Avoiding a 10-Way Switch for This Surprising Reason 

Not discounting anyone's experience, but I personally believe that "option paralysis" is a user issue, not a product one. More options is always better than less options, imo. If you only like 2 out of 60 options, simply stick with what you like, and maybe one day, you'll find a use for some of the additional options and be glad you had them. It's not the product's fault that the user is overwhelmed because he/she doesn't know what they want. That's a user issue. It's like if I went to a buffet and complained to the owner that there were too many things to choose from. "Option paralysis" makes sense, but i'm pretty sure that it's simply a flawed state of mind that can easily be avoided with the right perspective.

I have a freeway switch on my Strat and feel that Strats should be made with one.👍

I love my 10 way switch

Although I like versatility, I fear that using this in a real-world scenario (especially live) it would be far too easy to knock this in to the wrong position.

I have a 10-way switch. Perfect for the studio and you get more inspiration!

I tried it on one of the new Chapmans and found it brilliant.

I did once wire up a strat to have a blend pot so you could blend in the bridge pickup with the neck or have all three pickups on at the same time but as any real strat aficionado knows, you only really need the neck pickup! So I didn't use it and when I sold that guitar I never bothered to repeat the same set up on another.

Thank ya for the shout out BPC 😀🙏 I think the Charvel wiring on the DK 22 SSS might be my favourite 😎👍

I do like switching options, but sometimes it can get a bit confusing sometimes. I couldn't do a single pickup guitar, that's for sure

I fitted a freeway switch into my strat and do really like it, but have found a couple of positions I go to a lot (like neck and bridge in series for a neck humbucker tone, or neck and bridge in parallel for that spanky Tele tone)

I've had a Freeway in my Strandberg for a couple years now and have not had an issue. However, I do have a Variax JVT59 and haven't been impressed by the models. The integration with the Line6 Helix is amazing but the models sound flat without a ton of tweaking. In addition the build quality leaves a lot of room for improvement. The 3-way switch failed on mine and it took months to get a replacement as it's a proprietary switch that not only controls the pickups, but also switches the models.

I love my Freeway switch in my 80's strat! I have it for atleast a year and a half and its rock solid. I do change alot bewteen rows and positions at the same time and it never failed. PCB soldering is a little harder than soldering an old school switch so user error is maybe a cause for failure in the long run.

Thanks for this video, agree a lot with option paralysis. I have found that I don't like the 5 way switches at all because of a bit of more struggle to switch to pos 2 from pos 5 or from pos 1 to 4, I'ts always a bit frustrating to me comparing to 3-way. I play mostly with HH so I wire stuff with two push-pull pots for single coils and out of phase options. I'm good with soldering electronics and new pots don't require drilling through the body so the options remain hidden unless you know where to look. I do find some settings more usable but like to have them all anyway.

Every once in a while I get enamored by the idea of more options but at the end of the day I just stay with a standard 5-way and I’m happy with that

"Option paralysis" or choice overload as a phenomenon is often misunderstood and overexaggerated, especially in the guitar world. There are certain conditions that must be met before the effect is noticeable: 1) people making the choice must not have a clear prior preference for an item type or category. When the choice-maker has a preference, the number of options has little impact on the final decision and satisfaction. For example, if you already prefer the neck or bridge humbucker, no matter how many additional options you get, you're not gonna get "paralyzed" or less satisfied by choosing your favorite. On the other hand, if you were a beginner and you haven't yet formed a preference, you may get "option paralysis". 2) there must not be a clearly dominant option in the choice set, meaning that all options must be perceived of equivalent quality. One option cannot stand out as being better from the rest. The presence of a superior option and many less desirable options will result in a more satisfied decision. For example, a humbucker tone is more common and typical in virtually all music styles than an out-of-phase tone. Thus, having the option of out-of-phase wiring doesn't take away any satisfaction when they're not used as often as the full humbucker. 3) people must be less familiar with the choice set. This means that if the person making a choice has expertise in the subject matter, they can more easily sort through the options and not be overwhelmed by the variety. This means that if you have wired the guitar yourself, you definitely know what each switching option does and what kind of sound it's going to give you. "Option paralysis" could occur if you were handed an unfamiliar guitar with unknown wiring mods, or a digital modeler with 100 presets that you know nothing about.

They aren't new ! They've been around for a few years and are used on a few guitars and by a few pro guitarists, but I've always thought they are a bit pointless, Ibanez have had three pickup systems with a combo of 5 way and push pulls that do anything anyone really needs for about 30 years.

I actually worked with Freeway to improve their switches. The very first batches were quite fragile but the newer ones are much sturdier. The argument that 'circuit board = bad, because I say so' is a bit silly because Schaller's Megaswitches uses circuitboards as well and those are rock solid. I have tried to break the Freeway, I did. I can't. The benefit is that you can omit the push pull for splits. You have to think of it as 'modes' on your guitar. Humbucker mode or 'strat' mode. I find it extremely useful with 3 singlecoils (tele or strat, but I prefer tele, 100% of the time over strats), to get the classic tones, but also add more, like neck+bridge in parallel, or neck+mid in series, or mid+bridge in series, or even all three on at the same time. It is very useful if you have just one guitar, or wish to get the Brian May style sounds out of a guitar without having to use a bazillion little switches.

Parker Nitefly Hss Freeway 10 way switch Oop switch for HB Brilliant and easy I have a Variax to muck about on but there's an annoying digital Artifact in the tones...it's always there and drives me mad... So the Parker is my go to The Variax stays at home

I would say this would be a good option for a guitar that stays at home or in a studio. Playing out live In see this as pure overkill and the minute changes will be next to nothing playing live. If you play out whether solo or in a band, options tend to get in the way rather than help. If you have equipment where you have loads of options in guitars, pedals, and amps, more often than not you are going to do a "set it and forget it" tone/sound and play that for most of not all of your set. Something like this is fun for home or a studio if you record but overall not that practical playing out. On the practical side, you are better off with two different guitars rather than "jam everything into one guitar" for playing out.

I never get those 7 minutes back...........

Waste of time & money in my opinion. There are many other ways to get variable sounds from pick-ups

Meh, they are cool and functional. If you are overwhelmed with that is your fault, go get an acoustic guitar and let the cool things to those who can handle it. 👍🏻

Lame