VOLT
Meter Reader 1st Class
Posts: 52
Likes: 0
|
Post by VOLT on Dec 6, 2009 22:56:24 GMT -5
ok, fellow musicians ;D i found this little instructable on how to install a killswitch on a strat. www.instructables.com/id/S0463W8F8JUW8BG/now, instead of installing just one killswitch, i want to install two of them. [so that i could use alternate (2) fingers{2 killswitches}...instead of struggling with just one finger{one killswitch}].... so I could play some good Buckethead stuff! In case you are too lazy to check out the link , heres how the killswitch is wired: one wire is soldered to the ground, and the other one is soldered to the output signal terminal. and when pressed, it completes the circuit. So, my questions are: 1. will anything happen if i press both killswitches at the same time? 2. does installing a killswitch cause loss of power(since there is more resistance)? 3. Will the loss of power be doubled if there is loss of power with one killswitch, and I use two? NOTE: by "loss of power" i mean loss of guitar signal/ volume, etc Thank You in advance, and may God bless Buckethead for his awesome music ;D
|
|
|
Post by newey on Dec 6, 2009 23:35:05 GMT -5
Yes, you'll kill the output. Well, it certainly causes a loss of power when operated! ;D Assuming the contacts are good, there should be minimal resistance across a switch, or even 2, so as not to make a discernible difference in output. You're talking a couple of Ohms. See #2 above. Or, rather than 2 buttons to push, maybe a metal bar that could be manipulated with your elbow/forearm to actuate it. Maybe build it into a vibrato tailpiece, so that slammin' the vibrato kills it. . . OK, nevermind, that's just Nutz! EDIT: BTW, you'll want to wire those switches in series, so that hitting either one kills it.
|
|
|
Post by sumgai on Dec 7, 2009 0:36:13 GMT -5
volt, newey beat me to it for most of the answers, but unfortunately I have to contradict him - you''ll need to wire the two switches in parallel in order to kill the signal with either one of them. However, I gotta admit to some curiosity here. If you spazz out when using just one finger on one switch, how can you possibly rationalize using two fingers to the same job? Inquiring minds want to know! ;D You're making a pretty rash assumption there, aren't you? so I could play some good Buckethead stuff! Buckethead for his awesome music I had this whole Beavis and Butthead type response running in my head, and was about to insert it for the humor value, but for some reason, I got reasonable, and decided that wouldn't be a good example for an Admin to set. Everyone else will have to dream up their own humorous replies to using "Buckethead", "good" and "awesome" in the same monologue. volt, don't worry, you'll get over it, some day - I swear! ;D sumgai
|
|
|
Post by newey on Dec 7, 2009 6:50:14 GMT -5
SG's right, I was thinking of this wrongly. I was thinking of 2 normally-closed momentary switches on the hot line, but your diagram is for a normally-open momentary switch, such that hitting the switch closes the circuit and shunts the output to ground- which is the correct way to do it to avoid noise issues.
So yes, wire them in parallel. Make sure you buy the correct switches, however. You want normally-open ones. Note that the convention is to put the words "off" or "on" in parentheses to designate momentary actuation. So, a switch designated as "on-off" is a regular 2-position switch, while "on-(off)" implies a normally-closed momentary switch. You'll want "off-(on)" ones, meaning it's a normally-open momentary switch.
|
|
|
Post by gumbo on Dec 7, 2009 7:43:58 GMT -5
..of course, if you don't want them parallel, you could mount one at an angle.....
|
|
|
Post by cynical1 on Dec 7, 2009 11:14:14 GMT -5
..of course, if you don't want them parallel, you could mount one at an angle..... ...there's always one...
|
|
|
Post by sumgai on Dec 7, 2009 11:55:25 GMT -5
Fortunately that crowd is waaaay down under, so there's less chance of infecting us Northerners.
;D
|
|
|
Post by 1150lefty on Dec 14, 2009 11:25:22 GMT -5
Heh, make that 2. So I was relearning the rules of circuits and soldering wires where I thought they should be, and what do you know - IT WORKS! Earlier (yes it was very late by then and I shouldn't have been wiring anything), I found this old momentary mini switch and I thought it would be cool to install before I buttoned the Voodoo Strat up and put the new strings on. Some big dummy wired the switch in line with the output and didn't run a ground!!! So now the Voodoo Strat sounds killer again, but I have to continuously push the button to hear it. Moral: "It sounded like a good idea at the time" = NO, DON'T! and "You're not) grounded!" I think LEDs will improve my playing 2000%... ;D
|
|
VOLT
Meter Reader 1st Class
Posts: 52
Likes: 0
|
Post by VOLT on Dec 23, 2009 11:40:41 GMT -5
ahh well... lets forget about 2 killswitches for now. I just finished installing 1 killswitch. soldered n all that im so proud of myself right now .... and so i plugged it in, and tested it. the killswitch works fine. But I've noticed there's much more hum than before(obviously positions 2 and 4 are noiseless as usual...its just 1, 3 and 5 humming). Is this a usual side effect of installing a killswitch? Btw, I installed it on my Squier strat.... all 3 pups are stock single coil. and.. Merry Christmas everyone!! and if u don't celebrate it, you're going to HELL!! nah, jk ;D Happy Holidays!
|
|
|
Post by ijustwannastrat on Dec 23, 2009 13:01:11 GMT -5
What type of switch is it? Temp-on or Temp-off? I thought I heard somewhere that if you use a temp-on to short the connection, there's more buzz....
Looking at the instructable you posted, you did one with a normally open circuit. If my tiny amount of circuitry knowledge is correct, that might be a little noisier....
|
|
VOLT
Meter Reader 1st Class
Posts: 52
Likes: 0
|
Post by VOLT on Dec 23, 2009 13:15:16 GMT -5
I dont know what temp- on and temp- off is. Could you enlighten me with a little of your knowledge? and yes i did it with a normally open switch. Is there any other way of doing it? Or should i just get my self some humbuckers?
|
|
|
Post by ijustwannastrat on Dec 23, 2009 17:29:18 GMT -5
temp on is a normally open switch. I am assuming that with a normally open switch, you used a shunt to "kill" the volume. Had you used a normally closed, you would have put the killswitch on your hot lead to the jack, and when you pressed the button, it would prevent noise from escaping.
What my thoughts are, that if you used the diagram that the instructable gave, the switch could be adding noise. I would wait for an experienced Nut to set you straight, though, before you do anything off of my advice....
|
|
VOLT
Meter Reader 1st Class
Posts: 52
Likes: 0
|
Post by VOLT on Dec 24, 2009 22:08:03 GMT -5
looks like all the experienced nuts are off celebrating Christmas
|
|
|
Post by newey on Dec 24, 2009 22:21:45 GMT -5
Volt- Sorry, but I have to disagree with wannastrat. See my reply #3 above. If you use a normally closed switch, and then open it to cut the hot line, you're leaving the hot hanging, which is more prone to be noisy than if the whole schlemiel is grounded out. Of course, there may be many other sources of noise- something could be touching somewhere it shouldn't, dodgy connection, etc. Tough to diagnose over the web. You might post some well-focused pix of what you did, no guarantees but it may help. Me, I celebrated Christmas yesterday- it was the only day our 2 year-old grandson could come over. Today, I'm off celebrating my Birthday!
|
|
|
Post by wolf on Dec 24, 2009 23:26:17 GMT -5
Well, nothing says Christamas Eve like drawing a graphic for the Guitar Nuts II Message Board. As can be seen above, shutting off the " +" connection, with a normally closed switch will work. However, since the output is not being shunted, it will not eliminate 100% of the noise. And not to start any controversy here but I always thought that "hanging from the hot" meant shutting off the ground connection. (Yes a very noisy proposition). I believe the big feature of shunting the output jack's connections is that the amp "sees" this as if the volume has been set to zero, enabling greater kill switch effectiveness. Merry Christmas to all !!!!!and Happy Birthday newey.
|
|
|
Post by newey on Dec 24, 2009 23:47:34 GMT -5
No controversy at all, I misspoke. It's not truly hanging, but may be noisy nonetheless.
And thanks, wolf, for the birthday wishes.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!
. . . And to All a Good Night!
|
|
VOLT
Meter Reader 1st Class
Posts: 52
Likes: 0
|
Post by VOLT on Dec 25, 2009 1:59:34 GMT -5
Ok.. ill try to get those pics up later this morning... its almost 2AM right now... I was up restringing my strat. And I've got a small question off topic. My new high E string sounds like a sitar when I strum it. What could be the problem? I did put some graphite (that I got off a pencil by rubbing it on fine sandpaper)on the nut. Could this be the cause?
|
|
VOLT
Meter Reader 1st Class
Posts: 52
Likes: 0
|
Post by VOLT on Dec 25, 2009 3:12:24 GMT -5
|
|
VOLT
Meter Reader 1st Class
Posts: 52
Likes: 0
|
Post by VOLT on Dec 25, 2009 3:16:44 GMT -5
just testing..... haha you're probably wondering why there are just 4 strings.. i took this pic while i was restringing...
|
|
|
Post by newey on Dec 25, 2009 8:45:07 GMT -5
Volt-
You're right, the pix aren't much help. But I see you figured out the image posting anyway!
Just a thought from your photos, though. I see you've shielded the cavity (good work!). I assume that was done previously, and you've just added the kill switch now (If I'm wrong, and you did multiple mods at once, there may be other issues).
Try putting some electrical tape along the side of the control cavity where the switch resides, just to make sure your switch isn't contacting the side, and thus touching the shielding. It can be tough to tell if it's hitting once you button it all up. You can also test to see if that's the problem by plugging it in with the guard off the body- if the noise isn't there with the wiring outside of the guitar, then it's likely a contact issue.
Another possibility is that the switch isn't grounded properly. You might try running a ground wire from the body of the switch to the back of a pot. Also, where did you ground the signal connection to? Double-check that as well. It should go to the output neg, don't use your shielding to ground it.
|
|
VOLT
Meter Reader 1st Class
Posts: 52
Likes: 0
|
Post by VOLT on Dec 25, 2009 12:07:26 GMT -5
HEY! Guess what... its back to normal now. Its not as noisy as before. I have no clue how though ;D But anyway.... I assume that was done previously, and you've just added the kill switch now (If I'm wrong, and you did multiple mods at once, there may be other issues). I did the shielding a few months back. Try putting some electrical tape along the side of the control cavity where the switch resides, just to make sure your switch isn't contacting the side, and thus touching the shielding. It can be tough to tell if it's hitting once you button it all up. I took care of that. I wrapped the killswitch (the part under the pickguard) with electrical tape. So there's no way it can be touching the shielding. Also, where did you ground the signal connection to? Double-check that as well. It should go to the output neg, don't use your shielding to ground it. I didn't understand your question. Could you explain it a little more please
|
|
|
Post by newey on Dec 25, 2009 12:27:48 GMT -5
Well, Volt, if it fixed itself somehow, don't mess with it further!
What I meant is that the shunt to ground from the killswitch should be wired to the outjack negative. If you're star-grounding, it would go to the star grounding point. I meant that it should not just go to the cavity shielding, or to the bridge ground point, or anywhere other than the outjack neg.
|
|