AMP Builders unite and get a better footswitch

[heisthl]

Attached is a drawing of 4 styles of schematic diagrams for possible 3 button footswitches, I am working with Michael at Cliff USA to see if we can get these made. So pick which style would be the most desired for a production run and we could all benefit. Any of these would be acceptable for my purposes at RedPlateAmps, hopefully they could be manufactured with the DIN jack as part of the footswitch rather than an attached cable. Looking for input from those of you that would order quantities of 50 or more to get the initial build, after that smaller quantities could be ordered in the future.

[odourboy]

Will the packaging of these be the same as the generic 3-button Marshall style many of us get from CE Dist (aside from the DIN connector)?

Style 1 would suite.

[heisthl]

Will the packaging of these be the same as the generic 3-button Marshall style many of us get from CE Dist (aside from the DIN connector)?

Style 1 would suite.

Yes, Cliff is the company that makes the ones Antique/Tubesandmore/CE Distributing carries, so the physical attributes would be identical.
Just out of curiosity when you do boost with a style 1 type footswitch do you wire the relays so the boost is on all the time unless you're using the footswitch?

[Tonegeek]

Henry,
The relays I use would be most likely to work with Footswitch2. I don't (as yet) build enough amps to do quantity so won't be much help there. I would suggest that you really think about whether you want a DIN plug where it can be stepped on although I know other manufacturers do this already. I use metal DIN plugs now at the amp end (unlike the plastic ones Mouser sells), and they might be OK for that kind of abuse, but I would want to know for sure. I don't think the integral wire/box is so bad as long as the cable is good. Unfortunately, the current AES replacements use really cheap or at least tiny guage wire that looks like it would break if you breathe on it wrong. I fully expect that will be the first thing that breaks on the amp I just built for a friend of mine. I wish the guage was twice what it really is. Just stuff to consider.

[briane]

Thats a neat idea. As is I have to rebuild the FS for the LED and 5pin, similar to #2.

Having a 5pin connector on the FS would be ideal, then the cable is separate. I really like the idea of being able to swap cables if it goes bad.

Unfortunately I only do one offs, so a quantity of 50 would be way overkill.

[ChrisM]

If you do go through with these get rid of those terrible cheap X-Wing switches.

When ever I have to use DPDTs I use these Alphas. They cost a bit more but are much more reliable and sturdy.

[img:125:267]http://www.smallbearelec.com/catalog/alphadpdt.jpg[/img]

[Structo]

I'm not clear on what each switch offers.

I see the obvious difference with the leds on or off with the switch.

But, why do some of them have different current limiting resistors?

I have a two button switch I bought from AES.
Originally I had a TRS plug and jack for OD and PAB.
Later I changed it to the 5 pin DIN to open up more options.

I wired the amp and switch cable with the mini DIN 5 pin connector only at the amp end.

I bought some high quality cable that is double shielded and has 6 conductors.

I have mine wired so when the relays latch, the leds light up.

I tried to wire my overdrive so it was latched when the OD was off, in an effort to reduce what little noise there was there.
I did something wrong and it didn't work right so I put it back to where the OD is on when the relay is latched.
This was something that AmpDoc had suggested to me before.

Later on I'm going to jury rig a mid boost circuit in the amp and if I like enough, I will make a three button footswitch with that as an option along side the PAB and OD buttons.

[odourboy]

Will the packaging of these be the same as the generic 3-button Marshall style many of us get from CE Dist (aside from the DIN connector)?

Style 1 would suite.

Yes, Cliff is the company that makes the ones Antique/Tubesandmore/CE Distributing carries, so the physical attributes would be identical.
Just out of curiosity when you do boost with a style 1 type footswitch do you wire the relays so the boost is on all the time unless you're using the footswitch?

Nope - I must have that backwards then... oops

[odourboy]

H2, was there any discussion of a 4 button footswitch? There's currently no cheap'generic' option that I'm aware of with 4, and I've done a few builds with Boost, Mid, PAB and Loop switching.

[topbrent]

You can get a 5 button marshall footswitch pedal through cedist, but it is $105.00 at dealer cost...150.00 street
http://www.tubesandmore.com/scripts/fox ... tem=P-H879

Perhaps it would be easier to roll your own using a die-cast hammond box like a 1590DD or similar. It is around 7.38*4.70*1.3


http://www.hammondmfg.com/dwg.htm

[bluesfendermanblues]

its around $70 in europe

http://www.thomann.de/gb/marshall_mrfs05d.htm

[heisthl]

H2, was there any discussion of a 4 button footswitch? There's currently no cheap'generic' option that I'm aware of with 4, and I've done a few builds with Boost, Mid, PAB and Loop switching.

The idea is to get them to build the "Sportster" first and then after that is successful for them have them make the "Fat Boy". Quantity pricing on these should be less than the CE price.
Right now to do a 4 button I'm using a Fender one that I got 40 of at $10 a piece (each with a separate 25' midi cable!) on Ebay. They are a PITA though because they were made with momentary switches so they all have to be replaced and because of how they were mounted the midi jack has to be replaced too.

[odourboy]

Good score! Almost the price of the MIDI cables alone.

You can probably count me in on a handful of the "Sportster" edition if we can better the CD Dist price but the my real interest is in the "Fatboy".

Cheers!

[heisthl]

If you do go through with these get rid of those terrible cheap X-Wing switches.

When ever I have to use DPDTs I use these Alphas. They cost a bit more but are much more reliable and sturdy.

[img:125:267]http://www.smallbearelec.com/catalog/alphadpdt.jpg[/img]

I think I know which ones you're talking about - when heated by soldering they quit working. All of the ones I received in the last 2 years have not had this issue although these are SPDT and the ones I had trouble with were DPDT.

[UltraHookedOnPhonix]

If you do go through with these get rid of those terrible cheap X-Wing switches.

When ever I have to use DPDTs I use these Alphas. They cost a bit more but are much more reliable and sturdy.

[img:125:267]http://www.smallbearelec.com/catalog/alphadpdt.jpg[/img]

I think I know which ones you're talking about - when heated by soldering they quit working. All of the ones I received in the last 2 years have not had this issue although these are SPDT and the ones I had trouble with were DPDT.

Those X-wing switches are made in both Taiwan and China. The Chinese ones are way worse than the made-in-Taiwan counterpart. I ripped one of those Chinese switches to shreds when I installed it in a FTSW and I hadn't even begun stompin' on it!
The Taiwanese ones I have are still holding up.