suhr blower switch..but for any position..?

[nickname009]

Just learning about this idea recently, i like it except it seems to be the only purpose is for the bridge pickup to be bypassing everything going straight to the jack, but what if I want the neck pick up going to straight to the jack? or both pickups?

my current setup is just a push push with a killswitch, the push push is wired for volume and as a pickup selector.

I've read that a push pull can be used as a blower switch, if that's true..if i added a 3 way toggle, would I then be able to wire the pot as a 'master' blower switch? So that whatever position the 3 way is in, the blower switch will be activated once pushed?

This way I get my blower 'tone' in any position I want? Is this possible? Has anybody done this before? 

edit: just had another thought, once the 'blower' switch is engaged, i would still want both the 3 way pickup selector and the killswitch to work. So maybe this isn't really a blower switch at all, more like a volume pot engaging/disengaging function..??

[thetragichero]

so master volume, no tone control?
wire the blower switch in between the selector switch and the volume control's 'input' lug
push/pull, push/push, separate toggle switch, two position rotary switch... wire it however your heart/wallet desires

[sumgai]

Jan 6, 2019 0:41:28 GMT -5 nickname009 said:

...
edit: just had another thought, once the 'blower' switch is engaged, i would still want both the 3 way pickup selector and the killswitch to work. So maybe this isn't really a blower switch at all, more like a volume pot engaging/disengaging function..??

Conceptually, it may seem that the easiest way to do this is to simply hook up a switch between the two terminals of the Vol pot (the ones that are not grounded). But that doesn't do the job - the pot's knob can still be rotated such that the wiper will become grounded when rotated fully counter-clockwise, thus killing all signal.

Better would be to install a DPDT switch (and we're still in the realm of any physical type you might want - toggle, p/p, etc.). This will be hooked up to do two jobs at the same time. One: do as I said above, short across the the two ungrounded terminals of the Vol pot, and Two: interrupt the grounding of that third terminal, such that when Boost (blow, etc.) is selected, the grounded terminal is no longer grounded.... grounding that third terminal occurs only when the Blower function is unselected.

Did this make sense to you? Do you want/need a diagram?

HTH

sumgai

[JFrankParnell]

sumgai, you couldnt just use SPDT, with the output of the pup switch either going to the vol/tone OR straight to the jack?

[thetragichero]

I thought about that and had a comment typed up, but he's right - volume pot turned all the way down will shunt the output (center lug) to ground

now, the Philadelphia lawyer in me could argue that that's a feature rather than a bug. in a live setting, being able to mute my guitar regardless of switching states is beneficial to me

[newey]

now, the Philadelphia lawyer in me

Last I heard, you were in Florida. So I question your Philly lawyer credentials . . .

But on a more serious note, the oldest guitar I own has a "standby switch". This was way before anyone thought of a kill switch, trying to make their guitar sound like an M-50, and while it could be used as a kill switch, it's not conveniently located for such. But it's great for stage work as a spare guitar, you can have it turned off, plugged in and ready to go at the flip of the standby switch. Of course, if you have a soundman at the board who can just fade it in/out, then it doesn't matter, but for plug-in-n'-play bar band gigs, it's a useful feature.

[sumgai]

JFrank,

Jan 7, 2019 15:32:15 GMT -5 JFrankParnell said:

sumgai , you couldnt just use SPDT, with the output of the pup switch either going to the vol/tone OR straight to the jack?

Think of it as the same thing as a full-bypass footswitch in a stomp-box. If the signal is not completely isolated from the circuit when in bypass mode, the remaining circuit connections will still have some kind of effect on the tone. Likewise, in this case the Volume pot will still affect the signal level if we don't take the additional step of isolating it entirely.

HTH






sumgai

[Ro_S]

Jan 6, 2019 0:41:28 GMT -5 nickname009 said:

Just learning about this idea recently, i like it except it seems to be the only purpose is for the bridge pickup to be bypassing everything going straight to the jack, but what if I want the neck pick up going to straight to the jack? or both pickups?

my current setup is just a push push with a killswitch, the push push is wired for volume and as a pickup selector.

I've read that a push pull can be used as a blower switch, if that's true..if i added a 3 way toggle, would I then be able to wire the pot as a 'master' blower switch? So that whatever position the 3 way is in, the blower switch will be activated once pushed?

This way I get my blower 'tone' in any position I want? Is this possible? Has anybody done this before? 

edit: just had another thought, once the 'blower' switch is engaged, i would still want both the 3 way pickup selector and the killswitch to work. So maybe this isn't really a blower switch at all, more like a volume pot engaging/disengaging function..??

You're seeking what is sometimes called the "direct through” mod.   That is opposed to the "blower" / "solo" / "passing lane" mod.   The latter mod bypasses all the controls,defeating the pickup selector switch and defaulting to (usually) the bridge pickup. Whereas, the "direct through" mod only bypasses the volume and tone controls; the pickup selector switch is still active. 

You need to locate the mod switch after the pickup selector - but before the volume and tone controls.  That's opposed to directly after the bridge pickup as on the "blower" mod. 

Your existing killswitch is presumably wired at the end of the circuit, directly before the output jack?   Place it there and ensure the bypass route of the "direct through" mod returns to the circuit before the killswitch rather than at the jack.

[reTrEaD]

Jan 6, 2019 0:41:28 GMT -5 nickname009 said:

edit: just had another thought, once the 'blower' switch is engaged, i would still want both the 3 way pickup selector and the killswitch to work. So maybe this isn't really a blower switch at all, more like a volume pot engaging/disengaging function..??

Hi nickname009

Your modification could bypass just the volume control -or- both the tone control and volume control. Your choice. The important thing to remember is that where you 'locate' the switch isn't a single point. It's two points.

In any bypass scheme decide what you want to bypass and what you want (if anything at all) you want to add in the bypass mode.

[thetragichero]

hey I like that diagram even more than the one I made
simplicity is

[sumgai]

reTrEaD just said it best, with a diagram.


In all cases that I've ever encountered, if one does not completely isolate the "stuff being bypassed" from the direct route, then there will be some effect on the signal, period. In a very few cases, that effect is of no consequence, but in our case (that of guitarists), you will always notice that somehow, in some way, the tone is "not quite right". Very often, the "stuff being bypassed" is doing something to the signal that we call "loading", which usually robs the signal of tone.

That's the simple way of describing it, but believe me (and the rest of us Nutz) - failing to switch both the input and output will in some manner cause a noticible uptick in your Kleenex budget.

HTH

sumgai

[nickname009]

thank you all for the knowledge and wealth of information! apologies for the late response, life happens as you all know