EH Small Clone mod?

[Loungehound]

Can I rewire the existing DPDT switch in the EH Small Clone to be true bypass while retaining the LED? or do I have to use a 3PDT switch? Thanks-

[jimmy]

sure! except you will have to build a bypass circuit but theyre easy. visit R.G Keens site (geofex) for the millenium bypass, or try Jack ormans site (amz) for another kind of bypass.

Cheers
Jim

[Loungehound]

Actually I meant can I wire the unused side of the switch to make it true bypass, without additional components. I'm not sure what makes the LED light now, as there are only two connections to the DPDT, leaving one side unused.

[Mark Hammer]

Loungehound,

I haven't seen the inside of a Small Clone but can offer the following.

Since the "effect" created by flangers, chorus pedals, and phasers depends on the mixing/combining of straight untampered sound and an unaltered sound, it is common practice to simply cancel the effect path in many commercial pedals since that accomplishes the necessary task cheaply and easily.  Make a FET go all high resistance or interrupt the effect/wet signal path in some manner, and everything goes "clean".  It is quite possible the Small Clone uses this technique.

The advantage of "bypass" switching of this type is that it is uncomplicated and leaves a buffered output in place.  The disadvantage is that it provides no "straight wire" bypass, which is an advantage in some instances and a disadvantage in others.  Certainly if one has such a modulated pedal (flanger, chorus, phaser) and a DPDT switch, one of the choices available is to use one set of contacts to cancel the wet signal and the other to activate a status LED.  Alternatively, the switch can be used to bypass the entire circuit (sans LED switching) and the wet signal path remains hardwired internally.

Pros and cons to either.