Kill Switches...any interest?

[k0m0d067]

These seem to be gaining popularity back home (Yank, living down under) and amongst some of the newer Ibanez guitars, and I wanted to put them in one or two of my impending projects...but try as I might, I googled my guts out, and only found one guitar parts supplier in Australia that stocked one, and it wasn't quite what I had in mind...of course I found suppliers from China, and Adam suggested I post this in here, to perhaps gauge interest, and if there was enough, he said he could look into stocking them...

For those unfamiliar with them, and their function, they're a momentary push button that effectively “kills” the output, to simulate the effect of a standard double humbucker set-up, with one pickup at zero volume and using the 3 way switch to toggle On and Off, but far easier than jerking your 3 way switch back and forth at high speed (hard on the switches)...from what I've seen, it's an extremely simple mod...one side of the switch goes to the input jack negative, and the other goes to the positive...press the button, closing the circuit, and it bypasses the rest of the electronics entirely...can be added to ANY pickup configuration...

[PJSprog]

I always used to use the selector switch on my Ric 4001 as a kill switch. I only used the neck pickup, so up or middle was On and down was Off. When I had the custom Fishbone 6-string made in '03, I asked them to install a kill switch. I love it. It's a standard small toggle On-Off switch. I've seen those momentary buttons you're talking about. Not sure that would be of interest to me, but I can see the appeal. Saw a video of a guy on YouTube who installed one on a LP build, and it even had an internal LED that lit when he pulled the HB splitter pot. Pretty cool.

As for your wiring suggestion, wouldn't that just be shorting the positive and negative? Not convinced that's a good idea while plugged into an amplifier. Perhaps a switch that is default closed and opens when pressed to break one side of the signal?

[k0m0d067]

I know that seems the logical way to do it, however, Dylan (Dylan talks tone) explains it better than I can here:

https://youtu.be/ZWcUX2Wi1rE

[Simon Barden]

There's no electrical issue shorting the signal and ground tabs on the jack. It's effectively what happens when you turn your volume knob to off, and what happens in a Neutrik Silent Jack when it's not plugged in to your instrument.

[Bakersdozen]

A good article here on stinkfoot.se regarding how to add a killswitch and decide on what type of button/switch to use.

http://stinkfoot.se/archives/781