Where to buy replacement 3PDT switch?

What's Hot
johnhejohnhe Frets: 189
The foot switch in my Bogner Wessex finally failed. It was actually a blessing, since the original footswitch was absolutely terrible - almost impossible to operate it was so stiff.

Anyway, I scavenged a switch for an older pedal, but now I need to replace that switch. Amazon is full of 3PDT switches, but how to tell the crap ones from the decent ones? After the Bogner debacle, I’d like something kind-of reliable.

Where are you guys sourcing such switches in the UK?
0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom

Comments

  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71951
    It's easy to tell which are the crap 3PDTs - they're the ones with 9 terminals.

    :)


    Banzai. But it's best if you order in bulk, since the shipping is expensive. Luckily, if you use a lot of pedals with 3PDTs then ordering in bulk makes sense anyway...

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • johnhejohnhe Frets: 189
    Are you positive about that? Even the Fulltone ones have 9 terminals, and I hear they are excellent switches. I’ve seen many handbuilt, boutique pedals with 9 terminals on the switches. Are you sure that 9 terminal switches all crap?
    2reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • johnhejohnhe Frets: 189
    ICBM said:
    It's easy to tell which are the crap 3PDTs - they're the ones with 9 terminals.

    :)


    Banzai. But it's best if you order in bulk, since the shipping is expensive. Luckily, if you use a lot of pedals with 3PDTs then ordering in bulk makes sense anyway...
    Are you positive about that? Even the Fulltone ones have 9 terminals, and I hear they are excellent switches. I’ve seen many handbuilt, boutique pedals with 9 terminals on the switches. Are you sure that 9 terminal switches all crap?
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • Adam_MDAdam_MD Frets: 3420
    edited December 2018
    If you just want one and don’t want to order in bulk get one from here the alpha switches are as good as you’ll get without spending a lot more money.  I’ve ordered from this seller before and they’re fine.  

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Alpha-Taiwan-3PDT-Footswitch-with-Solder-Lugs/253962505239?epid=2198267762&hash=item3b21584c17:g:3VEAAOSwnfRb8fHV
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • Adam_MDAdam_MD Frets: 3420
    johnhe said:
    Are you positive about that? Even the Fulltone ones have 9 terminals, and I hear they are excellent switches. I’ve seen many handbuilt, boutique pedals with 9 terminals on the switches. Are you sure that 9 terminal switches all crap?
    3pdt are more prone to failure than some other switching systems so some builders try not to use them where possible and get other methods like clickless optical switching and relay switching.  
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71951
    edited December 2018
    johnhe said:
    Are you positive about that? Even the Fulltone ones have 9 terminals, and I hear they are excellent switches. I’ve seen many handbuilt, boutique pedals with 9 terminals on the switches. Are you sure that 9 terminal switches all crap?
    Fulltone switches are among the worst. As a proportion of the number of pedals of different brands out there, I've probably seen more broken Fulltone switches than any other - in fact, I've owned four Fulltone pedals myself, with a total of 8 switches between them, and three of the switches broke.

    All 3PDTs are crap, it's the nature of them. Mechanical switching in the signal path is simply less reliable than electronic switching operated by a momentary switch, and making it a 3PDT gives you six possible points of failure instead of one. They're easily the most common component failure on any pedals, and being "handbuilt" or "boutique" doesn't prevent that.

    The most reliable pedal switching is made by Boss.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • johnhejohnhe Frets: 189
    Ok. Maybe I need to rephrase my question; I would like to replace the true bypass 3PDT switch in the pedal which I love. I know that 3PDT switches suck and I was stupid for buying a Fulltone, Bogner, JHS, Wampler, Rockett, Analogman or Paul Cochrane pedal. But now that we know I’m stupid, where would you guys buy such a switch?

    Is that better?
    0reaction image LOL 3reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    Most suppliers are reselling the same blue plastic Chinese switch at prices from £1.59 upwards. Unless you need tour level reliability I'd buy a couple of these, and accept that you might need to replace it again over the pedal's lifetime. A year or so ago I bought a bunch of them when I fixed someone's pedal. So much of the cost is in transport that it wasn't much more expensive that buying a single switch. At the time I thought that they'd provide a lifetimes' supply.
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 3reaction image Wisdom
  • I’ve had a fair few bits off here, All been spot on  https://shop.pedalparts.co.uk/
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • Winny_PoohWinny_Pooh Frets: 7730
    edited December 2018
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • Adam_MDAdam_MD Frets: 3420
    I’d genuinely buy the alpha over the blue Taiwans the alphas will definitely last longer and feel nicer to use. Unless you want to have to change it again. 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • ragingbenragingben Frets: 106
    edited December 2018
    I'm surprised by how unreliable everyone is reporting the blue 3PDT switches to be, I've owned around 35-40 different pedals that use them and build a further 25-30 myself, and I've never had any problems with them. Some of my pedals have been reheased and gigged for 6 or 7 years without issue! The only footswitch I've had trouble with is a SPST soft touch footswitch I was using as a killswitch. 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71951
    I admit it's mostly because I repair pedals, so I do tend to only see the broken ones - but it's still the most common fault.

    I just think it's a really stupid, regressive solution to the minor problem of poorly-implemented buffered switching. And of course for a lot of DIY builders who then became boutique pedal companies, it's easier and cheaper than using a proper soft switching system or better buffering.

    That optical kit Winny_Pooh posted is a really good upgrade option if it can be physically fitted. It's not quite as good as a fully-electronic system since it uses a mechanical DPDT, but it's still better than a 3PDT in the signal path.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • normula1normula1 Frets: 639
    The switch in my Soul Food must have been used less than 50 times as it sits in a rack case in a loop switcher, but on the rare occasion I use the footswitch itself it takes a good 6 or 7 clicks before it works again.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • OctafishOctafish Frets: 1937
    edited December 2018
    ragingben said:
    I'm surprised by how unreliable everyone is reporting the blue 3PDT switches to be, I've owned around 35-40 different pedals that use them and build a further 25-30 myself, and I've never had any problems with them. Some of my pedals have been reheased and gigged for 6 or 7 years without issue! The only footswitch I've had trouble with is a SPST soft touch footswitch I was using as a killswitch. 
    Same here. Owned/built and gigged loads of 3PDT pedals over the years and not yet had a switch fail, I'm sure one will one day.

    As ICBM says he sees all the ones that fail. 3PDT are obviously not that solid and have a compromised design and whilst it's not unreasonable to expect something that is built to be stood on to be robust, I can only assume that a lot of failures are down to clumsy heavy footed operators. In addition to which it also makes sense the more abusive users are more likely to be those with less technical know-how/mecahanical sympathy hence why they are paying someone carry out a switch replacement, which is really a very simple soldering job.

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • Adam_MDAdam_MD Frets: 3420
    ragingben said:
    I'm surprised by how unreliable everyone is reporting the blue 3PDT switches to be, I've owned around 35-40 different pedals that use them and build a further 25-30 myself, and I've never had any problems with them. Some of my pedals have been reheased and gigged for 6 or 7 years without issue! The only footswitch I've had trouble with is a SPST soft touch footswitch I was using as a killswitch. 
    The only switches I’ve had problems with have been the Taiwanese blue 3pdt.  It’s not been a lot but enough that I won’t use one again when I can fit optical switching with a 2pdt for a few quid more.  More reliable and they feel nicer to use.  

    If I have to use a 3pdt I buy alpha and haven’t had any of those go on me plus they feel nicer to use than the blue ones.  
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71951
    Octafish said:

    ... a switch replacement, which is really a very simple soldering job.
    Not that simple usually, with PCB-mounted ones. It’s usually best to carefully destroy the old switch so just the pins are left, then de-solder them individually. Not technically hard, but time-consuming and needs a bit of skill to do without damaging anything else.

    Even worse was my Fulltone ‘69, which wasn’t on a PCB but had the terminals covered in resin, and the wires so short that cutting them and re-fitting to the new switch wasn’t an option. I had to take apart the switch and the new one, and make one out of the two, which was a *huge* pain and very fiddly. Utterly stupid construction.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • I've not had to repair anything like the number that ICBM has, but my small sample has Boss with the most unreliable switches! I guess that's the problem with small data sets. Interestingly, when I replaced the intermittently working footswitch on a friend's CE-2, Hotrox accidentally sent two and the first one I tried was actually worse than the one it was supposed to replace. I ended up having to increase the value of the debounce cap too, something that Boss themselves did on later CE-2s, according to the schematic I used. Increasing the value of the debounce cap can help cure intermittent switching on Ibanez Tone Loc pedals too.

    I agree that the Fulltone 3PDT switches are crap. I thought that the general quality of construction was poor in what I've seen. 
    My wife asked me to stop singing Wonderwall.
    I said maybe.....
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • Oh yeah, I just remembered that the Fulltone GT500 I repaired also had the 3PDT switches attached to the PCB with wires. These wires were made out of the most brittle metal I've encountered! Combined with the strands not being twisted before tinning, it was no wonder that several of the joints had failed. It was an absolute ballache to remove the PCB from the enclosure so that I could replace the wires and I ended up replacing every wire on there, as they were all ridiculously brittle.

    Going on what I've seen so far, I don't think I'd ever buy a Fulltone pedal.
    My wife asked me to stop singing Wonderwall.
    I said maybe.....
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71951
    As best I can remember, I’ve replaced only four Boss footswitches in over 30 years of professional repair work. They’re usually fine with some contact cleaner even if they do very occasionally go intermittent. I can’t remember the number of 3PDTs... but there have been some weeks with two or three, and they’ve been in use for a much shorter time.

    I can’t actually think of another aspect of technology where a better solution has been so universally replaced by a worse one for fashion. Some of the big pedal manufacturers who had soft switching have started using them, and even Boss are now using lookalike metal switches even if they aren’t actually 3PDTs.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
Sign In or Register to comment.