SPDT foot switches?

[LEON.01]

Bought some SPDT instaed of DPDT footswitches from Maplin a while ago.

Any way, the reason i got these by mistake is because when you look at them, they have the same number of lugs as a DPDT! (6)! Not 3!

Just for future reference, if i ever come to use one how would i wire it up? Just wire up one side and forget the other?

[Thomeeque]

I'd save them for some "logic" switching purposes (like amp foot-switches, where you control relays inside amp) - for direct signal switching you cannot use them very effectively since there's no reasonable way how to switch signal and LED together (and no way for true-bypass of course).

[MikeH]

They're good for switching between diodes, for instance.  Or high/low gain in some pedals.  Or you could use them in something that uses electronic switching like an echo base.

An yeah- just use you MM to figure out which side works and ignore the other lugs.  That is so stupid that they have them on there; a lot of rat shack switches are like that too.

[dirtysteev]

i think this may be related to my query on installing a LED in my marshall footswitch. leon, i believe i have the same thing, a SPDT switch with 6 posts, not three. only two are employed (one in, one out, lead to a 1/4 inch jack) and i am still trying to figure out if the remaining posts will allow me to install a LED that indicated when im switched to the high gain channel. anybody?

[CynicalMan]

If the pedal has a very high input impedance, you can use the SPDT switches as bypass switches.

[LEON.01]

They're good for switching between diodes, for instance.  Or high/low gain in some pedals.  Or you could use them in something that uses electronic switching like an echo base.

Thats what i was thinking, more for switching between components than for the on/off switch.
Cheers again mike.

[Radamus]

I usually use half a DPDT switches with a 4066 to do my switching. If you wire the control voltage to the middle pin and make it so that the other sides connect two out of the four switches each, then you get pretty good bypass (i'm not sure if it counts as true, though it's entirely analog in the signal path). You can also use the control voltage to turn an LED on.
http://www.geocities.com/thetonegod/switches/switches.html

I'm not sure if that's what you're asking, but I want you to know that they can be useful.  I've been looking for affordable SPDT's for a while. I mostly find them to be more expensive than even a DPDT.

[Andi]

Similarly you can use them to control relays and thus get as many poles as you want...