Mad Hatter seeks to expand your tonal options with the ingenious Luminator switch

Mad Hatter Luminator
(Image credit: Mad Hatter Guitar Products)

For players seeking to eke the maximum possible tone from their existing electric guitar, Mad Hatter has been creating a variety of solutions that do just that - and now the company has launched perhaps its coolest system yet: meet the Luminator.

The Luminator is an LED touch-capacitance switch that activates a relay circuit board when touched - that board then redirects your signal through three independent switches.

You can get the system in four different configurations to suit your electric:

  • Luminator TEN (for HSH guitars) offers humbuckers in all five positions, including both humbuckers together. Touching the Luminator switch changes to ‘Strat mode’, switching the volume pot from 500k to 250k and delivering single coil sounds across the five positions.
  • Luminator 4/3 is for HSS models. Touching the Luminator switch changes the volume pot from 250k to 500k, and offers four new sounds, including single coils in series.
  • Luminator 3/3 switches the volume pot from 250k to 500k for SSS guitars, and allows you to run single pickups in series.
  • Luminator IBZM is aimed at dual-humbucker guitars, and offers up single coil sounds in all five positions while switching the volume pot from 500k to 250k.

The Luminator starts at $209 - see Mad Hatter Guitar Products (opens in new tab) for more info.

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Michael Astley-Brown

Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism, and has spent the past decade writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar (opens in new tab), Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as the best part of 20 years performing in bands of variable genre (and quality). In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe (opens in new tab).