'60s style wiring, push buttons and pickups

[Chris Richards]

Hi...

Just wondering if anyone might have some info on two questions.....

I really love the look of some of the quirky '60s European guitars, like you see on the www.Fetishguitars.com site, particularly the Ekomasters. I'd like to build something similar with basically the same theme but up-to-date and was wondering about the electrics.

1) I like the idea of the single coil pickups and the way they're placed with two at the bridge and two at the neck but a small gap between them. If I want to use them in pairs humbucking how do the pairs of pickups have to be constructed, one normal and one reverse wound?

2) These guitars have a plate with "radio" style push button switches on (for pickup selection), ie when you push one button down the previous button will pop up so one selection always has to be on... I know it would be very easy to just have individual push buttons but that would be a nightmare when playing...Does anyone have any idea where I can get a "bank" of radio style switches?

Many thanks
Chris

[JC Whitney]

Probably not a viable solution, but "reproduction antique pushbutton light switches" come to mind. A pair of interconnected pushbuttons, available as a basic on/off and as S3 and S4s (google wiring a house light with multiple switches if this is unfamiliar lingo), and they even can be bought with mother of pearl inserts. Possibly a combination of the different configurations could be made to work? Of course they're made for 110v, large, and probably noisy as heck... Well, just a thought.

[Chris Richards]

Thanks for the info..... It's not going to be my next project, probably the one after, I fancy something really '60s, a cross between a Danelectro and something like the Ekomaster. It's always my down fall having too many projects on my mind at once! I'm just thinking vivid metal flake, push buttons and quite a '60's look but not too quirky that it's not usable.

[Daryl Kosinski]

http://www.surplussales.com/Switches/SWPushB-2.html
one of these should work

[Chris Richards]

Thanks Daryl....The slight problem is that I'm in the UK but shipping something like this should be no problem and at least now I know what they're called "interlocking push button switches" ...I'm finding that I have to import more and more of my resources these days, I don't think that anything is made in the UK anymore.

[Alan Peterson]

It may not be an exact solution Chris, but on Craigslist, I frequently see a few dozen home organs being sold for dirt or given away for free. Many non-functioning.

The non-locking voice tabs (if shallow enough to fit a body) can be harvested and repurposed to do what you want. As a side benefit, you may also reap the guts for a Leslie speaker; and maybe get one or two fully tricked out keyboards which you can use to start building your own analog synthesizer. Ray Wilson's site is a great launching pad for that.

[Chris Richards]

Thanks Alan.... Excellent idea, mucking about with other instruments often leads to a bit of inspiration for the next guitar build as well.

[Alan Peterson]

This wont be up for long, but as an exceptional example, there's a guy on the Washington DC Craigslist this week looking to unload a Wurlitzer home organ for 90 USD; which comes with 2 keyboards, an "Orbit" synthesizer (described as "a cheesy monophonic toy" on many music forums) and a rotating speaker.

AND a whole lotta tab switches.

If I weren't already swamped in scrap electronics and guitar parts, I'd probably be backing a van up to that guy's porch tomorrow morning.

[Chris Richards]

Thanks Alan...I'll definitely start looking around for stuff like this, seems like a great resource for quirky parts...Damn Atlantic being in the way makes things a little awkward!... But there's quite a lot of stuff like this that comes up for sale in the UK, I'm in no hurry to get started on this guitar as I have another to get on with first.