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Post by ortetsguitar on Oct 27, 2015 18:28:09 GMT -5
Good evening everyone. I'm new here. I'm putting some work into my Westone xa1230. The five way switch has 1.25" mounting holes spacing. The guitar is back routed so its not a simple pickguard replacement. I'd rather not modify the body. Do any of you know where I might locate such a switch?
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Post by newey on Oct 27, 2015 22:06:50 GMT -5
ortets-
Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!
Are we to assume that there is something functionally wrong with this switch, leading you to want to replace it? If it's working fine perhaps reusing it is your best option.
This is an oddball size. Strat clones are ubiquitous and the hole spacing on the USA 5-way switches is all uniform, at 1 5/8". The "import style" switches are listed at 41 mm, which is only about a quarter mm off from 1 5/8", so those, too, will basically fit. Yours is thus very different, and I don't recall ever seeing one that short.
If you do need to find a replacement, my only suggestions are to:
1) Pull the switch and see if you can find some indication of the manufacturer on the body of the switch. Then google the manufacturer, see if they have a website or contact info, assuming they're still in business.
2) Contact Westone if they still exist, or if not, look for websites for Westone owners, see if anyone in the community has parts.
3) Locate an old Westone guitar with the same switch and buy it for parts.
Or, another idea would be to try to modify a standard Strat lever switch to fit the 1.25" hole centers. The regular 1 5/8" works out to about 1.612", so the difference is approx. .36, meaning you'd need to be able to redrill the mounting holes so as to move each one inward by half that distance, or about .18" inward center-to-center. I don't know if there's enough clearance to make that work, you'd have to get a lever switch in front of you to look at it closely.
Or, (just spitballin' here, mind you), you could do a sort-of "down and dirty" mod. Get a regular lever switch and use one of the existing holes to hold the thing in the guitar body, and just let the body of the switch extend past the second hole, and secure the other end from the inside of the cavity, with either a bit of duct tape or with a very short, shallow-thread wood screw. Then, saw off the head of a similar mounting screw, so you have a "faux" screw that you can mount over the second hole to cover it up.
I think one screw would probably hold it well enough, you might not even need to hold the other end down if you can snug the one up really well. The lever through the slot will keep the switch located and stop it from twisting around on the one screw.
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Post by ortetsguitar on Oct 27, 2015 22:22:52 GMT -5
Yeah the existing switch is toast.
Im cruising the westone boards which are limited but do exist. I checked with a few of the more popular parts stores and they said the switch was common on "super starts" in the 80's coming out of Japan.
I like your single screw idea, as well as the modding an existing switch thought. The problem is the slot is also longer for those switches so I'd be limited to the middle three positions.
I'm hoping if I keep looking around some shop somewhere will have an old box of them covered in dust somewhere! Worst case is i fill the existing mount and lengthen the slot. Or open the cavity and mount the controls on a pickguard ala Starts. I'd rather not have to cut or mod the body. The guitar is more sentimental than anything. It was my first ever and I'm kind of attached to it
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Post by newey on Oct 28, 2015 5:11:05 GMT -5
Yeah, the slot length issue occurred to me, but I figured the throw length had to be roughly the same. But if that's a problem, then we'll just have to look harder for that switch. This is an import-style switch with 8 lugs in a line across the bottom, correct? There are a number of oddball ones of that style out there. Ibanez used several odd ones, I don't know if they had any shorter ones though. If your locale has a bricks-and-mortar music store that does repairs, ask the tech if he has a box of used switches around and ask to see them. I've found a number of hard-to-find parts that way. If all else fails, wait a few years and you can probably get one made with a 3D printer . . .  E DIT: Also, a photo might help us track one down |
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Post by cynical1 on Oct 28, 2015 9:28:16 GMT -5
I think this is going to be a scavenger hunt to find this part. I doubt you're going to find it new, as 1-5/8" is pretty much the standard. Even the YM-50, which is shallow, has the same 1-5/8" mounting hole spacing. Time to save that custom search on eBay...  Good luck. HTC1 |
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Post by ortetsguitar on Oct 28, 2015 9:32:44 GMT -5
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Post by ortetsguitar on Oct 28, 2015 9:39:42 GMT -5
I'm thinking crazy now...if I Cant find a switch I may end up getting drastic. I've always wanted to fill the trem cavity and ditch the horrendous bendmaster deluxe trem....like i said crazy talk.
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Post by cynical1 on Oct 28, 2015 10:08:12 GMT -5
Well, if you've got a router it isn't that hard to do... I've done a few and the refinish is the most involved part of it.
HTC1
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Post by ortetsguitar on Oct 28, 2015 10:50:47 GMT -5
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col
format tables
Posts: 468
Likes: 25
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Post by col on Oct 28, 2015 15:13:49 GMT -5
Hi,
newey came up with a lot of fine suggestions, but I think his 'down and dirty solution' (securing the switch with one screw) will not work (irrespective of the the throw length). If you use one screw, the switch will not be centered and unless the throw is unusually short, it will butt up against the far end of the slot before making its final contact (and leave a gap at the screw end of the slot when thrown that way). If you are considering modifying the slot, you might be able to make this work quite nicely using one screw hole and only extending the slot away from the existing screw - hopefully, the extended slot will take out the other existing screw hole. So, you will only only have to create one new hole and the old one will be removed. Well, hopefully. You will have to measure it out and see.
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Post by newey on Oct 28, 2015 23:02:01 GMT -5
OK, it is an odd one, from the picture. It looks a bit like a poor man's version of an Oak-Grigsby, rather than an import style. Never seen one like it before. If the Westone was of Japanese manufacture, then they probably weren't the only ones using that switch. Knowing of more makers who used the switch would help expand the search possibilities. You might try asking at the VintAxe forums, someone there might recognize the switch. But, as Cyn said, a scavenger hunt . . .  As for searching, these are called "lever switches" and sometimes "blade switches". But your search is going to have to concentrate on guitar parts suppliers, as these aren't used for much of anything except guitars. The main manufacturers are Oak-Grigsby, CRL, Shaller, plus a slew of import ones from various Chinese suppliers. If you go to the general electronics supply houses like Mouser or Digi-Key, they'll have thousands of different toggle switches of various types, as well as rotary switches, rocker switches, you name it- because those types of switches are used in everything from consumer electronics to automobiles, across multiple industries. With lever switches, the large houses don't carry them because they're pretty much limited to use in electric guitars- and not even in all guitars, just Strat-ish things. The original three-way lever switches (which later morphed into 5-way switches), were used by ol' Leo F. on the original Telecasters. These were originally used as send/xmit switches on radios in the 1940's. We made a whole hootload of two-way radios during WWII, and there was lots of war surplus around during the early '50s, sold at cheap prices, Leo apparently snapped up a large bunch. Pretty soon, their only real use was in guitars, and they were duplicated for that market alone. If the switch is shot, you won't be hurting anything if you were to try to fix it. Switches are pretty straightforward mechanisms, can you tell what exactly is wrong with it? |
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Post by ortetsguitar on Oct 29, 2015 12:13:17 GMT -5
If you zoom in You can see that I melted the sodde onto the post and broke it
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Post by lookbunnyrabbit on Oct 30, 2015 19:54:21 GMT -5
PM sent. Edit: Linky to the switch on fleabay. The original switch was manufactured by Mitsubishi. This is the sturdier spring loaded Oaky clone also used by the Matsumoku guitar co. during the early to mid 80s. Mike |
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suggestions?
As for searching, these are called "lever switches" and sometimes "blade switches". But your search is going to have to concentrate on guitar parts suppliers, as these aren't used for much of anything except guitars. The main manufacturers are Oak-Grigsby, CRL, Shaller, plus a slew of import ones from various Chinese suppliers.
