Stomp box footswitch

[chris p]

Anyone got a local source for 3PDT footswtiches? Suggestions gratefully received.

[astrovic]

Ha, I asked this on Melband last night, and got an answer for a guy in Wallan, Vic, selling them on eBay:

http://www.melband.com.au/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=72015

See the post by FP777 with links.

[chris p]

Thanks Astro

I'm building a very simple pedal switch to mute my amp when tuning. So I think I'll call it a TUNA SANDWICH.

[astrovic]

That's a good idea...but a question. Does the "From AMP send" mean from the send in the effects loop of the amp? I've very rarely bothered to use FX loops in amps (being a bit of a minimalist), but when you send signal out from out the AMP send, does it stop signal being sent to the output of the amp unless you complete the loop?

[chris p]

Hey Astro

My setup is a wireless receiver into an old Boss BE-5 into my amp. The BE-5 gives me a noise gate, a pretty crappy chorus which I don't use, a nice digital delay, a combined OD/Dist pedal (OKish) and a compressor (passable). It also has a tuner out and an FX loop.

So this pedal will take the "tuner" and the "output" from the BE-5, and switch them through to my tuner and my amp respectively with the proviso that only one can go through at a time (as indicated by an LED). Rob will now say "hey, that sounds like a HARD ON" and he's not far wrong, except mine is simpler, cheaper and a whole lot more DIY crappola.

The LED is there because when I'm playing but not getting any sound, I need lots of quick checks to show what the problem is or isn't. I went to a concert last year and the poor guy spent 5 minutes in front of the audience trying to get his guitar to work before realising he still had his tuner mute switched on. That's why we guitarists need lights!

To complete the floor decoration, I also have a OD1 overdrive pedal which I've modded with the Monty Allums changes to get it more tubey and smooth. This sits in the BE-5 FX loop, meaning the BE-5 onboard crunch can be switched to just distortion. I sometimes use a octaver pedal when I'm helping fill out some bass bits as well, but I try not to.

[astrovic]

I get it...the amp is at the end of the line.

Totally agree re: led's. The channel switcher I'm building is exactly the same config as your, but only 2 poles obviously. A green led for clean channel, a red led for gain channel. I think that the lights are necessary because there's no way I could tell the difference between the 2 channels using only my ears :)

I just made an executive decision - I'm going to build a tuna sandwich into my footswitch as well! The box is I have for is big enough, and it will mean I can have 4 led's in the box instead of two, which is twice as cool.

Thanks for the inspiration :)

[mfdu]

[quote="astrovic"]It will mean I can have 4 led's in the box instead of two, which is twice as cool.[/quote]

ha ha ha - you very funny man

chris.
:)

[astrovic]

I actually got disappointed last night whilst bringing my G1176's close to completion...

By using the Mnats power supply to power two channels, I found that bypassing the on-board power supply means that there's no juice going to the Vu meter light points on the boards. No juice means no lights. No lights??? However will I be able to hear what it does??? I won't know if its working or not!

I'm sure there's a workaround, and if I do this for a little while, it'll come to me:



But for now, no bling.

Chris (P) I was wondering though - do you need to return the signal from the tuner? From what you describe, you're intending to terminate the signal at the tuner when it is selected. If so, you could do it on a DPDT, couldn't you?

Not saying you want to, but someone (i.e me!) might, and just checking to see if there's something I've missed.

Chris (L)

[chris p]

Hey Chris Astrovic

Thanks for thinking about this.

The kicker is that my el-cheapo tuner couldn't cope well with delay/phasing/distortion, so it needs a clean signal. So the signal going to the tuner is a clean signal whereas the one going to the amp is a different, processed signal, and hence the need for different poles in the switch. If the same signal goes to both tuner and amp, then yes, a DPDT would work nicely.

ChrisP

[astrovic]

Gotcha

[rob]

3PDT footswitches can be purchased through WES Components in Sydney for $16.

Also check out the Hard On http://broadcastproaudio.com/new.htm ( shameless plug )

Rob

[chris p]

All done - a nice functional project, this one.

Front:


Wiring:


I have a couple of spare decals if anyone else wants to go this a go.

Oh, and you need a resistor (1k or so) in between the power jack and the switch. Just in case you didn't realise that.

[astrovic]

Nice work!

Oh, and you need a resistor (1k or so) in between the power jack and the switch. Just in case you didn't realise that.

No, I didn't. I assume this is because the switch is rated at somewhere lower than 9v?

Once I have my variation on the tuna sandwich up and running, I'll put up some pics. Thanks for the inspiration!

[chris p]

Hey AstroChris



The resistor (attached to the power socket and covered in blue shrinkwrap in my photo) is there to limit the current going through the LEDs, rather than any worries about the switch. With a 1k resistor, we're looking at about 100mA through the LEDs, but without it there's no load at all in the circuit - practically no resistance (and thus high current) - the LEDs would fry to a crisp in less than a second, even at 9V! Ahh, the joys of DIY.

[astrovic]

Gotcha - the way I've been approaching it was to put the resistor after the switch but before the positive lug of each diode - going at 1.5k per diode. Your approach makes sense, and uses less resistors. Like it.

[astrovic]

got mine built - amp/tuner router and channel select footswitch in one:



with the spaghetti diagram for the router part being



No where near as nice as Chrisp's, but working nicely. Shame I put the stomp switches so close together - and I have big feet!

Thanks Chrisp for the info and tips - this has been a great little project for me as I figured it all out as I went along - no wiring diagrams or Gyraf clones to make life easier here. My favorite bit is that I figured out how to switch the power to the led's on and off using the input jack - it's amazing how little things amuse small minds (plug goes in, lights go on. Plug goes out, lights go off....)

[chris p]

Nice one Astro.

This is perhaps the true spirit of DIY - where you see a need and build a solution from scratch. The fact that the solution isn't hard or complicated is not the point. The Tuna Sandwich is such a functional addition to the pedal board - I wonder why I lived so long without it - and yet it cost, what, $25 to make, and about an hour to build.

I just love the availability of the JLMs and Gyrafs so that I can build equipment of a much higher class than I could if left to my own devices, but every now and then its good to reinvent some wheels yourself.

And yeah, stomp box real estate is a real design issue. The 20/20 hindsight issue of positioning the switches at 1/4 and 3/4 across the box, rather than 1/3 and 2/3, is a good call for those who wish to follow in your footsteps.

May your tuning be quiet and your amplifier loud (or soft, whichever you need).

[astrovic]

Cheers :)

Yeah, it's "teach a man to fish" stuff, as far as I'm concerned. And I'm up to lesson 1 - "What is a fish?"

[Andrew]

Nice work guys, I've just a label maker as well and everythings finally getting labelled.

Hey this is probably too late but I saw an article in the Audio Express magazine about constructing a guitar effects switching box using relays. Looks simple and effective, maybe another posibility?

[mfdu]

[quote="astrovic"]lesson 1 - "What is a fish?"[/quote]

ha ha ha! oh astro, you kill me.

chris
mfdu

[astrovic]

mfdu - I was being serious, man

Andrew - is that article online? I'd be interested in it. Part of the reason is that I'm keen to learn what a relay does (no really - what is a fish?) - I've read the wiki on them and that learned me nothing. Being a practical type, I have trouble understanding things until I see them in use.

Also, what you're talking about might be something like this:

http://www.pedalslam.com/html/tb_pedals.html

Which looks noice.

[Ausrock]

Astro Chris,

You may find this site interesting and there is something down the list on relays for audio switching http://www.geofex.com/

ChrisO

[astrovic]

Cheers man - exactly what I needed!

Which leads to a page on Geofex on building a remote switching box:

http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/rmtswtch/rmtsw.htm

[Andrew]

Hi Astrovic,

Yeah sorry for the late reply, my computer internet speed slowed down to a speed that was unusable when your trying to check mail in a hurry.

Audio Xpress mags should be in Jaycar & altronics store but I don't think the Audio Xpress article is on the net as it was only out in the January 2007 mag. Its probably the same though as the article above. Let us know how it turns out if you do build it cause I'd like to build one later on, but not now cause I'm building some other stuff at the moment.