rotary switch

jmusser · February 12, 2005, 08:58:39 AM

It seems like I remember seeing a color picture of how to wire a rotary switch, but I don't remember where it was. Could someone point me in the right direction?

dpresley58 · February 12, 2005, 04:42:09 PM

What are you trying to do with it?

jmusser · February 12, 2005, 05:43:33 PM

Well, I want to change my wah into an expression pedal, that I can switch to either use the pot normally with the wah, or be able to jack in my Gargletron, and substitute the panel pot for the wah pot. Someone showed me the other day how to at least do the wah part with some fancy Marshall jacks that I don't have. I figured I could use the rotary switch to switch out the 3 wires on the wah to an auxilliary jack, and do the same thing with the Gargletron with the "Gargle" pot. Does that make sense?

jmusser · February 13, 2005, 03:18:49 PM

Just bumping this up front to see if dpresley is lurking.

dpresley58 · February 14, 2005, 11:39:55 AM

Quote from: jmusserWell, I want to change my wah into an expression pedal, that I can switch to either use the pot normally with the wah, or be able to jack in my Gargletron, and substitute the panel pot for the wah pot. Someone showed me the other day how to at least do the wah part with some fancy Marshall jacks that I don't have. I figured I could use the rotary switch to switch out the 3 wires on the wah to an auxilliary jack, and do the same thing with the Gargletron with the "Gargle" pot. Does that make sense?

Sorry for the lapse. I don't keep an ISP at the house, so weekends are spent in absentia...

Yep, the concept makes sense. Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with the Gargletron - excuse my ignorance. A diagram of what you're dealing with would help, if you have the time to post one. I've been using rotaries on guitars I build, and had to go through the curve with them so I understand the potential for confusion. It can get frustrating... :?

Travis · February 14, 2005, 05:23:38 PM

Take a look at how a rotary switch is used in the Great Cheddar.

http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/diagrams/geo_great_cheddar_v6.pdf

The quadrants work independently, with each lug in the middle of the switch changing connections between the three outer lugs closest to it.

Connect the three middle lugs to the pot.

For anything else, just get a rotary switch and use the continuity setting on your DMM.

SirPoonga · February 14, 2005, 05:27:53 PM

Look at the wah on ggg too.

jmusser · February 14, 2005, 09:07:08 PM

dpresley, here's the link for the "Gargletron" http://www.geocities.com/tpe123/folkurban/fuzz/snippets.html I hope this is not the first time you have seen Tim Escobedo's Site. I hope that the Gargletron is just something you're unfamiliar with. I've built probably 1/2 of Tim's circuits, and there are a gob of wonderful circuits on that site. Anyway, the "Gargle" pot is the one I want to switch in and out. I eventually want to be able to use the expression pedal for John Hollises Crash Sync and the Tim Escobedo's Ugly Face as well. Thanks for the links guys. Rotary switches are just something I haven't fooled with yet, and they open up a lot of possibilites for mods and options if I can get a handle on their mechanics.

dpresley58 · February 15, 2005, 12:36:40 PM

Quote from: jmusserdpresley, here's the link for the "Gargletron" http://www.geocities.com/tpe123/folkurban/fuzz/snippets.html I hope this is not the first time you have seen Tim Escobedo's Site. I hope that the Gargletron is just something you're unfamiliar with... I eventually want to be able to use the expression pedal for John Hollises Crash Sync and the Tim Escobedo's Ugly Face as well. Thanks for the links guys. Rotary switches are just something I haven't fooled with yet, and they open up a lot of possibilites for mods and options if I can get a handle on their mechanics.

Thanks for the link! No, I hadn't seen Tim's site - I'm rather new to the "Solder-Slingin' For Effect" crowd, so there are probably several sites I haven't stumbled across yet.

Travis' link to the Great Cheddar should put you on track, as far as the mechanics of the switch are concerned - That effect is using a 3-pole/4-position board-mounted switch. You can find a seperate switch at Allparts.com if you don't want to reconfigure your build. They have a 4-pole/5 position that would be a little overkill (part number EP_4925-000) but would work for your expansion plans to use it with the Crash Sync and Ugly Face as well...

One problem that might crop up is the depth of the switch, and how it might be a bit large to fit in a box.

Just thinking out loud here, but I'm kinda seeing a stereo jack (TRS) wired to the expression pedal pot. This could run over to a seperate box to get you to the rotary. A switching station of sorts..? From there, you could jack several effects into it for routing to the expression pedal's pot...

Does that make any sense at all?

jmusser · February 18, 2005, 03:02:28 AM

I never really thought of it from that angle, but that's a thought for sure. From what I can figure out, I'm still going to have to have rotary on the individual effects, to cut the legs loose on the effect pot, and then jack it to the outside to either go to this switch box you're talking about, or the actual wah pedal it's self, if al that mess will fit in there. I have a feeling it will, because I know Jimbob added a rotary to his wah to do cap switching. I had drawn it up before with a TPDT switch, but that's going to get into some $, and the rotary is more versatile. if I can come up with this, I believe it would be something that everyone could get a lot of use out of, and wouldn't have to have a separate expression pedal for each effect. I'd already have it figured out, but these 12 hour shifts really cut into my free time!

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rotary switch