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Kill switch

T

Tobias Sullivan

Guest
Jan 15, 2016
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#1
I know I’ve seen multiple kill switch questions on here, but I need it put into more layman’s terms... I can’t read a schematic so that’s void... pretty much I have a passive P/J bass with 2 volumes and a tone knob. (More specifically Geezer Butler Emgs with “solderless” technology) so my questions....
Where can I find a Push Button momentary on/off switch that is relatively inexpensive that doesn’t sacrifice effectiveness? Gold/Bronze color made of metal is preferred. And I’ve attached a picture to get a general size of where it’s going.

Anyone have a good How to video or know of one so I don’t fry anything when I install it?
 

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#2
The best way to install one is to wire it so it's shorting the output signal with the ground wire, right before it gets to the output jack:

killswitch-after.jpg



I found many switches that would work, but none with gold hardware:

https://www.amazon.com/SPST-BUTTON-SWITCH-MOMENTARY-NORMALLY/dp/B006M3GEOA

310LDwf2DvL.jpg


add: Remember, this is a momentary switch that is Normally Open & you do not want to interrupt the path of the signal as much as you want to shunt that signal to ground
if you simply break the path of the signal, you're going to get unwanted noise
 
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#4
I think you need something more like this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B006M4XL7C/ref=pd_aw_sim_sbs_263_3

The normally open on the switch KBD posted means no signal until you push the button. Normally closed on this means signal until you push the button then no signal for as long as the button is pushed. Double check the size of the switch body to make sure it will fit where you want. There should be other sizes available.
 
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#5
I think you have it backwards. That normally open switch separates the ground & signal wires until you push the button, thus shorting the wires together & killing the signal to the output jack. (when it's pushed)
This is how a KillSwitch is normally wired.

With a normally closed switch wired into that diagram I posted, you'd have no signal until you pushed the button.
 
#7
Matt Liebenau said:
I think you need something more like this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B006M4XL7C/ref=pd_aw_sim_sbs_263_3

The normally open on the switch KBD posted means no signal until you push the button. Normally closed on this means signal until you push the button then no signal for as long as the button is pushed. Double check the size of the switch body to make sure it will fit where you want. There should be other sizes available.
Click to expand...
Matt Liebenau said:
We're both right. The normally open should work in your diagram. I was thinking of splicing the normally closed in the hot wire so it breaks that wire when the button is pushed.

Sorry for any confusion.
Click to expand...
If you put a normally closed switch into the diagram that @Killed_by_Death has provided the bass circuitry will always be shorted out and you won't get any output to the amp. The normally open switch that KDB recommended is the correct switch for the purpose the OP has stated. You could use an normally closed switch with a different wiring configuration, as you say, but you will get annoying pops when breaking the circuit. KBD's diagram avoids those pops, because rather than breaking the circuit, you are diverting the circuit.
 
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#11
Matt Liebenau said:
We're both right. The normally open should work in your diagram. I was thinking of splicing the normally closed in the hot wire so it breaks that wire when the button is pushed.

Sorry for any confusion.
Click to expand...

When wiring a killswitch, it is important to avoid doing that. (Unless you have a SPDT scheme that interrupts the hot and shunts the jack at the same time.) If you just break the connection between the jack and whatever feeds to the jack, then you will be left with an infinite output impedance, instead of zero. This means that the bass will buzz instead of being silent. The method of shorting the jack is effective, because it allows the bass to be totally silent.
 
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#16
Slater said:
tesiswitch.com is all about kill switches.
Click to expand...

Ehhh I don’t want to shell out 20 bucks for a 4 dollar button just because someone put a name on it .
Biggbass said:
The easy solution is to just get a Planet Waves Circuit Breaker cable. I use a right angle one and it also works great as a kill switch.

D'Addario Planet Waves Circuit Breaker Cable - 20' Right
Angled
Click to expand...

Seems awkward to reach around the guitar body for that...I’d rather have an easy accessible button right there in the works.
 
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#18
Not being a smart @$$ here but what are you using a kill switch for? Momentary dead air as part of a song? If so, how often do you do this? Enough to warrant modifying a bass?

I guess I’ve never really seen a kill switch for anything other than swapping guitars in which case a mute pedal, tuner or cable would work just fine.

Hoping to be enlightened....seriously.

Thanks!
 
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