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Posted by: mroberts70 Nov 14 2012, 08:24 PM

I've come up with a reasonably non-intrusive way to incorporate a kill switch in the input jack normally found on Fender strat style guitars. I've not seen this done before to my knowledge anyhow...

I wanted a way to put in a kill switch with out defacing my guitar by drilling holes into the wood or pick guard.

This method also eliminates the need to take the stings off of the guitar as well as pulling the pick guard off and taking a chance on damaging or scratching it or the pickups in the process of drilling a hole.

What you WILL have to do is drill a hole into your pickup jack plate. To me, this was the best option as that little plate can be easily replaced. In fact, if you do not want to drill the original plate, pickup a spare and drill it out.

You will need to be able to make two small solder connections and that is it. Unfortunately, some folks do not have the ability to do this and I have not yet found an easy way to hook this into the existing wiring harness with solder-less connectors yet AND have it all fit back into the jack cavity.

Oh, and I get no popping, crackling or any other nasty noises with this switch, just a nice clean silence!

See Pics for example that I just installed into my Frankenstrat...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/mspjcmykhh3kra1/2012-11-13_19-12-28_882.jpg

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jq8eqyeg2oim4hh/2012-11-13_19-12-35_808.jpg

Posted by: vonhotch Nov 15 2012, 01:21 AM

That looks good there. Good thinking.

Posted by: mroberts70 Nov 15 2012, 02:16 AM

Thanks, yea my theory is that lazy can inspire innovation. I was mainly just too lazy to take the strings off and the pick guard off, so I came up with that which I liked better anyhow.

Posted by: vonhotch Nov 15 2012, 04:05 AM

Definately looks as good as anywhere, was probably easier to wire there too? A kill switch is just wired with one terminal to each wire of the output jack right?

Posted by: mroberts70 Nov 15 2012, 04:31 AM

That's it. Simple enough, yea I just soldered the two leads to the jack with the two existing wires and it was done. I had done one before in a old guitar that was pretty beat up when I got it just to see how it worked. I actually drilled that one, but it wasn't bad at all, and the guy that got the guitar from me was pretty happy to have the switch. I just didn't want to disassemble this guitar for it right away, yet I wanted the kill switch so laziness prevailed yet again... and actually it looks nice and clean there I think.

Posted by: AK Rich Nov 15 2012, 05:42 AM

Lookin sharp man nice job Looks real clean installed there and no popping when you engage or disengage the kill is definately a bonus, I had heard that sometimes you have to put in a capacitor or resistor (I forget which) when wiring the switch to avoid the popping but I never had a problem either. Last year I installed a pushbutton killswitch on my Kramer, it already had a standard killswitch so I just took it out , made the hole a bit bigger, installed the new push button switch and walla works like a champ!
Here is a little more info in case anyone else wants to do this mod to their guitar

http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2010/Jan/The_In_famous_Stratocaster_Kill_Switch_Part_II.aspx

Posted by: PosterBoy Nov 15 2012, 09:50 AM

Nice idea and exectution there.

Posted by: mroberts70 Nov 15 2012, 07:15 PM

Thanks guys... it works great. Just needs a player who can use it great. It does add a little something extra though. I wish it were a little larger in diameter as it would be easier to toggle with two fingers, but it gets the job done as good as I can do with it anyhow. Not that it's a great guitar that I installed it in, but I do like not having to really mod the body in any way. Those jack plates can be easily replaced so why not?

Rich, I had read the same thing about the resistor or cap so I actually soldered gator clips to the leads on the switch and left the wires a little longer and pulled the jack cover off (carefully letting it hang there) and clipped the gators to it to try the switch out to check for any undesirable noises before proceeding with the mod (plugged into the amp with all effects of course ).

I feel like maybe the switch itself may have something to do with the popping and cracking, and/or possibly a good ground somewhere in the guitar and/or equipment it's connected to. I say this because on a previous junk guitar I had installed a switch and got noise from it, but it was a cheaper and used switch that may have had it's own issues. This switch is brand new and worked just fine. That's my two cent theory anyhow.

Mark