a call to retrobob lol

[bill rand]

Hi bob have been enjoying all your great tech posts. i have a favour to ask as and when you have the time or indeed the inclination lol. I have a boss rc2 looper and have found a great looking mod that can be carried out, i will post the link at the end, however it is lacking in detail as to how exactly it is carried out and was therefore wondering if you could cast your magnificent eye over and and maybe advise on the wiring etc, if you cant no worries mathttp://www.flickr.com/photos/cow4prez/2515146664/e

and keep up the excellent work, peace out folks

[retrobob]

Bill,
Your link doesn't appear to work for me?

[bill rand]

no nor me anyone tell me how to insert a link im not that computer savy lol

[DaBirch]

mathttp://www.flickr.com/photos/cow4prez/2515146664/e

You're actually quite close, you just happened to mess it up by including the last word in your message (mate) and include that in the <url>-part. Could happen to anyone. Here's the link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cow4prez/2515146664

/Dan

[bill rand]

bloody hell lol well spotted thanks your a star

[retrobob]

Got it, I'll look into it as I have time.
Thanks

edit:
Bill,
Two questions
1). Do you want to do it like the mod, with two switches mounted into the pedal?
2). The pedal has a foot switch jack for this function, why not use a two button momentary foot switch?

If it is because of size constraints, we could build a very small pedal housing that could velcro to the top edge of the pedal and plug in. This would be less intrusive (no damage to the pedal), however it would put the switches a little higher (on top).

rc peadl mod.jpg (186.69 KiB) Viewed 215 times

Let me know what you think.

[bill rand]

Hi Bob thanks for the prompt reply. Though i like the look of your alternative, i think the beauty of the original mod layout is its compactness with no visible cables and neatness if that makes any sense. The mod obviously utilises the input jack but internally thus doing away with the need for an auxiliary switch box of some sort. Im just hazy on the wiring details needed to carry out this opp,though after reading all your posts should be simple to a genius lol. ive also made note of the comments on the link site about the right type of switch needed. So any help and advice would be much appreciated thanks again for your time and trouble

[retrobob]

No problem,
Here is where the confusion came in, the author of the mod is not clear as to where the wires attach at the jack or how they wire to the switches. Also there is some confusion on the switches themselves.

First, lets tackle the switches;
The miniature momentary switches need to be N/O (normally opened) type switches, this means that when the switch is at rest (not pushed) there is no connection between the two switch terminals.

The reason for the confusion is the color of the switches, in the past a RED switch cap indicated a N/C (normally closed, terminals are in contact with each other when switch is at rest) switch and the BLACK switch cap indicated a N/O (normally open, terminals are not in contact when switch is at rest) switch. However, it appears the switches sold by Radio Shack are being sold as a pair of N/O (one red, one black), if this is indeed the case they will work fine, but I would test them to be sure.

Now, let take on the wiring;
The input jack used in these pedals have a specific terminal orientation and is easiest read from the rear with the terminals facing you. The jack itself is square with one corner notched (indented inward sort of to speak), the terminal at this notch is #1 (sleeve/ground), the one to its immediate left is #2 (ring), then #3 (ring switch contact), #4 (tip switch contact) and #5 (tip). On the jacks in the RC LOOPER there are no terminals #2 & 3 (they are deleted in this jack), so we will have #1 (sleeve), #2 (ring) and #5 (tip). The White wire is attached to the RING terminal on the jack (#2), the ORANGE wire is attached to the TIP terminal on the jack (#5), the ground terminal on the jack (#1) is empty because this terminal is attached to the jacks mounting bushing and grounds through the bushing to the pedal chassis, which leaves the #1 (sleeve/ground) terminal on this jack open (nothing attached to it) and is the ground terminal the author of the mod refers to for the new ground wire.

So here it is in a nut shell;
Solder a WHITE wire to the jacks #2 terminal, continue this wire and solder it to one terminal on one of the momentary switches (doesn’t matter which terminal).

Solder a ORANGE wire to the jacks #5 terminal, continue this wire and solder it to one terminal on the other momentary switch (doesn’t matter which terminal).

Solder a GREEN wire to the jacks #1 terminal, continue this wire and solder it to the remaining terminal on the first switch, then continue it and solder it to the remaining terminal on the second switch.

Drill the holes and mount the switches.

I can’t be sure which switch does what function, so you may have to swap the position of the switches to get them in the correct order. Once you know which switch does what, post it so everyone will know (ie., white wire goes to left switch and so on).

The drawings below should help, hopefully I was able to cleared this up for you.

Have fun!

[bill rand]

Shear genius as ever Bob thanks very much, crystal clear now to a thicko like me lol. Will get round to doing this soon i hope it basically turns the rc2 looper into an rc50 with a smaller footprint, still getting use to the pedal but as i dont have a band to jam with , this and backing tracks running the the ad60 keep me going and improve my playing slowly i wish to point out thanks again mate

[retrobob]

My pleasure Bill, glad I was able to help!