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Re: A quieter, gentler footswitch?...
Title: Re: A quieter, gentler
footswitch?...
The 2880 foot controller uses a simple SPST momentary
switch.
I think they are noisy, too. Radio shack sells a plastic
momentary push switch that is virtually silent, but because it is
plastic, it may be a bit fragile.
http://www.radioshack.com/sm-see-all-needs-and-wants--pi-2062508.html
Hello, I recently bought the new
Electro-Harmonix 2880 'super multi-track looper' and the foot
controller which is sold separately - If you're interested in reading
my overall impressions of
the unit, go here:
http://livelooping.tribe.net/thread/96dc3e34-2c4d-404c-a21c-1ac401d7167c - But
I just joined this list to raise a specific issue that calls for a
solution (or else I am gonna
have to list this just over 30-day old gear on eBay because I can't
use it in its present
state)...
THE FOOT CONTROLLER: The push-button switches (there are six of 'em)
are TOO DAMNED LOUD - I play
acoustic wind instruments, mainly, which is to say, although sometimes
I might create loops from
electronic components and sources, mostly I bought this thing to loop
instrumental parts played on
instruments which require a microphone to get the sound into my mixer
and from there out the
effects send into the looper - And if the gain on the mic preamp is
set at the appropriate level
to get a good signal from my horn, it picks up the loud DOUBLE-CLICK
made by the footswitch each
time you depress the record button to begin and end the loop, and then
adds this jarring
mechanical sound to the recorded loop after each cycle - If I were
using this to loop my horn
while playing with a loud backing band with a drummer, MAYBE I could
get away with this obnoxious
click in the loop, but for building layered ambient-type compositions,
or even a three-part flute
or bass clarinet piece, forget it...
So I called Electro-Harmonix and talked to their guy who designed or
built the foot controller,
hoping he would be able to modify the unit: add dampers to the
switches or replace them with
quieter ones - He said he'd have to do some research because he didn't
know of any quieter
switches - In the meantime I thought I'd ask you guys, since I am sure
I am not the only acoustic
musician in the looping community who has run into this problem (you
electric guitarists and
keyboardists are fortunate in that however loud the mechanical noise
produced by your
footswitches, you don't have to worry about it being picked up and
recorded on your loop through
your pickups or the internal circuitry of your electronic
instrument)...
I have already done some research myself - One answer I got was to get
some switches from Mouser
Electronics, because these are the ones used on the EDP foot
controller, and supposedly they are
quieter (though also notoriously fragile, though I haven't used the
EDP, so I can't say) - If I
choose to do this I will need to know exactly what product number the
suggested Mouser switch has,
because I looked on their site and they have dozens of push-button
type switches...
The other suggestion I got was that Mesa Boogie Amp company makes a
line of foot pedalboards with
push-button switches that are claimed to be both quiet and sturdy - I
called Mesa and of course
they would not tell me where they get their component parts used to
build their products, so I
would have to spend over $100 (at the very least) to buy a Mesa
pedalboard just to rip it apart
for the switches (which are probably worth under $5, I'm gonna need
six of 'em)...
I really do not want to sell this practically new 2880 with the foot
controller and all the
compact flash cards I already bought to use for it, and start over
with shopping for a live
looper, so all I really need to do is to get some *relatively quiet*
(I don't mean silent, of
course) switches and pay the guy at E-H or someone to replace them for
me (I don't know jack about
electronic circuits and I don't have a soldering iron, myself) - I
haven't used very many pedals
or footswitches in the past, like a lot of you guitarists have, I'm
sure... but none of them were
anywhere near as loud as this 2880 foot
controller... the switches on the 2880 proper are
unobtrusively quiet, so what were they thinking when they built these
stupid footswitches?...
Thanks too any of you knowledgeable folks who can offer
suggestions...
Ferrara Brain Pan
http://www.formsofthingsunknown.com
"Let the great constellation of flickering ashes be
heard..."
Noel Scott Engel
--
...
http://www.zmix.net