What happened with millenium bypass?

[micromegas]

I often ask myself this.

Why I don't see millenium bypass boards more often?

Why do we prefer to use 3PDTs when DPDTs have a better feeling?

Is there a problem with millenium bypass?

I've considered the idea of designing a pcb arround this switching scheme for 1590 builds. Using smd components it doesn't need to be much bigger than a 3PDT.

Any thoughts?

[midwayfair]

3PDTs are now cheaper than Alpha DPDTs, and it requires some specialized parts that aren't a whole lot of good in most other situations (like P-channel FETs, which are now expensive to boot).

Also, some bypass needs don't gain anything from millenium bypass. For example, anything where I want the bypass indicator to also be a rate indicator, I still need a separate pole.

I think the optical bypass is actually worth the extra trouble and expense, though, because the chips are still available and cheap, and it will always fire up perfectly.

[micromegas]

3PDTs are now cheaper than Alpha DPDTs, and it requires some specialized parts that aren't a whole lot of good in most other situations (like P-channel FETs, which are now expensive to boot).

Also, some bypass needs don't gain anything from millenium bypass. For example, anything where I want the bypass indicator to also be a rate indicator, I still need a separate pole.

I think the optical bypass is actually worth the extra trouble and expense, though, because the chips are still available and cheap, and it will always fire up perfectly.

I agree with everything you said, I've beeing using Josh's optotron pcbs in my last builds and it is the best solution I've found so far (considering quality to price ratio), but they're too big for 1590A builds and that made me think about millenium again.

[mattlee0037]

What do you mean by a better feeling? I've always use 3pdts so I have no experience with them. And what are the advantages of optical bypass over regular bypass?


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[jkokura]

The reason Millenium Bypass was developed (I believe either by or in conjunction with RG Keen) was because it was easier and cheaper to get DPDT stomp switches at one point (like 10ish years ago). Before we had a plethora of sources, the group doing this hobby was much smaller than it was now, and nobody was selling/producing parts just for this niche market. Enter the obsession with True Bypass and the 3PDT stomp switch became a commodity worth investing in. Between Steve at Smallbear and I think Mike Fuller, the original Taiwan switches were produced and were expensive. $12 I think was the going rate early on. Now you can get a 3PDT for as little as $2 if you're smart/willing to use cheap parts.

Long and Short - the only benefit to the Millenium Bypass was that it drove the LED circuit using a DPDT switch. It's not a better/worse system, it just doesn't require a 3PDT switch. It's not like Relay based bypass, electronic switching or anything like that. So in the end, Millenium Bypass doesn't do or serve anything worth noting, unless you want specifically to pay more for your switch than you need to.

Jacob

[culturejam]

Yeah, Millenium Bypass (named for the turn of the millennium, as I recall) was really a solution to a problem of the scarcity of 3PDT stomp switches. It was a nice alternative to paying $15 for a switch or having to choose between true bypass and having an indicator LED.

Once the switch pricing got below about $8 per unit, the Millenium started to fade.

The earliest reference I see to it is an RG article from 1998. 

[davent]

What do you mean by a better feeling? I've always use 3pdts so I have no experience with them. And what are the advantages of optical bypass over regular bypass?


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The Alpha's take much less pressure to actuate where the blues can be really stifff and feel like you've got a fight on your hands. Fitting a blue in a wah shell, blame the blues...



I'm not planning on getting more blues once i use up what i have, exploring relays and alternate switches, i still throw the  Millenium II (Mosfet based 2n7000 of bs170) in the occasional box, does the job.

[gtr2]

ouch!

[LaceSensor]

relay bypass FTW !

[LaceSensor]

i found in some pedal millenium bypass didnt work properly and the LED would be on even in bypass, typically high gain fuzz or distortion effects.

its great for most other shit though, but as people  have said getting the BS170 or 2n7000 can be expensive now and the switches arent even that much cheaper - the alpha ones have a nicer action that any 3pdt ive bought, though

[davent]

We're ok for stock over here, for 2n7000 Mouser has ~110k in stock and Digikey has ~200k if not many more,  there can never be too many SHO's. Can be had in quantities of 10 for under 30 cents/unit.

dave

[lars]

It went the same way as other "millenium" things...Windows Millenium, Gateway 2000, the two-digit year fiasco that never happened. We've all moved ahead and moved on...

[catfud]

... the two-digit year fiasco that never happened.

And there was me thinking that it never happened because diligent IT staff fixed all the bugs