tubab0y

lots of questions on killswitches, thought i'd answer them all.

1. what does it do?

turns off the signal from your guitar. basically, cuts the volume.

2. what do i need?

one of these.


a SPDT switch. any kind will work, momentary, on-on, you name it. you can obtain both of these from www.smallbearelec.com. you could also go down to radio shack and get a momentary SPST switch (the ones with the black and red buttons.)

3. how do i do it?

there are two basic ways, depending on the style of your guitar.

strat style:



les paul style (two volume pots):


you can also do two strat-style ones if you want seperate ones for each pickup.

any more questions, post them and i'll answer them, or someone will.

EDIT(s):

from will_minus:

strat style and les paul style in full:


xifr: I've stickied this thread temporarily, I'll either merge it later or create a tutorial sticky or something.

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flickrrrr




I am Michael!

fragydig529

Lightswitches work as well.

Will_Minus

Thank you so much for making this thread. I'm sick of all these "OMG KILLSWITCH" threads, and I'm sick of digging up my diagram for EVERY ****ING THREAD.

Yes, I'm angsty.

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Will says:
DON'T FEAR THE REAPER!
- SmarterChild - says:
I don't know if I can help it.

Member #6 of the "I play my guitar as high as Tom Morello does" club

rage6945

i think most people who are trying to install a killswitch want to use it for tom morello techniques, which would be impossible with the switch in that picture. he uses a pick up switch, so something along those lines would work better

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MatrixClaw

Bucket Head uses a killswitch with the button on it for a lot of his solos, you should check it out, the song Jordan has some really cool stuff in it using the button instead of the pickup selector, but for some things i guess it would be easier with the selector

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www.SanctityStudios.com

walker-rose

this is very intriguing(sp?). I would like to see a schematic for this.

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Walker Rose.

Will_Minus

You're full of it.

Morello uses both. The best example is the Soul Power. Look on the lower horn, that's a killswitch.

The difference between having one pickup at 10, and the other at 0 as opposed to a killswitch is miniscule. The only difference is that with a killswitch you don't have to mess with any of your knobs or risk ruining your tone. The advantage to the 10-0 method is that there's no modification to certain guitars, and where's the fun in that?

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Will says:
DON'T FEAR THE REAPER!
- SmarterChild - says:
I don't know if I can help it.

Member #6 of the "I play my guitar as high as Tom Morello does" club

the_random_hero

I'll post Wills diagram to hopefully clear up any problems in understanding Tubab0ys diagram.

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lespaulmarshall

It would just the same man, same as the 3 lugs on the STDP... Im pretty sure

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Will_Minus

^ That's SPDT.

Also, SPST (Single Pole, Single Throw) switches also work, I prefer them. They're the ones with two lugs, and they're very foolproof.

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Will says:
DON'T FEAR THE REAPER!
- SmarterChild - says:
I don't know if I can help it.

Member #6 of the "I play my guitar as high as Tom Morello does" club

lespaulmarshall

Woops typo lol..

And yes the single pole, single throw are pretty much impossible to screw up lol.


Haha if anyoen cares I made a lead yesterday :P One end is a 3.5mm jack and the other end has a the 2 left and right jacks, i forget what there special name is...

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IndieMetalhead

a stereo cable?

Phono

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lespaulmarshall

No thats not the the word im after lol, but yes thats it....



Goes to google...

Then the Dick Smith site......


RCA! Thats it haha I saved myself about 30 bucks making it lol...

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Your41Plague12

What kind of effect would the Killswitch have on a bass? And if any of the diagrams would work for a bass with Active EMG pickups and a 3 band EQ, then which one would it be? If there isn't one already up there, can someone post one? I'm a total noob at this.

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Will_Minus

A killswitch would ground the hot signal, producing no sound. That is regardless of the instrument.

Will you have a master volume with the 3 Band EQ? because if so, you can use the first diagram that tubab0y gave.

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Will says:
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tubab0y

yeah, the first should work. and i'm still working on redoing the second, it's a bit...small.

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tubab0y

both of my beautiful new pics are up! and i added your diagram, will.

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Will_Minus

^ Thanks man.

Actually, the 2 volume diagram is wrong, unless there is no switch. I can draw one up that has a 2 volume with a 3 way switch.

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Will says:
DON'T FEAR THE REAPER!
- SmarterChild - says:
I don't know if I can help it.

Member #6 of the "I play my guitar as high as Tom Morello does" club

tubab0y

why wouldn't that work? it's basically the same thing, grounds the output.

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I am Michael!