Members johanwastaken Posted June 14, 2008 Members Share Posted June 14, 2008 My next project is going to be a tremolo pedal. Something I think would be really useful is a momentary switch that when pressed down reverses whatever action the regular switch is set to. So for example when the regular switch has set the effect on, pressing down the momentary switch would turn the effect off until you release the switch. The opposite should also work, when the effect is off pressing down the momentary switch would turn the effect on until the switch is released. I'm thinking this would be really useful for those small bursts of tremolo so that you don't have to double-tap all the time. Is it possible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members katillac Posted June 14, 2008 Members Share Posted June 14, 2008 Yes, it is with a momentary on/off switch wired in series with the regular switch on your tremelo pedal. You can use it as a bypass or with it normally in bypass mode and engaged/on when pressed. Hope that made sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members johanwastaken Posted June 15, 2008 Author Members Share Posted June 15, 2008 In my head, I see that working fine for a bypass-switch but not for a temporary enable-switch. What I've been taught is that if you have 2 switches in series, both of them must be on for the pedal to be on. If you have 2 switches in parallel, just one of them has to be on for the pedal to be on. This is what made me confused. The momentary switch would have to act like in series when the pedal is on (so that turning it off will turn pedal off) and in parallel when the pedal is off (so that turning it on will turn pedal on). Could you maybe provide a wiring scheme for the wiring you mentioned? Maybe then I'd understand it better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members katillac Posted June 16, 2008 Members Share Posted June 16, 2008 You can wire it in either way, parallel or series, In series, it would have to be a normally-open switch; otherwise, with the effect switch on, it would stay on, too. In parallel, a SPDT momentary ON/ON switch would be needed. With the effect switch set to on, and with the momentary switch wired "after " the effect switch in the circuit, the normally closed side would be used to keep the effect on until you press the momentary switch, breaking that circuit and pushing the signal to bypass. I'm still a beginner at this, so I'll have to ponder this a bit to draw up any type of circuit. We have to keep in mind the existing bypass circuit of the trem box and utilise something like a transistor to keep the circuit from looping. Hell, I think I just confused myself. Where are all the people who like to share their knowledge of this kinda thing? Other boards I've been on, guys get into pissing matches over who has the most efficient circuit, even on the simple stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NyteOwl Posted June 16, 2008 Members Share Posted June 16, 2008 Well, I'm kinda confused on this myself. If I understand you correctly, you want to insert a momentary on/off switch into the circuit to bypass the regular on/off switch. No offense, but it seems to me like you are, for lack of a better term, re-inventing the wheel. Could you not accomplish the exact same thing if you left the pedal as is and just used the regular on/off switch? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members johanwastaken Posted June 16, 2008 Author Members Share Posted June 16, 2008 Yes basically. When the tremolo is on, I want to be able to use the momentary switch to temporarily turn it off. In the same way, I want to be able to use that switch to temporarily turn the tremolo on when it is disabled. When the tremolo is off, the momentary switch should be able to turn the tremolo on, temporarily.When the tremolo is on, the momentary switch should be able to turn the tremolo off, temporarily. This would be useful for those quick bursts of tremolo to avoid doubletapping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PaoloJM Posted June 16, 2008 Members Share Posted June 16, 2008 Yes basically. When the tremolo is on, I want to be able to use the momentary switch to temporarily turn it off. In the same way, I want to be able to use that switch to temporarily turn the tremolo on when it is disabled. When the tremolo is off, the momentary switch should be able to turn the tremolo on, temporarily. When the tremolo is on, the momentary switch should be able to turn the tremolo off, temporarily. This would be useful for those quick bursts of tremolo to avoid doubletapping. You would need to use a NC momentary switch (switch A) in series with your existing switch as well as a NO momentary switch (switch B) in parallel with the existing switch to achieve this. With the main switch off the Switch B can momentarily bring in/out the tremolo and with the main switch on Switch B can momentarily drop out/in the tremolo. It would make for a fairly complex circuit that could be a real pain in the ass at a gig with a few drinks on board!! I can't think of a way of doing it with only one switch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NyteOwl Posted June 17, 2008 Members Share Posted June 17, 2008 You would need to use a NC momentary switch (switch A) in series with your existing switch as well as a NO momentary switch (switch B) in parallel with the existing switch to achieve this. With the main switch off the Switch B can momentarily bring in/out the tremolo and with the main switch on Switch B can momentarily drop out/in the tremolo. It would make for a fairly complex circuit that could be a real pain in the ass at a gig with a few drinks on board!! I can't think of a way of doing it with only one switch. Which means adding two additional switches to "momentarily" do the job of an already existing On/Off switch. I'm sorry, but this just makes no sense to me and seems like an awful lot of trouble, time and expense to go through simply to avoid double tapping the On/Off switch to punch the Tremolo in or out for a quick burst of effected or non-effected guitar signal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PaoloJM Posted June 17, 2008 Members Share Posted June 17, 2008 Which means adding two additional switches to "momentarily" do the job of an already existing On/Off switch. I'm sorry, but this just makes no sense to me and seems like an awful lot of trouble, time and expense to go through simply to avoid double tapping the On/Off switch to punch the Tremolo in or out for a quick burst of effected or non-effected guitar signal. I agree with you, I was kinda subtley trying to hint a that fact in my reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NyteOwl Posted June 17, 2008 Members Share Posted June 17, 2008 I agree with you, I was kinda subtley trying to hint a that fact in my reply.I already tried a more subtle approach, but evidently the OP believes his idea to be a better mousetrap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members johanwastaken Posted June 17, 2008 Author Members Share Posted June 17, 2008 Or I have different needs than you have. That is also why we have more than 1 kind of guitar to choose from, 1 kind of amp to choose from and so on. Anyway. I think I'll just put a momentary on switch on there instead. It'll be much easier and useful enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members groutt Posted June 18, 2008 Members Share Posted June 18, 2008 These aren't real footswitches. I just wanted to see if it would work. Sounds like a good idea to me. I think I'll make a generic footswitch box that works like you described. Oh... this ignores bypassing. I don't know about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members johanwastaken Posted June 19, 2008 Author Members Share Posted June 19, 2008 It is possible with bypass if you just add the same thing once again in reverse. The middle 2 switches are really the same switch (4PDT) and the 2 outer ones are also the same (DPDT). I will however need a 5PDT if I want to add a LED which doesn't exist so I'd have to use relays and stuff which makes this a bit too complicated. I could do rat-style bypass but it still feels a bit complicated. Thanks a lot though. I will do some thinking and see if it can be stripped down to a smaller switch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.