Miniature Toggle OK for Standby Switch?

[Jones]

I'm going to take my Pignose G40V tube amp to an amp tech to have him install a standby switch.

There's not a lot of room to install a switch on the control panel of the amp, so I was considering using a miniature toggle switch, possibly like this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Miniature-DPST-Toggle-Switch-On-Off-Pack-of-2-M201_W0QQitemZ190139719862QQihZ009QQcategoryZ19142 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Can anyone tell me whether the specs for this switch (voltage, amperage, etc) make it suitable for such an application? I have to travel a long distance to my amp tech, and if possible, I'd like to take a switch with me so that he might be able to do the job while I wait...

Thank you. Jones.

[Blue Strat]

Probably not. Not sure what the B+ voltage is in your amp, but typically it would be around 400 Volts. 125VAC (for a mini toggle) ain't gonna cut it.

Hopefully your "tech" is a TECH (not just a part swapper) and knows how to spec a switch for this application.

[Jones]

Thanks, Mike.

Does anyone know of a small or mini toggle switch that would be suitable? I don't have a lot of room to play with, I don't think.

[TopBooster]

I don't know of a small toggle that would be suitable as a standby switch...why not just put a full-size toggle on the back panel?

[TheAmpNerd]

Thanks, Mike.

Does anyone know of a small or mini toggle switch that would be suitable? I don't have a lot of room to play with, I don't think.

I alway like it when guys bring in the own tubes and parts to a tech
to install in their amps.

Nothing quite like POS tubes that short out and take a few components
out with it; then the guy pisses and moans about I didn't bring you
the amp with burnt out reistors...I shouldn't have to pay for it.
(KCANOS tubes is NOT the vendor) Mike feel better now?


ALONG WITH

I posted this question on the net and they said....

I talked to a tech (somehere else) and they said....


AND best of all


I talked to your compitition and they said....


All I ask is that you pay me for
the parts and labor I've put in.

That can be a hard sell when the guy starts
yelling, but I bought a FENDER amp IT IS A REISSUE.

ITS A FENDER!


AND here's the kicker....


Then the guy wants the old parts back!


AND the double whammy


I'm not paying for that, put the old parts back in!


AND then I have to explain


These amps are built so cheaply that I cannot guarantee it
will work if I pull the circuit board again, as the cheap brass
press on connects won't stand up any more, the circiut board
traces cannot tolerate the slight suction my $3000 rework station
applies to it when removing my components, that it is in his best
interestes to trust my judgement when I say yes ALL THE
PLATE LOAD RESISTORS WERE CHANGED...not just the "one"
that failed. No, I am not going to test every one of them and
just replace the one that failed, because the next one is
probably ready to fail OR has failed and you don't want to
pay for all that time.

Then you expain how FENDER is using some cheap circuit board
unfit for most computers and uses an inferior solder that MIL SPEC
solder wic can't even clean up.


IF YOU ARE WEAK
He starts telling his buddies
to take his amps to your shop for "free" work.


IF YOU STAND YOUR GROUND
He tells his buddies you are a prick
and don't know what you are talking about.


IF YOU ARE GOOD
Your customers spread the word that
chris is a jerk and trying to rip you off.
That it would be a good idea that chris
not get gigs around town any more.
Soon chrise can only find gigs out
of town that require him to drive long
distances for little or pay.


KHARMA
has a way of working things
out without any facilitation from me.

:dude :dude :dude :dude :dude :dude

[Fuchsaudio]

Not to argue with Blue Strat, but I've done it a few times when space was at a premium. I used a DPDT mini toggle, put the contacts in parallel, and put a .01 ceramic across it to suppress any arc's. Did it for power and standby and had no issues. My only complaint is the mini switches are not as rugged as a"real" toggle, if they take a whack.

Heck, Fender used the same 125 AC underated toggles for power and standby for ages, in everything they made, without caps on them, and they lasted.

[teleamp]

Have your tech use a progressive (off/standby/on) switch in place of the on/off switch, that way no extra space is used.

MikeY

[Blue Strat]

As AmpNerd said, why not let your tech decide? That way if there's a problem there's no debate about who/what is to blame.

[rockon1]

Have your tech use a progressive (off/standby/on) switch in place of the on/off switch, that way no extra space is used.

MikeY

Now thats sounds like a good solution! Bob

[hasserl]

Better yet, leave the freakin thing alone! Any benefit a standby switch would provide is minimal at best and certainly not worth the cost to drive a long distance, and then pay someone to install it for you.

[Fuchsaudio]

Good call Mike....no space lost at all !


Have your tech use a progressive (off/standby/on) switch in place of the on/off switch, that way no extra space is used.

MikeY

[TopBooster]

Funny that I didn't suggest the progressive switch earlier...I recently did this to a 60's Gibson Minuteman combo amp using a Carling progressive 2 circuit toggle. Let's see, the order number is 2GG5073 (The Carling part # is 2GG50-73). Got it from a place called Sager Electronics. I remember having to hunt this switch down, but it was worth it!

[Fuchsaudio]

I think David Allen sells them too.

[Popoon]

My Selmer Corvette has the switch on a potentiometer.

For example,http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/selmer/amps/sel44b.jpeg

[Jones]

Thanks, everyone. Y'all are a wealth of information.

I guess I'll just leave it up to the tech.

I wonder if anyone makes a progressive (off/standby/on) rocker switch that could go in place of the rocker switch that now controls the power on this unit...?

[Popoon]

The original Orange tiny terror are that way,later ones do not.

Scarcity of switches was cited.

[hasserl]

Thanks, everyone. Y'all are a wealth of information.

I guess I'll just leave it up to the tech.

I wonder if anyone makes a progressive (off/standby/on) rocker switch that could go in place of the rocker switch that now controls the power on this unit...?

Again, dude, just leave well enough alone. The amp will work fine and the tubes will be fine, regardless if there is a standby switch or not. You will see no added tube life or amp service life. Let it go. You will spend time and money to add a potential failure point, ESPECIALLY if you use one of those cheap flimsy mini switches.

If the amp has a standby switch, fine, use it. If it doesn't don't worry about it.

[donnyjaguar]

If its a standard sized rocker the answer is yes. Three position switches are available. I usually put Off in the middle, Idle on one side and Run on the other. Its up to you though.

[Jones]

If the amp has a standby switch, fine, use it. If it doesn't don't worry about it.

Hasserl, you must've met my late Dad because he was an engineer and that's exactly what he would have said, almost verbatim.

OK. The Pignose manual says (I paraphrase) to leave it on, and when walking away from the guitar, to turn down to zero either the "VOLUME" pot [gain] or the "MASTER" pot [volume], and to leave the amp running.

Question: Is this kinda doing the same thing as a STANDBY switch?

Here's my deal: I will work in my office until someONE or THANG pisses me off, then I will RAGE on the guitar for maybe 10 min at a very insulting volume (or maybe just play to try to work something out that won't come out through pacing and talking to myself; I'm a speechwriter, not a musician) and then I will go back to the computer keyboard for a while before returning to the guitar.

I would like to leave the amp turned on in the other room all day long (especially in winter)...will this wear out a tube amp with or without a S/B switch?

Should I just get a solid :Devil state amp?

[John Phillips]

It doesn't need a standby switch to do that, but it will be better to have one. The tubes are slowly wearing out whenever the amp is on, whether or not it's producing sound. Turning down the volume doesn't change this. But using a standby switch does, because it switches off the signal current through them and only leaves the filament (heater) current, which just keeps the tubes hot and ready for use.

If you're planning to use it only a small fraction of the time it's actually on, the overall tube life will be shorter without a standby switch. It still might be years though, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

There is also a small problem with leaving the tubes on standby for extremely long periods, BTW - called 'cathode poisoning' - but I've never seen it happen in a guitar amp and I don't know if it's a real risk. I certainly leave a tube amp on in my work room a lot of the time (on standby) when I'm working on guitars, and it doesn't seem to have suffered. I'd rather do this than turn the amp on and off, which is bad for it and the tubes, because of the extra cooling and heating cycles.

I don't honestly know what the optimum times for the three cases are (off vs. standby, standby vs. on), but if I'm going to not use the amp for more than a couple of minutes and less than a couple of hours, I put it on standby.

I've often considered getting a solid-state amp for my work room, exactly for this reason, but... I just can't really be bothered. I just prefer testing guitars through a nice amp :).