History Of Frantone Pedal Switches
Added 2022-12-05 03:38:16 +0000 UTCResurrecting my original YouTube channel with the first new video in many many years - and it will take some time to get the views up to the level where the old Frantone channel can be monetized and other stuff... so like and subscribe and all that!
I had to do basic repairs and upgrades to some vintage Frantone this week, so I thought I'd make a short video about the foot switches I've used over the decades and the issues that always had to be overcome by each new design.
Comments
That pop is likely a dodgy cap giving you a DC offset across the contacts.
Fran Blanche
2022-12-11 18:34:40 +0000 UTCNo. I did that video too....
Fran Blanche
2022-12-11 18:33:19 +0000 UTCAbout 20ma to throw the relay and about half that to hold it. But by the late 90's most people were using pedal board supplies with very power hungry digital effects, so I never thought of current draw as an issue.
Fran Blanche
2022-12-11 18:32:34 +0000 UTCWe’re very popular back in its day! Very redundant and durable!
2022-12-06 23:32:02 +0000 UTCI look forward to watching soonly! I have an EHX phaser that pops when I switch it off, so I hope you explain pull-down resistors.
Scott Baxter
2022-12-06 13:20:20 +0000 UTCI Subscribed last night as soon as I saw the post. I have a question, on my iPhone, I did not see the "Bell" to allow notifications, it's there on my PC, must be a quirk in the App? Thanks!
GrayRaceCat
2022-12-06 02:13:28 +0000 UTCBut you didn’t mention “true bypass heirloom MOSFET ingredients extra foot massage” in the title. How will the algorithm ever find you? :-) On a serious note, it’s very cool to see the level of attention to detail you put into your work and products.
Matt Hessinger
2022-12-05 23:25:40 +0000 UTCYou aren't, perchance selling any of these as DIY kits?
Joseph Rayle
2022-12-05 19:22:21 +0000 UTCI had no idea you guitar pedals! So cool!
Joseph Rayle
2022-12-05 19:19:48 +0000 UTCHey Fran, How much current draw did the relay add to the circuit?
Jon (0ryn) Westgate
2022-12-05 18:03:14 +0000 UTCLovely stuff indeed! Cliff and Carling are very fine in my book, I learned about them back in 2000s when I was working with (and learning from) Peter of the Black Dog Amplification fame... These amps were things of beauty and a joy for ever, and he also appreciated my assembly skills, ha. Too bad he turned out to be queerphobic enough for me to cut contact with him after a few years. Not sure how his journey continued. Looks like the channel is over 1k subscribers, not sure about the view hours... could be monetized way faster than mine! I'm wondering how it doubled the subscriber count in such a short time.
Keri Szafir
2022-12-05 15:16:39 +0000 UTCFran, I'm really glad you made this switch video. I always wondered where you found switches durable enough to be literally stepped on. I remember my dad drove a Ford Galaxy 500 and there was a switch on the floorboards that he'd use his foot to actuate the high beam filaments in the headlights. It was a lot bigger than your switch. Fast forward 40 years and I found a very similar foot switch on the floor under the KC-135 navigators table and it was used to key the microphone at the audio panel located at that station. Also too big for you. If you ever wanted to go the fully-sealed mil-spec route, OTTO Controls has some incredible switches that would probably be cost prohibitive. I'm amazed at what you found. Did you perform tests on these switches yourself to make sure they did not break? I'd stomp the hell out of them before I trusted them to take a normal foot press in my product.
Matt Wietlispach
2022-12-05 04:25:41 +0000 UTC
