What effect does the Q-Switch have on tone? My Alembics all have the Skylark electronics with the on/off/bright switches and filter for each pickup. I'm considering making a change for my next build.
 
Thanks.

Jonathan:
 
It adds a little boost just at the cutoff frequency.  Sort of a slight treble/presence boost without losing the bottom.   I have a three-way Q on my Ferlembic (the pot leaf guitar that started life as an Alembic inspired Fernandes Masterhand), and the off-on-bright switches on my Further - my main two players.   I use the Q more than the bright setting.   I usually leave the Q in the middle position, with occasional excursions one way or the other.   If I had the Further in for work, I'd be tempted to have the off-on-bright swapped out for the three-way Q's.   Hope this helps.
 
Bill, tgo

Thanks, Bill.
 
So is having a Q-switch and an on/off/bright on the same guitar kinda redundant then?

Unless you switch to a blade pickup selector, you'll need at least on/off switches.  The bright might be a little redundant but if you have the on/off anyway, why not?  For full disclosure, I should mention that I've been thinking about changing my Further to a blade pickup selector.  It certainly works better for quick, on-stage, changes.
 
Bill, tgo

That's what I'm thinking about. More like the Europa electronics. But I'd like two pickups, a three position blade, individual normal/bright switches, individual volume and filter plus a Q-switch.

I think the normal/bright AND Q's would be redundant, especially if you roll back the filters a tad anyway (knowing your musical tastes, I doubt you leave your filters wide open ever). I guess the setup you're looking for would be closest to anniversary electronics, w/ a blade selector in place of the rotary, and no mono/stereo toggle

The only thing I use the bright switch for is to help get an acoustic guitar sound. With the filter all the way up and the bright switch on, the approximation is uncanny. I was hoping to use the Q-switch as more of a solo boost, but it doesn't sound like there's much additional gain from activating it.

I don't think you'd be happy using the Q as a solo boost.  If that's what you're looking for, and you want it on-board instead of using a stomp box or two channel amp, you might look at adding a stratoblaster.
 
Bill, tgo

Bill,
 
Yeah the Blaster is probably the way to go. I'd like to see if they can have an extra knob to allow me to adjust the level of gain on-the-fly. I've got a similar setup on my Scott Walker. It has a Cutler pre-amp that gives me up to 10 dB boost. Nice feature for solos or for getting just a bit of dirt from the clean amp.