Chinese footswitches

[jtaormina]

Anyone have luck buying footswitches from Chinese eBay stores? They look like the exact same thing from small bear or mammoth etc. Normally I don't have issues with some electronic parts form various Chinese oems but recently bought some solderwick that turned out to be fake. Just got super hot and didn't suck up solder.  I feel like a mechanical switch could be faked. 

[Luke51411]

Don't. or at least be very careful. I bought a lot that was $16 for 10 and they are no good. I have one installed that sometimes decides to actuate and sometimes doesn't and you have to press it again. For what you get, buy from a known source. You won't regret it. The cheaper ones tend to introduce more mechanical noise when switching as well. If you are in the US, BLMS is not much more expensive and definitely better quality.

[strat68]

Don't. or at least be very careful. I bought a lot that was $16 for 10 and they are no good. I have one installed that sometimes decides to actuate and sometimes doesn't and you have to press it again. For what you get, buy from a known source. You won't regret it. The cheaper ones tend to introduce more mechanical noise when switching as well. If you are in the US, BLMS is not much more expensive and definitely better quality.

BLMS is where I buy all switches now, among other items.

[Muadzin]

My Tayda switches never give me problems. I once bought a lot of 10 3PDT's from a Chinese eBay seller and 1 turned out the be wonky. Wouldn't activate the LED even though my DMM said there was continuity.

Edit: I would like to add that as a European I don't have much choice in where I buy my stomp switches. Excluding the melting Euro BLMS is out of the picture (as is anything from America) due to exorbitant US shipping costs (3x as much as Tayda) and in Europe a 3PDT costs between €3 and €5,40. So excluding a few flakes in a batch, Chinese eBay sellers can still be interesting for me.

[GermanCdn]

I've bought a pile of 3PDTs off ebay, and I've only had two bad ones.  But the deal wasn't 10 for $16, I think they were like $2.10 each.

But, as with anything bought from China, YMMV.  If I was building for someone else (i.e. selling), I wouldn't put Chinese stomps in them.

[jtaormina]

I've never heard of BLMS before. Googled it and kept laughing over and over. Haha I'll try these guys out for some cheaper parts. As for the Chinese stuff I've bought so far  caps/resistors/connectors and some other minor things for super cheap and not had too much trouble. I was worried about the switches though. Thanks guys. 

[juansolo]

How heavily are you planning on using the stomp and are you planning on selling them? If a lot and maybe, don't use Chinese stomps. It's the component that WILL fail at some point simply down to it's nature (it's mechanical and you stamp on it).

[Coda-effects]

I once came across this website:
http://www.3pdt.com/products/3pdt-footswitch-lot-of-25
They look kind of specialized in footswitches (there are some pictures of the factory on their website) but I never ordered from them...

But for sure, I would not trust ebay.

There is also this mysterious tape echo machine ( http://www.3pdt.com/products/tape-echo-machine )

[cooder]

I once came across this website:
http://www.3pdt.com/products/3pdt-footswitch-lot-of-25
They look kind of specialized in footswitches (there are some pictures of the factory on their website) but I never ordered from them...

But for sure, I would not trust ebay.

There is also this mysterious tape echo machine ( http://www.3pdt.com/products/tape-echo-machine )

This is probably the same stuff as you'd get from sellers on ebay and sometimes the same place selling under a different name on ebay and stuff like that.
It's unfortunately so hard to tell if the are decent unless you have had some longterm experience with them I guess.
And really, so many of the components are made in China these days, no matter if you buy from Tayda, ebay...

[nzCdog]

I've had 3 Tayda 3PDT switches fail in builds <1 year old, so its game over for Tayda switches as far as I'm concerned.  Currently trying the mammoth 'pro' switches, they feel nicer and are rated for 16k cycles, so here's hoping they last well.

[jimilee]

Blms is where I've been getting mine along with neutricks.


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[jtaormina]

How heavily are you planning on using the stomp and are you planning on selling them? If a lot and maybe, don't use Chinese stomps. It's the component that WILL fail at some point simply down to it's nature (it's mechanical and you stamp on it).

Um I will use them at least weekly. And gig with them. I mostly build pedals for myself or people I know. I have sold pedals but not much. I just build stuff for fun mainly. I find that a Hobby that makes me money ends up like a job and I hate jobs. 

[Muadzin]

If my Tayda switches were to fail I'd either replace them with another Tayda switch, or if the pedal is really critical to my rig with one of Thomas' relay switches. Why go for another mechanical switch when you can go for something even more reliable?