Taming a noisy Superswitch

[frets]

Happy Memorial Day, I hope you are enjoying your day off and remembering those in your family that have fallen.  

I hope I put this in the right category as it deals with something that is physical in nature.  Whatever that means.

I have a question about how to make a Superswitch on the Strat-O-Tele less noisy.  It pops between switching and I’ve checked my soldering.  All looks good.  I’ve attached the diagram below.  Could I use a resistor somewhere on the switch?  It’s just really annoying and killing my Tele buzz.  Thanks guys!😺😺😺

[newey]

Sept 6, 2021 14:37:36 GMT -5 frets said:

Happy Memorial Day, I hope you are enjoying your day off and remembering those in your family that have fallen.

You've been working too hard. Today is Labor Day.

I don't have an answer for your question, mind you, just keeping the holidays straight.

[frets]

Newey,
Well you all knew I was flaky!!  I always get those mixed up.  How embarrassing.  Well I hope everyday had a good day off!😸

To elaborate on the problem, For example, in Strat or Tele mode, switching from position 4 to 5 causes no pop (again, when low E string is vibrating), but switching from 5 to 4 does. Switching TO position 1 causes less pop than switching from 1 to 2.

[unreg]

Hi frets,

From guitarnuts2.proboards.com/thread/7579/feedback-advice-sought-project-teardrop?page=2

ashcatlt gives more great wisdom:

Aug 26, 2021 15:43:56 GMT -5 ashcatlt said:

Aug 26, 2021 15:16:16 GMT -5 Ro_S said:

...the pots are all mounted to a METAL control plate...

… For you and unreg: Pot backs and that metal plate are shield connections and should not be relied upon for our audio signal. Audio signals are pretty much anything attached to a pot or switch lug, including the "ground" end of the Tone caps and the "ground" lug of the Volume pot. Use wire for those. The pot backs sort of want to get to ground also in order to maybe help with noise, but you don't want to depend on that connection for your life. Pot backs are too tough to solder to, and that connection too often goes wrong. In this case here is even worse because you're literally depending on the nuts holding the pots to the plate. Those things will come loose. It's not a matter of if, but when. By the Law of Murphy, we can expect that to be exactly when you need that connection most. Don't do be that guy. Connect audio signals via component lugs or wires.

It looks to me like you, in that diagram, ARE running signal grounds through shield grounds.

I actually did solder a wire to a pin of my tone pot’s capacitor, and then wired that over to my volume pot’s ground lug, as ash recommended. ❤️


Now,

a.) That change greatly removed a ton of noise, for me.

b.) I’m unsure how this will work for you bc I corrected a BIG mistake of mine. In the past, after reading wonderful advise here, I soldered that cap’s ground pin to lug 1 (or 3) of my tone pot. It turns out the wire connected to that tone lug DOES NOT run over to my vol pot’s ground lug, but to its (vol) lug 3.

c.) That change was a key to silence, but there is now a silent slight noise, maybe buzz, bc I think it has to do with me not soldering that ground wire to my vol pot’s ground lug’s loop; rather, I just slid the wire end down the lug’s side and applied solder.

That was easier than removing my volume pot, desoldering that lug, resoldering everything (including that cap ground wire) back.

That cap ground did test perfectly with multimeter. 👍😊


FINAL-EDIT: it’s not buzz, must be hum… it, almost nothing, goes completely away while touching the strings 🙂

[unreg]

Actually, all those grounds are signal grounds, but the ground wire coming off your vol pot is a shield ground, right? Now, I don’t know anything, but does the introduction of that shield ground to your volume pot’s case, which is obviously a signal ground, cause havoc? 🙂


EDIT: Sigh (at myself), and you are also running your pot cases’ shield grounds through your signal grounds. After rereading ashcatlt above, the pot cases should only be used for shield grounds. 🙂 That’s how my guitar is now.

[ashcatlt]

Of course yes nothing gets to the jack sleeve except via the back of the V pot, and that Tone cap relies on the control plate (and two different pots not coming loose) to get it there, which I’d prefer not to do. As long as those connections are actually good and secure, though, it’s probably not the issue.

Unless whatever you’re plugging the guitar into is leaking DC, the popping is either a quick temporary disconnect in the middle of the switching action or just the simple fact that the signal is making a very sudden jump in volume when it’s switched. Going from a single pickup to a series combination should just about double the output instantaneously, and switching to a parallel would cause a halving, but also a very sudden addition of about an octave’s worth of extra top end. These are rather large jumps, and if they happen fast enough will look a lot like a step function and could sound a lot like a click or pop.

Unfortunately there aren’t many good ways to stop that in a passive system like this. A low pass filter might slow down the jump enough that it doesn’t sound like a pop, but it would also probably ruin your tone. You could just make sure that you only switch when the string motion is at a zero crossing. Mostly you just have to learn to live with it. Sorry.

[frets]

Thanks Ash😺

[Deleted]

a bit of a slow day





It was right the last time my eyes went cross over on it

[frets]

Thanks Angel😸