Installing A KIllswitch

[warpthrone]

Well i put my Killswitch in my guitar and have been toying around with it for about a week when i thought it might be helpful to post a guide on how to do it.

It is the easiest thing in the world to install.

What you need is
 A momentary switch on (off) (head down to Maplin electronics and buy one, there about £1.30)
 Some wire (any wire will do, you can buy this whilst your getting the switch too)
 And some solder (if you don't already have some)
 oh and a soldering iron of course...

1. First decided where your going to Put your switch in, I replaced my Tone port on my guitar but you can drill a separate hole if you really want to.
2. Remove the backing on your guitar that gives your access to you electronics and also remove the small metal plate that protects the output jack (remember to save the screws)
3. take your momentary switch and solder a pice of wire to one of the prongs and another completely separate piece of wire to the other prong.
4. unscrew your tone knob but don't unsolder it from the electronics of the guitar, i know know what this will do to it but i'm guessing it wont be good.
5. put the switch in though the hole and use the nuts it came with to fix it securely in (it should fit quite nicely if the hole is too small open it up slightly with a file)
6. take one of your wires and solder it to the live (or hot) wire that is going to your output jack
7. take the second wire and solder it too the earth wire of your output jack
8. it dosn't matter if you don't know which is which as long as you your two wires from he killswitch too the wires on your output jack and there not touching each other it should work
9. screw everything back in place
10. plug in you guitar everything should work fine, it shouldn't effect the tone of your guitar at all.

 i hope this helps, if your unsure about doing it i suggest you try and watch as many youtube videos on the subject as possible,thanks for reading and i hope you enjoy your killswitch. Fell free to ask questions. its an easy project if your just starting to become interested in guitar electronics.

[CJ]

hey, great guide. i actually just started college this spring, majoring in business/electronics (basically electrical engineering and business combined). thing is, the only thing i've ever really done electric wise was swap out a pickup. i was actually just thinking today about putting a killswitch in my guitar... how it works, how easy it would be. and here you come posting a guide on it! i think i'm definitely going to try this once i get back home. do you think there's any chance you could put up some pictures of the different steps? or at the very least a picture of the finished product (how everything is connected)? thanks a lot, good work.

[hamfist]

do you think there's any chance you could put up some pictures of the different steps? or at the very least a picture of the finished product (how everything is connected)? thanks a lot, good work.

As Warpthrone suggested, there are a number of quite detailed Youtube vids on how to do this. A quick search for "guitar killswitch install" should get you there !

[TomAwesome]

Heh, I made a killswitch box two days ago! It's pretty fun to mess with. I just need to figure out a good way to secure it to the guitar. I could put up a guide for the box if anyone is interested. I already put it together and posted it on another forum.

[mikeluke]

OK guys - really dumb question - what does a killswitch DO and why would you want one?

[hamfist]

OK guys - really dumb question - what does a killswitch DO and why would you want one?

It cuts out your entire signal as long as the switch is pressed down.  You can do various stuttering-type of effects with it.

[mikeluke]

I get it - bit like the end of 'Are You Gonna Go My Way' by Lenny Kravitz when he wiggles the pickup selector with the neck volume switched off....

[CJ]

I get it - bit like the end of 'Are You Gonna Go My Way' by Lenny Kravitz when he wiggles the pickup selector with the neck volume switched off....

exactly the same, or same idea at least. but its a lot easier when you have a switch dedicated to do this, and the switch (i think), isn't a toggle switch so it pops back out once you release it, making it a lot easier to use.

question... you say you put your switch in place of your tone control. does that replace your tone pot, or does your tone knob still function normally, but now it can also be depressed to cut the signal?

and yeah, i'll have to take a look at the youtube videos.

[warpthrone]

Your tone knob is sitting in the electrics cavity of the guitar, most people i know never use it. The killswitch goes in the hole the tone knob once occupied.

Oh and i'll take some photos now....

[WezV]

i would remove the tone control completely. 

[warpthrone]

Not a good idea really, it require you to rewire your entire guitar, also the tone knob is there for a reason. God know what it will do to your tone if you take it out.

[WezV]

Not a good idea really, it require you to rewire your entire guitar, also the tone knob is there for a reason. God know what it will do to your tone if you take it out.

guitars work fine without tone controls, i know exactly what removing it will do... but i am not claiming to be a God ;)  You may hear a slight increase in top end

generally they are connected to the volume pot or switch by 1 wire, sometimes two if there is a ground wire as well.  They are generally simple to disconnect and it does not require you to rewire the entire guitar, well certainly no more than adding a kill switch does anyway!

removing it is a much better idea than having it bouncing around inside the cavity!!!

[warpthrone]

It doesn't really bounce around, I suppose it depends on what type of guitar you have. The idea behind keeping it in the guitar was so that if you didn't like your killswitch you can easily replace it again with out any re-soldering.

[WezV]

fair enough, if you want to keep it in there that is up to you.  do you have those pictures?  when i say bouncing around, i was exagerating - but the idea of a loose component that can move and touch other things does not appeal to me.  also, you say it depends on the guitar you have... so what guitar did you do this to?

personally, i reckon if you are going to get into modding your guitar electrics then the little extra work to remove (and possibly reconnect) the tone control can be seen as valuable experience.  Its a little extra soldering practice for you and will mean you understand what happens (or doesnt happen) when you disconnect one.

i dont mind people contradicting my advice or asking more questions about it.  this is a good tutorial and will be usefull to many so thanks for taking the time to do it. . . 

But i do find it strange that you criticized my advice as

not a good idea

when you had already clearly stated  you did not know the affect of my suggestion,

i know know what this will do to it but i'm guessing it wont be good.

.  and then

God know what it will do to your tone if you take it out.

seriously dude, i was just trying to help  not piss on your fireworks

[warpthrone]

sorry i didn't mean to offend, i was too only trying to help, probably a bad use of the english language on my part, sorry no offense was intended. I was sort of thinking out loud in a way, i apologize if came across in the wrong way.

Oh and i installed this on a ibanez RG and the pictures might have to wait for a bit cos some bugger has ran off with me camera...