Momentary KillSwitch!

[octavedoctor]

Re: Momentary KillSwitch!

This is what it says...."Momentary Kill Switch. S.P.S.T. normally-closed, momentary pushbutton. 0.51" diameter red plunger, 0.74" diameter metal bezel. 0.62" diameter threaded bushing mounts in panels up to 0.15" thick. Solder lug terminals attached. Always install in hot wires.

Example installation: To disable all sound, install kill switch in the hot wire leading to the output jack. Press and hold to disable all sound, or press repeatedly for desired effect."

But it sure don't work??
Climbin walls here!
PF
Cheers!

Yeah that's completely wrong; all you do with that is break the signal path. Lot's of noise results when you do that. Gibson made that mistake on their Jimmy Page Les Pauls a few years back.

A kill switch does nothing more complicated than short the signal path to earth. Probably the simplest mod you can do to a guitar.

 

[The Guitar]

Re: Momentary KillSwitch!

Mine is connected to the hot and ground wires of the input. I don't think I got alot, if any noise when I would press it. That guitar is apart, so I can't double check.

 

[octavedoctor]

Re: Momentary KillSwitch!

Mine is connected to the hot and ground wires of the input. I don't think I got alot, if any noise when I would press it. That guitar is apart, so I can't double check.

It's actually the output jack. :knockedou A common misprint... I see a dozen repair dockets a month from shops that say "faulty input" on guitars. :18:

You won't get any noise if it is connected this way because what you are doing is shorting out the input of the amplifier. You only get noise if you wire a breaker switch in to the signal path because then, when you operate it, you allow the input of the amp to see an infinite impedance so the cable acts as an aerial, just as if you had unplugged it.

 

[octavedoctor]

Re: Momentary KillSwitch!

So If I can reverse the guts of the switch and make it a usually off switch then wire it to the output jack in parallel it will work without any hum? I will try this soon

you'll find it easier to buy a new switch. Momentary push to make switches are cheap and easy to come by. Any shop selling model railroad suplies will have them.

 

[MrTondo]

Re: Momentary KillSwitch!

Mine is the one that breaks the connection when pressed (wired in series, it says "always on)
With this one do I just wire it into the hot sections and to the jack?

The only thing you can do with that is get the hot signal from the pickups/volume pot and send it to ground, you will not connect the ground and signal of the guitar cable thisway, causing hum.

Yet this already should cause less hum than the 2 pole switch, since the grounds of the guitar and amp are still connected, when your input jack is grounded.

 

[octavedoctor]

Re: Momentary KillSwitch!

The only thing you can do with that is get the hot signal from the pickups/volume pot and send it to ground, you will not connect the ground and signal of the guitar cable thisway, causing hum.

Yet this already should cause less hum than the 2 pole switch, since the grounds of the guitar and amp are still connected, when your input jack is grounded.

Not sure if I've understood you correctly; you seem to be saying that you can use an "always on" switch as a kill switch and that making a connection between the signal path and ground is what causes hum. It's actually the other way around...

You can use an "always on" switch as a kill switch (we should actually be calling it an "interruptor" since that's actually how it is used) it's just not efficient as every time you break the signal path you get noise. As an interruptor switch is almost exclusively used at very high gain settings this doesn't have the desired effect at all.

 

[Chocklit_Thunda]

Re: Momentary KillSwitch!

Ok well I've fiddled round and converted the switch (I think)
I tested it with a multimeter.... When I just touch the poles I get 0 and when I press the switch I get 2. something ohms? Is this correct? Current only flows when the button is pressed?

 

[MrTondo]

Re: Momentary KillSwitch!

Not sure if I've understood you correctly; you seem to be saying that you can use an "always on" switch as a kill switch and that making a connection between the signal path and ground is what causes hum. It's actually the other way around...

You can use an "always on" switch as a kill switch (we should actually be calling it an "interruptor" since that's actually how it is used) it's just not efficient as every time you break the signal path you get noise. As an interruptor switch is almost exclusively used at very high gain settings this doesn't have the desired effect at all.

What I meant is that the most important thing in avoiding noise is making sure the signal part of your guitar cable is connected to the ground part of your guitar cable.

With a three lug "always on" momentary switch (switching momentary to the second 'output' lug), you could get all the signal to ground, yet the neatest and most pop and humfree method is connecting the signal part and the ground part of your guitar cable, via a momentary "always off" switch.

 

[jumble jumble]

Re: Momentary KillSwitch!

Ok well I've fiddled round and converted the switch (I think)
I tested it with a multimeter.... When I just touch the poles I get 0 and when I press the switch I get 2. something ohms? Is this correct? Current only flows when the button is pressed?

Should work. Now just connect it across your jack in parallel.

 

[octavedoctor]

Re: Momentary KillSwitch!

What I meant is that the most important thing in avoiding noise is making sure the signal part of your guitar cable is connected to the ground part of your guitar cable.

With a three lug "always on" momentary switch (switching momentary to the second 'output' lug), you could get all the signal to ground, yet the neatest and most pop and humfree method is connecting the signal part and the ground part of your guitar cable, via a momentary "always off" switch.

Ah, I see. We are on the same page then...