combined with another pickup, say, the Middle pickup, it’s output seems to drop by approximately 25%. The combination of the Bridge and Middle might result in a total combined output of, say, 50%.

Series wiring combines the pickup signals in a way where the volume is louder and thicker. When your pickups are wired in series, the combined signals would equate to 200%.

Note: the above percentages are only used for explanation, and are not accurate.


HOW TO WIRE 4 WAY SWITCHING:

With a 4 Way Switch, you get the following switching capabilities:

  1. The Bridge
  2. Bridge and Neck in Parallel
  3. Bridge and Neck in Series
  4. The Neck
Fralin Pickups 4-Way Switching For Telecaster

To wire it up, take a look at the following diagram:

Note: If your Neck Pickup has a cover, you will need to separate the jumper connecting the cover to ground and run a separate wire off of the cover to be grounded separately. For a How-To, check out our guide here.

How It Works:

Position 1: Bridge Only

Neck White = Connected To Output
Neck Black = Connected to Nothing*
*(Since this is the coil wire, the Neck pickup doesn’t have continuity)
Bridge White = Connected to Output
Bridge Black = Hard Ground to Pot

Position 2: Bridge & Neck Parallel:

Neck White = Connected To Output
Neck Black = Ground
Bridge White = Connected To Output
Bridge Black = Hard Ground To Pot

Position 3: Bridge & Neck Series:

Neck White = Connected To Output
Neck Black = Bridge White
Bridge White = Neck Black
Bridge Black = Hard Ground To Pot

Position 4: Neck Only

Neck White = Connected To Output
Neck Black = Ground
Bridge White = Connected To Nothing
Bridge Black = Hard Ground To Pot

If you know this is the mod you would like to do, you can order our pickups with a “3-Wire Neck“. What we will do is give you a lead that runs off of the cover. If you already have a Tele Neck and want to convert to a 4-Way Switch, you will need to solder a wire to your cover and remove the ground connection from your coil. Basically, clip the jumper wire that grounds your cover to your black lead. To see how this mod is performed, check out our guide here: Convert your Tele Neck into a 3-Wire Neck


We hope you found this article helpful! Give us a call or shoot us an email with any questions.

Comments

90 Comments For This Post

  1. Freddy Wagner

    Hi, I tried this mod and it works fine on positions 1,2 and 3. At the position 4 (neck only) I got no output. Any hints?

    1. Did you remove the jumper wire to the cover? If not, the cover is grounded and will short the signal out.

  2. Does the tone pot not need to be connected to the ground? Am I missing something?

    1. Hey Isaac, the Plate itself connects all the pots / parts that are screwed into it. The Volume Pot has the Ground connection and the plate connects everything else.

  3. The one thing that would be more than super helpful when you all draw up wiring diagrams with the conventional three four and five position wafer switches is clearly marking on the diagram which terminals are the common terminals. Not all switches are made the same which basically makes it necessary.

    I have been massaging my dyslexia inspired brain cramps trying to do this with the shield plate ground broken out from the bridge pickup rather than the neck because I have a humbucker with a split coil push pull in the neck, for which this diagram as-is, of course, will not work. Thanks for it anyway, I appreciate it. I’m pretty close and when it’s done I am going to publish that wiring diagram across the entire digital galaxy…

  4. Woody Woodcasters

    I would like a different version
    1. Neck
    2. Neck and bridge
    3. Bridge
    4. Neck and bridge in series
    I have looked through tons of diagrams but have not found that one. Can you help?

    Thanks in advance!

    1. Hm, I haven’t seen that diagram before, only the opposite. I’m sorry.

  5. Can this 4 way tele switch be done with a G&L Bluesboy, with single coil bridge and humbucker neck pickup ?

  6. Slavko Makarovski

    Hi Tyler I just wired up this 4way mod as shown in your diagram and turned out everything like explained beside??The position 4 or the neck alone itself is very quiet and feels like you could hardly hear it but why’s that compared to the other configuration is so silent, I took my time and did copy everything as shown or if something else I messed out please let me know ?thanks

  7. Dennis sanders

    I have a fender 50s vintera . I want to change the pickups to Texas special and go with a 4 way switch. I like the sound of the guitar now . Will I be disappointed

  8. Hi Tyler, I have wired my 40th anniversary Squier Tele vintage edition last night, following this post. It’s so clear and helpful, thanks so much!
    Series mode gives more output than any of the other 3, but its character is very close to the parallel switch. Honestly I expected more difference in tone, like less twang and more compression, but I find the difference really subtle. I guess I would fail a blind A/B test 🙂
    Shall I think I made a mistake somewhere, or, since output levels are clearly different between series and parallel, should I assume that’s correct?

    1. Hey Adam, if you experience more output, you wired it correctly. Different outputs, magnets, and winding techniques will definitely make a difference in how dark / bright your series tone is.

  9. THANK YOU so much for this post! I just got a Vintera Modified Tele with a 4-way switch that allows you to select the bridge (pos. 1), bridge + neck in parallel (pos. 2), neck (pos. 3), or bridge + neck in series (pos. 4). I was so worried something was wrong with it because of the differences in volume between the different positions – position 4 is louder than the others, especially so when compared to position 2. Now it all makes sense, and I’m not worried my beautiful new Tele is broken anymore ? Thanks for the clear explanation!

  10. Michael Hazouri

    I have noticed with the 4 way it seems to have increased my output even with one pick up at a time , more so than with the other teles that are wired standard . I use Area hot Ts in all of them but the one that’s 4 way seems hotter all the way around ! Is it just me ? some think I’m crazy but I swear it’s a noticeable difference . Am I crazy ?

Leave A Comment

Want to chime in to the conversation? Please do so! Please respect others.