Forgotten Graffiti

The Holdup

I sure many of you are on pins and needles waiting to hear the fate of The Project...right??

Well, regardless of how little you may care, I wanted to update you on why I haven't updated recently.

If you would kindly refer once again to Figure A , Cheesy Arrow A,
you will see that there are two black things with three silver metal thingies on top of each of them. Technical, huh? Well, here it comes.

Those components of the chip are the Input/Output jacks. They are the connectors for the 1/4" cables so that one may connect the pedal into the chain between the guitar and amplifier. So, what's the problem?

In a normally wired guitar, the Line Out cables connect directly to the output jack. They are not 1/4" cables and thus cannot be "plugged into" the in/out jacks on the pedal. This, however, isn't a problem. It's easy to modify the lugs so that the line out of the guitar will connect directly to the pedal. So what is the problem?

The highly technical components that I described as the "three silver metal thingies" are very important. When you plug in a 1/4" cable into the input jack of a pedal, it mechanically flips a switch (silver metal thingy) that turns on the battery draw. This is designed to save the pedal from permenantly being on. Without this feature, you could burn out the pedal over a long period of time. Plus, you'd go through 9 volts like the Rangers bullpen.

So, the problem is that, without the mechanical switch, there's no way to turn the pedal on. The quick and easy fix would be to replace the mechanical switch with a toggle. However, this would mean that another switch would have to be mounted on my PRS dashboard. Since the phase 90 isn't true bypass (it requires power even if the effect isn't on), the additional toggle switch would literally be the "on" switch for the guitar. This is definitely not ideal.

How to fix? What I need is an input jack built with a mechanical switch that can replace the Line Out of the guitar. This would physically turn on the guitar when I regularly plug in to jam. Thus, I wouldn't have to remember to flip a switch in order to activate the guitar signal. Plus, this fix saves room on my PRS dashboard.

Is all of this doable? Yes, but I have to find a good input jack that I described above. Peavey makes one that I may have to go with......but I'd rather a device with a bit more quality attached.

Is all of this worth it? If you are a guitarist and that question has run through your mind at any point, then shame on you. For those of you still doubting, I recommend synchronized swimming as a hobby.

Labels: The Project

posted by Seth @ 9:53 AM