Repairing an old Sound City Phaser

[OhPascal]

Hi, its my first time posting here and my first time repairing a pedal so I was wondering if I could solicit some advice. I've got this old Sound City Phaser pedal (Phase Shifter PS-06) I love the sound, but the foot switch worked very very intermittently so I wanted to replace it. I extracted the switch but it doesn't resemble any switches I can buy online from parts shops (it has just three prongs) so I was wondering if anyone knew what I might replace it with; I don't mind if the switch cover has to be taken off and the button exposed. Thanks in advance!

[rankot]

Take DMM and measure switch contacts after switching, so you can figure out what kind of switch it is (SPST, momentary or something else).

[Mark Hammer]

The form-factor suggests that the unit uses electronic-switching.  I say this because any sort of stompswitch would make inclusion of the treadle unnecessary.  In which case the switch would be likely be momentary, and only two of the contacts used.  It's possible one of the contacts is electronically redundant and merely used to provide stability to the installed switch.

The intermittent functioning can occur for a number of reasons, apart from the quality and reliability of the contact within the switch.  For instance, there might be some sort of material on the underside of the treadle, intended to dampen any clicking sound or otherwise absorb pressure, that has become compressed or deformed over time.  The switch might be fine, but the pressing down unreliable in actuating the switch.  I'm sure many wah users can attest to the phenomenon in their wah pedals.  While less likely, it is possible that any spring inside, under the treadle, might have altered properties.

None of this means that the switch itself has NOT provided its full lifetime of service and justified retirement.  But it does mean that other possibilities might be worth exploring before going to great lengths to locate a replacement switch that looks a little different from the norm and may be hard to find.  A preliminary test might be to simply connect some wires from the extracted switch to the pads on the board where it is normally installed.  If replicating the usual contact made by the switch, from outside the housing, results in what appears to be reliable switching, then there is a good possibility the problem lies not in the switch itself, but how it is being depressed.  Just a thought.