not liking miniswitches on stompboxes

[joegagan]

I see a lot of pedals on ebay and on the corksniffer (gear)pages that use mini or micro toggles for switching stuff

I guess the people using these pedals don't go where i've been
- the land of army boot-wearing singers who insist on getting onstage with you simply because they booked the gig for more money than you would have gotten on your own

dancing around , leaping every direction including backwards onto your beloved pedals

the miniswitches break SO easily, it is just asking for repairs to put them on a stompbox IMO
unless they are firmly situated between knobs( where only the tiniest of pointy shoes could get to em) or under a cabinet handle or something

[Gus]

Yes it is funny.  I often look at the picture of some effects and laugh.
  I don't think some people know what an effect goes thur on stage on the road. 

[R.G.]

We've had repairs where people had stomped the full sized knobs completely off pedals.

You have to wonder -- what were they DOING???

[jonathan perez]

no knobs?

damn good idea!

[Meanderthal]

 Been thinkin' that myself lately- all trimpots. Set and forget.  Closest thing is the newer Ibanez pedals with the recessable knobs.

[Auke Haarsma]

I guess we like 'knobs'... however, sliders as potmeters could be less vulnerable for army-booters. Right?

[joegagan]

RG, that's funny

Gus, maybe you are correct
-it's possible that over 90% of the pedals sold don't make it out of the bedroom or home studio
maybe we need several 'grades' of pedals
like the USDA does with milk and egss( NO i am not promoting gov't standards for fuzzboxes!!)

Grade A is bedroom grade, anything goes as long is it sounds good

grade AA  is bedroom/ amateur studio grade - a little strudier than grade A

Grade AAA is built like a tank for use on punk rock stages and goofy bigtime rockstar studios worldwide

[markm]

I really dislike toggles on stompers too.
Don't know why but, they just seem out of place I guess...

[joegagan]

I guess we like 'knobs'... however, sliders as potmeters could be less vulnerable for army-booters. Right?

I don't think most slide pots are very sturdy for direct impact from above unless supported by the knob
RG?

[MartyMart]

Been thinkin' that myself lately- all trimpots. Set and forget.  Closest thing is the newer Ibanez pedals with the recessable knobs.

Like the Blackstone Mosfet OD, set with your "pick" and forget !!

[R.G.]

I've pretty much decided that Ross had the right idea - recess every single topside control into a recess where fingers can get at them but Doc Martins can't.

No, slide pots in general are fragile. Unless they're recessed, any slider sticking up can be destroyed easily.

The pots I was talking about were standard alpha rotaries with standard knobs. The knobs and shafts were broken off clean at the top of the bushing. It's happened more than once, more than one different customer. Otherwise, I'd think that Godzilla was just having a bad day with one of our pedals. 8-)

How about this:

Make your pedal in a sturdy metal housing, cast being toughest. Then make a plate to go on top of it, held on by the nuts on the controls and the footswitch. To the top side of this plate, put plastic or wooden spacers that stick up all around the knobs and switches other than the footswitch. It's a homegrown version of the Ross cast enclosures.

[Tony Forestiere]

Like the Blackstone Mosfet OD, set with your "pick" and forget !!

Thats the baby! Trim down the slider projections even with the box top surface, and use a stylus/tweaker/pick to set the VRs!
A very good idea if you have a lot of real estate on the face of your enclosure.

Ooops> I forgot about the specific tools that may be required to accomplish an esthetically pleasing build.

I know how difficult the "bodywork" can be...been dere 

[Hiwatt25]

Taking R.G's idea a bit further, why not have a hinged cover on the pedal?  It would be a bit like those little plastic covers they have over the "fire" button when they launch a missle in war movies.  Flip the cover up, adjust the knob, flip it back down and rock out.  Patent Pending!

[Meanderthal]

 How bout a plastic guard like the Dano food pedals has but sized and shaped to snap on a hammond sized enclosure...

[joegagan]

"slams the clear plexi cover down firmly on the red button"

"NO DEAL HOWIE"

[petemoore]

  Real drag when one Sw goes and takes the effect and the bypass [all signal paths] with it..
 I cut those long toggles down to about 1/8''. I have a thick thumbnail, and this reduces the massive amount of leverage available with a long..lever.
 Another thing is recessing them, I like the 'dado across a thick oak board' to recess knobs.
 I got a 'Beh' mixer, it comes with plastic potshaftsknobs that stick out about 1.4'' from the top, I mounted boards on each side of the console, at least you'd have to get a hit in the middle to break a shaft now, some knobs on a Fender Mixer/PA [including the Master volume, a corner knob] got broke off real easy one day, guitar case slid over to get comfortable at the back seat's floor in car, it don't take much.
  Rediculous, having protruding weak points, I think they are made 'about stupid', or made for controlled obsolescence. I can think of a number of ways to prevent shaft damage for free, using plastic shaft pots...I don't know who engineers these things, individuals from marketing dept. I guess.
 

[joegagan]

true pete!
how many of us have seen rackmountable power amps not in a rack case with bent banana jacks on the corner at the back

i guess the mfgr cannot be faulted for that tho

[zachomega]

I'm not a big fan of miniature switches, yet I find myself using them because there really aren't many other options that are cheap and small that will do the job.  Ideally, I'd love to put rotary switches in, but they eat up a ton of space. 

Additionally, I have absolutely no sympathy for people who destroy their effects by jumping on them.  I know pedals are designed to be stepped on, but stepped on and jumped on are two different things. 

In the end, I don't think I'm building anything that would interest anybody who is into jumping on their pedals anyway.    But until a suitable alternative comes up, I think we are stuck with miniature switches. 

-Zach Omega

[joegagan]

yeah, I never broke anything on my own pedals
but other people did

[Processaurus]

Do they make toggles with beefier toggle mechanisms like you see on amps, but with small footprint, lower current insides? That would be perfect.

The clear hinged lid is kinda interesting, but then you'd have to worry about it breaking, then.