Got a favorite 3PDT Footswitch?

[FloorIt]

Getting ready to order a couple from Mammoth...
http://www.mammothelectronics.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=3pdt

Is it worth paying a buck or two more for teh better(?) ones?

[Leevibe]

These alphas are my current favorites

[juansolo]

I hate 3PDT stomps with a passion. Unreliable pieces of shit.

[flanagan0718]

I hate 3PDT stomps with a passion. Unreliable pieces of shit.

Don't hold back, let us know how you really feel. HAHA!

[Betty Wont]

I hate 3PDT stomps with a passion. Unreliable pieces of shit.

Don't hold back, let us know how you really feel. HAHA!

I'm starting to agree. I've put them in every build out of convention and I've never put one on the floor and stepped on it. EVER. And they still fail. I think I'm going to start using a nice toggle for bypass from now on.

[FloorIt]

I hate 3PDT stomps with a passion. Unreliable pieces of shit.

Hmmm.  I've never had a problem.  Is there a particular brand that you have had problems with?

[juansolo]

I reckon 4 out of 5 of pedals I've ever had come back to me for repair has been due to 3PDT stomp failure (the other 1 is usually user error involving the wrong PSU). I've tried different ones and in the end I just came to the conclusion that any failures looks bad on me, so I'd rather spend the money on a better, more robust switching solution wherever possible as they're an inherently poor design.

FWIW in scale terms, I've built hundreds of pedals and the ones fitted with the 3PDT are now a few years old, so that might be why I'm seeing more. I dropped one of Thomas's relay switches into a ZPSDX that came back last week with 3PDT failure, and I've got a 1590A Egghead (yeah screwed on that one) coming back this week for a swap out.

I've had one DOA since switching to Alpha DPDT and Josh's Optotrons. That was likely a manufacturing error. I've never had a single one fail. I'm fairly sure I've used way over 150 of them.

[jubal81]

I'm really digging the mini "industrial" switches. I've only ever had one 3PDT problem and it was a China Blue that I hit too hard with the iron and the inside melted.





Here's the link:
http://www.mammothelectronics.com/4SFS3PDT-LS-I-p/800-1006.htm

[Willybomb]

I got some similar ones off ebay.  Not minis, but none more black - and the lug holes are nearly too narrow to fit tinned wire through.

[Leevibe]

I really do feel like the full size Alpha 3PDT is a substantially better switch than the China blues that I've used.

- The plastic housing is a different material. Phenolic maybe?
- I think it's a bonus that they come with a snazzy thin metal trim washer and split lock washer instead of the white plastic shim and pointless internal tooth lock washer.
- The lugs are beefier and seem to possibly be of better material than any other 3PDT I've used to date. Solder whets to them pretty much instantly, and that is potentially the biggest factor in the reliability of these: getting in and out quick with the iron.
- The epoxy is done differently on these. I assume it's good high-temp stuff, but it is a big assumption.

There is also the question of what metals and contact platings are being used for the lugs and teeter-totter contacts. At least with the Alpha, there's probably a data sheet available with that kind of info as well as how many switching cycles it's rated for.

I've thought about taking one of the Alphas apart to compare to ol' blue, but I hate to sacrifice a good switch. Maybe I should stop being so stingy and sacrifice the $3.50 Stomptown and I discussed taking apart a few different stomp switches to compare guts. We were thinking the Alpha, China blue, and Mammoth pro and premium, or whatever they're called. It wouldn't probably be very scientific, but it could potentially reveal some of the more obvious stuff. Any interest?

[icecycle66]

I really like how "china blue" sounds like drug slang.

[davent]

I've thought about taking one of the Alphas apart to compare to ol' blue, but I hate to sacrifice a good switch. Maybe I should stop being so stingy and sacrifice the $3.50 Stomptown and I discussed taking apart a few different stomp switches to compare guts. We were thinking the Alpha, China blue, and Mammoth pro and premium, or whatever they're called. It wouldn't probably be very scientific, but it could potentially reveal some of the more obvious stuff. Any interest?

You could quite possibly get that switch back together with success. Mark Hammer has a video on dismantling and rescuing faulty stomp switches.

[Leevibe]

I've thought about taking one of the Alphas apart to compare to ol' blue, but I hate to sacrifice a good switch. Maybe I should stop being so stingy and sacrifice the $3.50 Stomptown and I discussed taking apart a few different stomp switches to compare guts. We were thinking the Alpha, China blue, and Mammoth pro and premium, or whatever they're called. It wouldn't probably be very scientific, but it could potentially reveal some of the more obvious stuff. Any interest?

You could quite possibly get that switch back together with success. Mark Hammer has a video on dismantling and rescuing faulty stomp switches.

Yeah. I've had a couple apart before. I just wouldn't want to necessarily trust it for reliability after reassembly. Maybe for a personal project or something to use at my workbench.

[nzCdog]

I ordered some of the Mammoth 'Pro' ones recently after the same 'blue' issues.  They are rated for 16000 cycles or somethiing, more than twice what the blue ones are, so here's hoping they are more betterer

[pickdropper]

I like the Mammoth Pro switches better than most of the 3PDT but I'll be shocked and amazed if they get anywhere near 16k actuation in real life. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk