Today we’re going to talk about the standard 5-way switch used in Fender Strat-style guitars—how it works, how to wire it up and variations of the switch itself. Back when Strats were first made, they came with a 3-way switch (one position for each pickup), but some savvy guitarists soon realized that if they moved the switch into a position midway between two of the “official” positions, they could get two of the pickups to turn on at the same time, resulting in new sound options. This happened because the switch was what is known as a “make before break” switch, which means it touches the next contact before disconnecting from the previous one. It wasn’t easy to keep the switches in these in-between positions and guitarists often resorted to sticking matchsticks, etc., into the switch slot to hold them in position. Here’s how the switch looks as more of an electrical diagram. As with all images, click to enlarge. Seeing how customers were doing this, Fender eventually started in...