jefm Posted April 1, 2004 Report Share Posted April 1, 2004 Everybody has seen these in elevators...the switches that have no mechanical component... What about putting them in a guitar...inlaying some chrome into the top and using these to switch circuits... I think this could be done with SCR's...I've been reading about them a bit...I think it would a real pain to bias it into the operating region...this just popped into my head about 5 minutes ago so I haven't had the time to totally sort things out... I don't think the PU signal would sustain them for suitable use...but maybe a way to trigger a normal transistor to do a coil tap or trigger an effect or something... then you could have plenty of switches without things looking too ugly... have one ground rail and a dashed switch rail parallel and you could make them look pretty... Just a half baked idea...probably too gimmicky...or maybe not even possible.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ansil Posted April 1, 2004 Report Share Posted April 1, 2004 nope its a good idea i did this when i was in college back in 95 really cool idea look up google for touch switch schematics thats where i got my last schematic for one.. also look up 555 timer tutorials as they almost always ahve touch switches in there of course you need some sort of logic in there for a better signal, otherwise if you use the jfet type switching then you will loose some tone the last one i did iused phantom powered cable to power the relays in a guys guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanKirk Posted April 2, 2004 Report Share Posted April 2, 2004 These guys have touch switches that fit an existing Strat style 5 way switch route. They have a couple other cool circuits too. Go to Guitar Electronics section Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbkim Posted April 2, 2004 Report Share Posted April 2, 2004 These guys have touch switches that fit an existing Strat style 5 way switch route. They have a couple other cool circuits too. Go to Guitar Electronics section Oooh, after reading the description of it, it sounds pretty cool... especially the "self-cancelling" aspect of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jefm Posted April 2, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2004 actually that switch sounds cool....not quite what I had in mind but that'd be better than the typical bridge switch mod... I was considering relays but most are pretty heavy...and usually a little noisy...I really can't think of any better non-mechanical switching though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ansil Posted April 2, 2004 Report Share Posted April 2, 2004 relays are quite small actually and light. i have a dpdt that is smaller than a dime and runs of off 5v Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted April 2, 2004 Report Share Posted April 2, 2004 The biggest problem I see with relays is deliberately putting an electromagnet inside a guitar with magnetic pickups. It's hard to keep a relay quiet in a tube amp with signal levels over 100 volts. I'd use opto's, or CMOS switches - they should be a lot easier to control, and a CD4066 f'rinstance gives you four SPST or two SPDT switches in one chip for under a dollar with great HF response and low current consumption even when run on a 9 volt battery. I'm told there are some newer switch chips available, but i haven't been keeping up ("Dammit, Jim, I'm a guitarist, not an Electrical Engineer!"). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ansil Posted April 2, 2004 Report Share Posted April 2, 2004 the one i remember is the 4016 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saber Posted April 2, 2004 Report Share Posted April 2, 2004 You can also use the 4052 and 4053 multiplexer/demultiplexer chips depending on how you want to route and switch your signals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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