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Post subject: Build your own Mustang I/II foot switch
Posted: Sun Apr 28, 2013 11:28 pm
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Mustang I and Mustang II amps allow to connect a foot switch, which enables to switch between two different and user-preset settings on the fly.

Fender offers a dedicated footswitch, but it costs 30+ bucks which, in relation to the price of a Mustang I or Mustang II, is quite high.

I therefore decided to build my own foot switch. It is pretty simple, since the 1/4" (6.3 mm) mono jack to connect the footswitch already offers all necessary functionality. All you need is a switch, that either closes or opens the signal/ground connection inside the jack. In other words, all you need to to do is either short the signal and ground signals or you keep them open.

All you need is an open/close switch which connects between signal and ground inside the jack.

As switch, I decided to use a regular foot switch normally used to switch a lamp on and off, similar to the one shown here:

http://www.conrad.de/medias/global/ce/5000_5999/5700/5710/5714/571457_BB_00_FB.EPS_1000.jpg

These switches can be had for about 3 to 5 bucks.

As cable you can use any two wire cable. An old guitar cable is good enough, any other two-wire cable will do as well.

And of course you will need a 1/4" (6.3 mm) mono jack.

It took me about 15 minutes to make this footswitch. And it works great.


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Post subject: Re: Build your own Mustang I/II foot switch
Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 6:35 pm
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did you just use a one button switch ? or did you wire up a 2 button ? I couldn't find any schematics for the 2 button switch to build my own, so I went ahead and bought the 2 button Fender switch from SweetWater. when I got it I opened it up to see what was going on inside of it, and there wasn't much to it, a small circuit board with traces on it and 2 momentary switches, nothing special going on inside the switch that would justify the 30$ price tag, I could have built my own for about 7$ there were no components on the board other than the 2 switches, the circuit board with the traces could easily be replicated just using wire, I am happy with the 2 button switch I bought, It's nice that it matches my 4 button switch. but the same switch can be made at home with a few items from parts-express.


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Post subject: Re: Build your own Mustang I/II foot switch
Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 9:00 am
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I had an extra DI box i wasn't using from long ago and a spare Stomp box switch. assembled it and will be soldering it this weekend.

The 1 button round Fender mustang switch can be had for about 15 bucks. I'm just doing it for fun and i like the small DI Box case for use with this.

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Post subject: Re: Build your own Mustang I/II foot switch
Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 11:54 pm
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Location: England
Quote:
the 2 button Fender switch, a small circuit board with traces on it and 2 momentary switches, nothing special going on

This makes me wonder: how does it send two different signals to the amp (one for each button), as there are only two wires connecting it? It can't be quite as simple as "2 momentary switches." Has anyone analysed the signal on the wire for this switch?


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Post subject: Re: Build your own Mustang I/II foot switch
Posted: Fri May 03, 2013 1:05 am
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I opened the side of the pedal and had a quick look inside with a flashlight, I didn't disassemble the whole thing, let me rephrase. from what I saw it appeared to be nothing more than 2 switches and some traces on a circuit board, no other components were inside of the footswitch. one of these days if I get bored enough I will take the thing completely apart and will share my findings here on the forum


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Post subject: Re: Build your own Mustang I/II foot switch
Posted: Fri May 03, 2013 2:47 am
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Quote:
Has anyone analysed the signal on the wire for this switch?

I decided to do this myself and answer my own question.

The 2-button footswitch is normally open-circuit. Pressing either button closes the circuit with a resistance, for the duration the button is pressed down (ie it's a "non-latching" action rather than "momentary"). The only difference between the two buttons seems to be the resistance value. For the left-hand button, it's about 5 Kohm; the right button is about 15 Kohm (I say "about" as my ohmmeter is old and not completely accurate!).

So I guess the amp detects which button is pressed by measuring the current flow through the switch (or equivalently a voltage drop across the switch):
- no button pressed, no current flow, full voltage drop
- right button pressed, small current flow, medium voltage drop
- left button pressed, big current flow, small voltage drop


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Post subject: Re: Build your own Mustang I/II foot switch
Posted: Fri May 03, 2013 9:28 am
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Kreature wrote:
did you just use a one button switch ? or did you wire up a 2 button ?


I just used a simple one button switch, see the picture of such a switch:

http://www.conrad.de/medias/global/ce/5 ... S_1000.jpg

Since I am using a Mustang I amp, a one button switch is all you can have. It will toggle between two setiings you can pre-assign.

Simple as that.


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Post subject: Re: Build your own Mustang I/II foot switch
Posted: Fri May 03, 2013 9:35 am
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scott-uk wrote:
Quote:
Has anyone analysed the signal on the wire for this switch?

I decided to do this myself and answer my own question.

The 2-button footswitch is normally open-circuit. Pressing either button closes the circuit with a resistance, for the duration the button is pressed down (ie it's a "non-latching" action rather than "momentary"). The only difference between the two buttons seems to be the resistance value. For the left-hand button, it's about 5 Kohm; the right button is about 15 Kohm (I say "about" as my ohmmeter is old and not completely accurate!).

So I guess the amp detects which button is pressed by measuring the current flow through the switch (or equivalently a voltage drop across the switch):
- no button pressed, no current flow, full voltage drop
- right button pressed, small current flow, medium voltage drop
- left button pressed, big current flow, small voltage drop



Hi Scott, I wonder what a 2-button switch will be good for on a Mustang I or Mustang II. Can you please explain?


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Post subject: Re: Build your own Mustang I/II foot switch
Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 11:29 am
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Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2012 11:37 am
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Location: England
Quote:
I wonder what a 2-button switch will be good for on a Mustang I or Mustang II. Can you please explain?


The two-button footswitch won't work on a Mustang 1 or 2. The 1 and 2 are expecting a simple open/close circuit, latching switch.

(Whereas a Mustang 1 might detect the resistance change as the switch opening/closing, the fact that the MS-2 switch doesn't latch renders it unsuitable)


Last edited by scott-uk on Wed Apr 30, 2014 9:13 am, edited 3 times in total.

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Post subject: Re: Build your own Mustang I/II foot switch
Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 12:47 pm
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scott-uk wrote:
Quote:
I wonder what a 2-button switch will be good for on a Mustang I or Mustang II. Can you please explain?


The two-button footswitch won't work on a Mustang 1 or 2. The 1 and 2 are expecting a simple open/close circuit, single switch.



OK, thanks. It´s what I was saying in my first post.


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