So what's up with these gold plated footswitches?

[lowvolt]

I know gold contacts on things like tiny relays and certain component sockets can be beneficial, but from what I've seen of these 3PDT footswitches the contacts don't look as though they have been prepared any better than the standard Taiwan Blue contacts.  I've taken both types apasrt and the contacts in the gold ones don't look as though they were polished or prepared prior to plating any differently than the Taiwan Blue 3PDT units.  So I gotta wonder, y'know?

I did some research on the web and from what I can gather if the proper alloy (gold nickel alloys) are not used it may even be a step backwards.  And soldering to gold terminals can cause issues as well, at least from what I read.  Due to the footswitch design to make the switch contacts gold plated the solder terminals must be gold plated as well.

I've obtained a few ... I can't hear or measure any perceivable difference.  My so-so DMMs say that the Taiwan Blue and "Golden Wonder" footswitches have identical resistance levels across closed contacts.

So how do we deem thee?  Golden Opportunity, or Golden BS?

[kodiakklub]

from my experience in industrial automation, gold contacts are good for 3 things:
1. are much less susceptible to corrosion than the common steel/tin/whatever material
2. at super high frequencies ( 100'sK or megaHertz) the gold will conduct the signal better. you would not be able to hear a difference in the audio spectrum
3. marketing marketing marketing. radio shack and monster cables and crap from china use the crappiest "gold" they can buy and up charge the beejesus for it. for pedal building, its a total waste of money. im sure on the footswitches it's not even gold.

[lowvolt]

from my experience in industrial automation, gold contacts are good for 3 things:
1. are much less susceptible to corrosion than the common steel/tin/whatever material
2. at super high frequencies ( 100'sK or megaHertz) the gold will conduct the signal better. you would not be able to hear a difference in the audio spectrum
3. marketing marketing marketing. radio shack and monster cables and crap from china use the crappiest "gold" they can buy and up charge the beejesus for it. for pedal building, its a total waste of money. im sure on the footswitches it's not even gold.

I kinda figured.  I got them from Mammoth, and so far nearly everything I've tried from Mammoth seems to be 2nd rate crap.  Their DC jacks don't fit predrilled 1/2 inch holes (the jack is too small, swims around in the hole, it actually requires an 11mm hole that must then be reamed to 11.40 mm for it to fit properly).  Their enclosures B-L-O-W, as well as a few other items that all just seem to be stuff that other vendors may have looked in to carrying and rejected them for obvious reasons.  And their 30% restock fee is a clever application of forcing you to eat that shyte once you buy it.

Some of their prices are attractive, but in the end it seems to be second-choice stuff.  I cannot speak for the Taiwan blue footswitches though, haven't bought any from them ... I'm not sure I will, so far my experience with what they supply has been less than encouraging.

I'll avoid the "gold" (brass?) footswitches, thank you for straightening me out on that. 

[kodiakklub]

get your self an irwin stepped drill bit (the one that goes UP to 1/2") and bottle of 3-in-1 oil from home cheapo or lowes. that and a very small pilot bit ( 1 or 2 sizes up from 1/16) are the only tools you need to drill an enclosure. the DC jack uses the second from biggest (15/32") step. fits perfectly, even slightly snug. mammoth's taiwan blue 3pdt footwitches are totally fine. ive used about 25 or so of them and never had a problem and they have the best price in the US (even beating out ebay) if you buy at least 10 at a time to get their quantity discount. i can vouch for their footswitches. their cheap 65cent 1/4" jacks are total garbage though, you can easily strip the threads with a nut driver.

[lowvolt]

I have a step bit, several actually.  Thanks for the tip.

What gets me about Mammoth is that they claim these cycle ratings on some of their footswitches (some as high as 15,000 cycles for their "PRO" footswitches).  And also, if you go the 4Site's website, the websites look almost identical, even the friggin part numbers are the same as Mammoths, yet 4site claims those footswitches are custom made just for them .... they're the same footswithes, part numbers and all.

So I just feel like I'm being bamboozled here.  I will say that the epoxy on the gold footswitches is very heat resistant, and not only that but those gold footswitches are the same friggin price as their Taiwan blue.

And just so you know, BitchesLoveMySwitches.com sells Taiwan Blues for $2.22ea, I can find NO-ONE lower than Lawrence's prices.  You have to buy over 500pcs at Mammoth to get those prices, and at those quants BLMS prices are at $1.65ea.

So my thing is, are there actually "better" Taiwan Blue 3PDT footswitches, or I suppose a more relevant question would be, are there CRAPPY Blue 3PDTs out there to beware of?  I mean, $2.22 .. that is one killer price!  But I wonder how it compares to the $3.33 switch at Mammoth or the $3.33 at 4site?

RE: jacks ... I'll stick with Switchcraft.  I can torque the piss out of those things and not have a single issue.  I may try Nuetriks at some point.

[lowvolt]

The only hassle with the Mammoth/4site DC jacks is if you're working with enclosures that have been drilled already to accept the 12mm-1/2 inch ones.  Then the 11mm ones won't work out.

[kodiakklub]

oh yeah, i forgot about BLMSwitches! thanks for the reminder. and he lives in brooklyn like me!

there has been many posts/convos on here about the relationship between 4site and mammoth. 4site is believed to be the parent of mammoth and setup more for the wholesaler community.

i have no proof, but im fairly confident that there are probably only 2, maybe 3, manufacturers out in asia that are making the ubiquitous "taiwan blue" 3PDT, and most likely from the same design, maybe just varying in QC and materials. so i dont really care what vendor they are coming from as long as the price is right, because to me, they are all the exact same switch. ive never heated up a lug hot enough to justify the high heat epoxy so i cant speak about those, never tried one.

neutrik is excellent. GERMAN(ish) ENGINEERING!!

yeah a bummer if you got a pre-drilled box and the jack is super loose.

[lowvolt]

oh yeah, i forgot about BLMSwitches! thanks for the reminder. and he lives in brooklyn like me!

there has been many posts/convos on here about the relationship between 4site and mammoth. 4site is believed to be the parent of mammoth and setup more for the wholesaler community.

i have no proof, but im fairly confident that there are probably only 2, maybe 3, manufacturers out in asia that are making the ubiquitous "taiwan blue" 3PDT, and most likely from the same design, maybe just varying in QC and materials. so i dont really care what vendor they are coming from as long as the price is right, because to me, they are all the exact same switch. ive never heated up a lug hot enough to justify the high heat epoxy so i cant speak about those, never tried one.

neutrik is excellent. GERMAN(ish) ENGINEERING!!

yeah a bummer if you got a pre-drilled box and the jack is super loose.

I gotta agree with you about the blue footswitch ... there's probably only one ~queen~ footswitch spewing out tons of little footswitch larvae somewhere in China.

I don't know why I thought that epoxy made a difference, I've never smoked one myself either.  I've taken a few apart and they're all madee with interchangable parts, as far as I've seen.  My guess is there is one factory that makes the spring loaded plunger thing, and another that makes the terminals and contacts, and maybe one other that makes the actuators and bodies.  Then a few places that assemble those parts into the blue footswitch we all know, love, and hate.  Er something of that nature.

So I suppose you are right, it comes down to munnay munnay munnay on those things.

I still have to sniff-out the Nuetrik mono jack, they may be a German company but those jacks say "China" on them.  I'll also need to take a better look at Switchcraft #11s, for all I know those are MIC units also!  So the MIC Neutriks may be a moot point.