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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink Surfy bear footswitch question

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So, about ready to solder up my connections and unclear about how to wire the footswitch to the 1/4" jack. Anybody have experience or advice? I've emailed Bjorn already but hoping for a quicker response. Anyone?

As you can see, the footswitch is connected to the input of the recovery circuit. It just shorts the input, so no signal can get from the tank back into the circuit. Be sure to use a shielded cable.

image

I'm still kind of unsure how to do it. I'm sorry. I'm a little bit slow on these kinds of things. Pictures of actual applications work better for my understanding.

Do I need a send and a return jack for the footswitch?

Can you break it down? This wire goes here and then here, kind of thing.

For anyone else like me.

Here it is.
image

Ha! That's it.

Right, I'll try to explain.

What you see on the picture is the red cinch plug, which is the return line from the tank. It transports the sound that the tank produced back to the board so it can be mixed together with the dry guitar signal. (with the 'mix' knob)

If you would short circuit the white and black wires, the signal from the tank wouldn't reach the board so the only signal left at the mix knob would be the dry guitar signal.

That is just what the switch is supposed to be doing: it should make a connection in a way that the reverb signal on the white wire leaks away to 'ground', which is the black wire. In the picture you can see the black cube, which is the jack chassis part. It is connected to the cinch connector. If you'd plug a normal guitar cord into it nothing would happen. Reverb everywhere. BUT,... if you would than take the other end of the cord and make a connection between the tip of the jack and the sleeve with a pair of scissors or a paperclip,... the reverb is gone!

You'll need something like this to eliminate the scissor part:

image

What kind of push button would be appropriate for installation right onto the tank's cabinet? SPST, DPDT? And how would it be wired? I am using a tool box so it can withstand the pressure of a footswitch installed on the edge of the lid.

Squink Out!

SPST will do the trick. Just simply on and off. And get a latching switch, not an impuls one, or you'd have to keep your foot down to silence the tank.

I had a ftsw just like the one in the picture but can't find it in my messy garage. Hope I do t have to go buy anything to install this smart mod.
Question: does the reverb return signal travel the length of the pedal cord or does it work by shorting the signal to ground when circuit is closed and otherwise not entering the signal path? I seem to recall that on Fender units the signal actually travels the length of the ftsw cable.

Squink Out!

No. Well, yes.

In fact, the signal does travel all the way up to the switch, but when the switch is open it doesn't go anywhere. So the footswitch unit doesn't have any influence on the sound*. However, you should be using a shielded cable because the length of wire you're using will be picking up interference or static if you don't.

*(in theory the cord of the footswitch is actually a long streched out capacitor, which does provide a tiny bit of falloff in the highest frequencies, but this effect is to small to be noticeable. Same goes for guitar cords )

As a note to anyone who wonders if you could use a true bypass switch for the surfy bear: you can, but you won't like it. The output volume of the circuit depends on the settings you chose. In our case mostly around 6-6-6, which results in lower output volume compared to the dry guitar signal. So when you switch from dry to reverb with a true bypass the volume will drop. That's why the switching is done at the tank output, just like Fender designed it for the 6G15.

So perhaps a SPST on/off ftsw installed right near the return jack is preferable to avoid potential noise. Which paddles on the switch need to be connected?

Squink Out!

JObeast wrote:

So perhaps a SPST on/off ftsw installed right near the return jack is preferable to avoid potential noise.

If your using unshielded wire it is. If you build your foot switch in a separate box, just use shield wire. I did, and mine is dead quiet.

Which paddles on the switch need to be connected?

ehhh,... buy a switch with only two paddles! Works either way.
But if you have a switch with for instance 9 connections, take a look at the picture below. You can take contacts 1 and 2 or 2 and 3 etc. It's just 6 switches in one package, so the choice is yours.

image

I'll go for two!
Can't find that generic ftsw anywhere. Good excuse to get out of the house down to the electronics store!

Squink Out!

Since my old Gretsch amp already has a ftsw on a cable with 1/4 plug, I installed a guitar jack on the reverb unit and ran wires as shown from the Reverb Return to it.
No reverb now with or without plug in the jack. All the reverb is going to ground now. The signal attenuates slightly when Mix is turned up so circuit is active. I guess guitar-type jack grounds at the collet so a plastic-insulated jack is needed.

Squink Out!

Last edited: Aug 30, 2016 21:23:46

I think you're right. Maybe the reverb return wire is soldered to ground and you need to reverse the wires. Or you could have a chassis part with a built in switch. In that case you need to examine the thing and find out which connections are tip and sleeve. Because you'll want your SB to be working without the foot switch as well.

You're right, Frank - the signal was routed to ground on the jack. I reversed the leads and now it works great! The Gretsch ftsw works great with no hum or static too. Stoked to now have footswitchability on my Surfy Bear!

Squink Out!

Last edited: Aug 31, 2016 11:27:27

Cheers

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