Recently I released a Telecaster Video titled: Powerhouse Telecaster Build! Beautiful Aberration.

The link to the video is in this video description.

   • Powerhouse Telecaster Build! Beautifu...  

In the video I built a three pickup telecaster on a holy grail body. I was really pleased with how it turned out with a Superswitch 5-position pickup selector. I added two non-traditional telecaster pickups configurations of Middle and Bridge Pickups without Tone Control and the Neck and Bridge Pickups in Series.

A viewer in the comments told me about the Freeway blade switches and suggested I look at them. I have installed four of the Freeway toggle switches in other builds and like their products.

I was amazed to find a blade switch called 5B5-01 10 position Free-Way Blade switch. The switch has built in circuitry that allows 10 prewired possibilities for your Stratocaster but in this case a three-pickup telecaster. The switch is $48.78.

Link to the switch in the description of this video:

stewmac.sjv.io/B06MxJ


The first bank of five positions is wired in the same manner that a typical Stratocaster five way switch would be wired with three pickups.

The second bank of five positions is wired to provide some really cool additional combinations of:

6) all three pickups in Series.
7) all three pickups in parallel.
8) Neck and Bridge pickups in series.
9) Neck and Bridge pickups in parallel.
10) Neck and Middle pickups in series.



The switch blade has what I would describe two lanes. You can rock the blade of the switch from the left to the right. TO the left is positions 1 through 5 and rocking the blade to the right this gives you the lave for positions 6 through 10. Kind if ingenious.


My new favorite wiring for a telecaster is a four-way switch with the fourth position being the two pickups in series. It is a powerhouse of a position with a lot of tone and a lot of volume.

I ordered the switch and set about building out a new wiring harness that I could swap out in the telecaster build as an upgrade.

Building out and working with the switch was actually fairly easy. You just need a soldering iron with a pointed tip so you can easily solder the leads on the switch.

Just take you time and follow the easy to read diagram that Free-Way provides on their website.
I was so happy the first time I plugged this into my little bench amp, and EVERYTHING worked perfectly the first time.

I was excited to plug it into a larger amp to see what she sounds like now.

I am amazed at the palate of tones, sounds, and varying volumes that now come out of this guitar. If you have not seen the first video I ordered and installed the bridge, middle, and telecaster neck pickup all from the Seymour Duncan line of Quarter Pound pickups. This guitar was already pretty badass to start with. Now it has three great pickups fully exploited.

I also took advantage of having the neck off and installed a US Fender Roasted Maple neck that I had done fret work on and replaced the plastic nut with a GraphTech Tusq-XL nut made for a Stratocaster/telecaster. I think she is much prettier now as a guitar.