3PDT - Price and Quality Diff

[netnut]

I am going to order some switches but I notice that Small Bear is $10 ea. and Effects Connection and Pedal Part Plus are both $4 each for switches.

Why the $6 price diff?
Is there something different about them that I am not seeing?

Thanks

[boogietube]

I've purchaced from both of them and  Aron here at DIY.
As far as I can tell, there is no difference.
Although, I know that Aron tests every switch that he sells. Which is cool!
Does Small Bear do this? Does Effects Connection?  I don't know.
I will tell you that I haven't had one switch fail from any of them.
Sean

[newbie builder]

I'm also curious....I'm making big orders from places now  (well...relatively big) and I'm not sure what to do as far as stomp switches are concerned because some places have much better prices but it's hard to know how good their quality is. I'll probably just order from Aron since his are farely inexpensive and I need veroboard too.

[blanik]

i think there's only two types of 3PDT the expensive high quality "Carling" switches and the "Made in Taiwan" cheaper "blue" ones... usually the Carling is around 10-15$ and the blue ones are cheaper, around 6$ (it also depends on the amount the seller has ordered... if he ordered 2000 switches he'll be able to sell them fairly cheaper than if he ordered only 25...

so unless you've got the gig as Ozzy's new guitarist and are on your way to tour the world's stadiums... or you weight around 200lbs or more and you're usually jumping on your effects, you should go for the taiwaneesesss... 

R.

[rockgardenlove]

I just get them from Arons store.  I've ordered different ones and they all seem pretty similar though, so I'm sticking with him.

[LyleCaldwell]

I've ordered about 100 of Aron's switches, and they have worked just as well as the Fulltones, though they don't take that well to a LOT of repeated soldering (in the prototypes the lugs can wiggle after being heated a lot).  But in a production pedal that's only soldered once, they are great and MUCH cheaper.

I still have no idea how Aron ships them from Hawaii so cheaply.  Great guy to deal with.

[Unbeliever]

i think there's only two types of 3PDT the expensive high quality "Carling" switches and the "Made in Taiwan" cheaper "blue" ones

I thought Carling only made DPDTs? If so, then I've kept clear of those for a few years, many I had failed out of the box. Someone had a theory the tooling was warn out and hence the resultant switches weren't so great.

I've ordered from Small Bear, Aron, and John Lewman, and haven't ever had any switches fail, all arrived pretty quickly too (I'm in Australia).

[nelson]

I have ordered from Aron, Smallbear and both effects connection and pedal parts plus.

I have had one 3PDT fail out of the box, it was from PPP.

[analogmike]

Small bear is a real business that pays taxes, rent, salaries etc. Without him the DIY community AND the boutique builders would be hurting.

So I recommend supporting Steve, but if you are a student or otherwise VERY tight on money then I recommend supporting Aron.

Have fun!

[Peter Snowberg]

Aron pre-tests each switch before they go out and ordering from him helps to support this place. 

I also support any support of Smal Bear Electronics. We're lucky to have Steve working for and with all us DIYers.

Aron and Steve are both class acts. 

[sta63bmx]

I have had great luck ordering stuff from Effects Connection.  Of course, I have had great luck ordering from Small Bear, too.  Small Bear is the only "Hey, they've got all the parts right here!" place I've seen so far.  I hate ordering stuff from here and from there and paying a bunch of shipping on little orders.

One thing I really like that I haven't seen yet at Small Bear is the cheapo plastic insulated jacks.  Neutrik sells them through Mouser, and Futurlec has some too.  Black plastic nut, all enclosed.  They're super cheap and I've had great luck with them.  The economy jacks from Effects Connection I don't like because almost all of them that I got had loose connections and let the jack wiggle around, resulting in pops.  You can just get more expensive jacks, but the plastic Neutrik ones (they're PCB mount, but just bend the lugs over) are super cheap, like $0.60 or so, and they are all pop/crackle free.  The plastic nut doesn't look as nice as the metal nut, but I don't care. 

Effects Connection does have a DC power jack that I LOVE, since it can be soldered up before mounting.  I really, really like stuff that I can solder together before mounting it on the box.  They were cheap, too, like $6 for 10 of them.

I try to shop around and if there's a good deal on something (like cheap jacks or cheap alpha pots at futurles or something, I try to just buy way more than I need.  Small Bear's parts selection kills, though.  I feel sorry for him that he individually bags all the little things.   Man, that has got to be a PITA.

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

Effects Connection does have a DC power jack that I LOVE, since it can be soldered up before mounting.  I really, really like stuff that I can solder together before mounting it on the box.  They were cheap, too, like $6 for 10 of them.

I'd sure love to find some LED metal bezels that you could do this with! Anyone?