Beavis Order Switcher - please verify

[ke4unr]

I'm about to build the Beavis Audio Effects Order Switcher:  http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/PedalHacker/OrderSwitcher.htm

I got the 4PDT switch from Small Bear. It has 2 rows of 6 contacts.

I've used my multimeter to figure out what state the contacts are in for the two positions. Using this info and the diagram, I think I've figured out the wiring scheme. Would someone be kind enough to please verify before I put pencil to solder? Sorry, but I don't have access to a good draw/CAD program right now.

Blue        Pink     Orange   Orange     Yellow     Green
  1             2            3             4             5              6

Green     Pink        Blue     Red LED    Black    Green LED
  7             8            9           10            11            12

Contacts 1 & 9 and 3 & 4 are wired together.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Ray K.

[ayayay!]

I'm trying to wrap my head around that Small Bear switch.  Maybe you should IM Steve w/ Small Bear and see if he can explain it.  My best guess is that the switch you bought is actually grouped in threes. 

[ke4unr]

I e-mailed Dano (Beavis). I'll get in touch with Steve if needed. But, my meter shows the following for the 4PDT switch:

Position 1:
1---2    3     4---5     6

7---8    9   10--11   12

Position 2:
1    2---3     4    5---6

7    8---9   10   11--12

I'm guessing on the contact numbers, so that is where I'm not 100% certain is correct.

I believe the switch shown in the diagram at Beavis Audio should function like this:

Position 1:
1    4    7    10
|     |     |     |
2    5    8    11

3    6    9    12

Position 2:
1    4    7    10

2    5    8    11
|     |     |     |
3    6    9    12

Thanks,
Ray K.

[Austin73]

Your making things to complicated by looking at your findings and looking at the pic of the switch you have already answered yourself.

Unfortunately it doesn't look like Beavis's switch but it's obviously working in the same way just has a different layout probably because of the larger footprint than a 3pdt.

So In goes to lug 2 Send to lug 1 etc

Don't know how else to esplain this but just read what you posted and work from that as it looks correct if not let me know and I'll do another pic tonight

Aus

[Austin73]

look at your switch and wire it as follows (haven't got time for pic going to work soon)

top row would of your switch (blue) send a in (red) IN (orange)send B (orange) Send B (yellow)Return A (green) OUT

Bottom row green pink blue orange black orange

hope this makes sense to you .

The last oranges on the bottom row are the led's and black being ground

Aus

[ke4unr]

Hi Aus,

I realize you were short on time, but I appreciate your willingness to verify what I thought was right.
The different form factor of the Small Bear 4PDT switch took me by surprise and I just wanted to make sure before starting this project.

Thanks again!

Ray K.

[Austin73]

no worries ray,

i'm not to great with tech info so the nice easy ones i always try and help, i've been there and no how frustrating it is to get 0 replies lol

how does it sound do you get an audible click and would it be any use at gig level rather than a fx audition tool as Dano describes

Cheers

Aus

[ke4unr]

I just got started on it last night and ran out of time, so not quite finished. I'll report back when I have it all done up.

I hadn't thought about using it live, I was building it more for it's intended purpose.

Thanks,
Ray K.

[ke4unr]

Aus,

I got this project buttoned up last night. It works great - as advertised! 

I can see getting a good deal of use out of this and only wish I'd had one long ago. It really can be revealing. I tried it with a couple of modulation pedals first - delay and chorus. Next it was a couple of gain pedals. There was a noticeable difference in the pedal order, just at the ease of step on the switch.

There is a bit of a click noise when the switch is activated. Of course, I haven't had a chance to try it live yet so I don't know how significant this will be. I'm thinking of trying different values of resistors to see if that would make any difference. Otherwise, I'm not going to worry too much about it, since I built it mainly for it's intended purpose.

Btw, I built mine from a Rapco AB-100 that I've had laying around here for a long time and rarely used it. It's a perfect platform to use. The only thing I had to add was two jacks for additional send/returns, a DC jack and the 4PDT switch. Not much invested, other than my time.

Actually power is only needed for the LED's, so I would think the DC jack could be considered optional. I have mine wired up for external DC power or internal 9V battery. I think the battery would last quite a long time, but just in case, I have the option.

Thanks again for your help with this project.

Ray K.

[Austin73]

Hi Ray,

Thanks for posting your findings, not too worried about the click at gig level as I don't gig! lol Maybe add a 10meg resistor across a jack like on the loop boxes everyone makes. Could fix the problem. I'm going to order a couple of switches from Steve next week so should be able to have some fun, might even add a feedback loop etc for some mad fun.

If I get chance will post my findings too but could be a couple of weeks yet.

Good Luck in the future and if I can help let me know

Cheers

Aus

[QuackHandle]

Hi everyone,

I've the same switch (six columns, two rows), and have wired it as described by Austin (based on Dano's diagram).

Thing is, mine doesn't work!

When it is powered, there is no sound at all, except for a buzzing sound. Unsurprisingly, neither LED works.

When there is no power, there is sound. However, it appears that both effects returns are being fed back into the inputs as they start feeding back immediately.

Anybody have any thoughts?

I presume it doesn't matter which way I have it aligned - i.e. as long as I call the top left lug 'one' and the next one 'two', etc etc.

|'ve made around seven BYOC pedals and true bypassed my CryBaby and Whammy so don't consider myself a complete novice, but just a bit confused by all this.

Cheers,

Kevini