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Best pushbutton switches for killswitches?

line6man

line6man

Jun 20, 2008
17,043
4,730
Close to Los Angeles, CA
#1
A friend from another forum wants to build a guitar with a pushbutton killswitch mounted on the pickguard. I'm trying to help him select a switch, but neither of us know what switches are good for this application, so I thought I'd post here and ask what switches people have had good luck with. It's not easy to tell from pictures whether a switch will be flimsy and cheap, or well-made and reliable.

He wants a black, round pushbutton, sized appropriately to fit in one of the tone pot holes of a Strat pickguard, without requiring excessive enlargement of the hole. It must be N.O. momentary SPST, or momentary SPDT, and preferably of a lower current rating, to prevent switch pop.

Any ideas?
 
#2
I'm way confused. A N.O momentary contact seems all kinds of wrong. First off, if it's normally open how is the signal passing through? Second, why would you want a momentary contact instead of an on/off switch? I must be missing something here. Can you clarify what the goal for the switch is? In other words, give us a for instance as to when/why/how he would use it.
 
#3
two fingers said:
I'm way confused. A N.O momentary contact seems all kinds of wrong. First off, if it's normally open how is the signal passing through? Second, why would you want a momentary contact instead of an on/off switch? I must be missing something here. Can you clarify what the goal for the switch is? In other words, give us a for instance as to when/why/how he would use it.
Click to expand...

It is a passive instrument, and thus, a single throw will suffice.
The mistake that many people make in wiring their killswitches is to simply interrupt the signal path, rather than short the output. If you use a N.C. in series with the signal, instead of a N.O. parallel to the signal path, the output impedance will be infinite in "kill" mode, and that will cause "open guitar cable" buzzing.

We're just concerned with finding a switch that is not flimsy and cheap.
 
#4
yep, and it needs to be momentary because it isn't a "standby" switch, it's for stutter effects while playing (think tom morello).

mouser has some that i've found to be easy to install and soft-touch (very important, you don't want a stiff "click" to activate it). i don't have the part # in front of me, i'll dig it up.

the best thing out there though is a button for a classic arcade video game! they're kinda big, but they're all over ebay for cheap, and nothing's better for quick, effortless pressing on a switch that will last.
 
#5
walterw said:
yep, and it needs to be momentary because it isn't a "standby" switch, it's for stutter effects while playing (think tom morello).

mouser has some that i've found to be easy to install and soft-touch (very important, you don't want a stiff "click" to activate it).

the best thing out there though is a button for a classic arcade video game! they're kinda big, but they're all over ebay for cheap, and nothing's better for quick, effortless pressing on a switch that will last.
Click to expand...

He's not a fan of the huge arcade style buttons, but that's what I would do, personally. Do those even fit in guitars, though? They are quite tall.
 
#6
there are some that will just fit; otherwise, i'll dig up the part number tomorrow for the mouser ones that we carry just for this purpose. those are plenty small.
 
#8
Look for mouser part number 10PA323; it's a decent black push button switch that's easy to mount and a soft touch to press.

107-3029-EVX is the number for the same thing with a chrome button.
 

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