Guitar kill switch popping

[soggybag]

For fun I got some arcade buttons and installed a kill switch in my guitar. It wired across the tip and ground of the input jack. It has a bit of a pop. I was wondering if there might be a way to alleviate this?

The switch is pretty cheap maybe a better quality switch? Or maybe it’s just unavoidable?

[Rob Strand]

Pull the lead out of the guitar and measure the DC voltage across the two pins.  (turn the amp down to stop humm)

The input of the amp is probably DC coupled?  Is it a tube amp?

You might need to short a larger cap 1uF  to 10uF across the line instead of a short, and add a 10M resistor across the switch.

[Mark Hammer]

A kill-switch doesn't HAVE to completely short out the signal.  All it has to do is provide a sharp-enough contrast between full volume and some lower level.  That's why, before anyone ever installed a formal kill-switch, musicians simply used the pickup selector switch and quickly toggled between bridge and neck pickups.  So, simply placing a lower value resistance between output and ground with the switch, to attenuate the signal, may get you the desired effect without the undesired side-effect.

[soggybag]

Thanks,, Rob, Mark this is great info I’m give it a try.

My amp is a Fender Bassman all tubes I’m not sure if the input Is DC couple.

[iainpunk]

a previous girlfriend of mine had a bassman, and it fucced with the russian bass i had, it had a Ge transistor inside used as 2 diodes, which were used like a rectifier, (that inspired my Jawari wiring scheme [ok, i stole it and modified it to work with a humbucker instead of 2 single coils]) because it reverse-biased the diodes even further.

i don't know if it were bad DC blocking caps or just grid leakage, but it disabled the octave function.
such DC leakage might cause a pop when switching, try a 220n cap in series with the switch and a 1M parallel to the switch

cheers, Iain

[soggybag]

I was thinking about the kills switch and thought it would be better if the sound was on when the switch was down. I had the idea you could connect the switch between lug 3 on the volume pot and the output jack. This way pressing the switch would turn the volume all the way up. You have to turn the volume down to get the full stutter effect.

[iainpunk]

I was thinking about the kills switch and thought it would be better if the sound was on when the switch was down. I had the idea you could connect the switch between lug 3 on the volume pot and the output jack. This way pressing the switch would turn the volume all the way up. You have to turn the volume down to get the full stutter effect.

i'd do this in reverse, pressing a button lowers the volume to a pre-set level.

makes me want to put a mechanical water tremolo in a guitar body, using the variable fluid level generated from moving about?!?

cheers

[anotherjim]

I was thinking about the kills switch and thought it would be better if the sound was on when the switch was down. I had the idea you could connect the switch between lug 3 on the volume pot and the output jack. This way pressing the switch would turn the volume all the way up. You have to turn the volume down to get the full stutter effect.

i'd do this in reverse, pressing a button lowers the volume to a pre-set level.

makes me want to put a mechanical water tremolo in a guitar body, using the variable fluid level generated from moving about?!?
cheers

You'll need a fuel tank level sender.
On second thought no! They're bloody expensive!

[iainpunk]

I was thinking about the kills switch and thought it would be better if the sound was on when the switch was down. I had the idea you could connect the switch between lug 3 on the volume pot and the output jack. This way pressing the switch would turn the volume all the way up. You have to turn the volume down to get the full stutter effect.

i'd do this in reverse, pressing a button lowers the volume to a pre-set level.

makes me want to put a mechanical water tremolo in a guitar body, using the variable fluid level generated from moving about?!?
cheers

You'll need a fuel tank level sender.
On second thought no! They're bloody expensive!

i think ill use Windex like this DIY vid describes:


cheers