4 those who did the drive sw mod, what ft switch do you use?

[ja22y]

I've been trying to get a ft sw with LED that would turn the LED on when the drive is engaged and off when it's not and having a hard time finding one that would work. I have no problem using a ft sw with no LED. Also the LS ft sw works but the LED is having a reverse effect (on when drive is off).
So if you got a working sw can you let me know the detail?

 

[ifailedshapes]

I've had one of these for years. The best part is the polarity switch for the LED. http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Boss-FS5L-Latching-Footswitch?sku=421380&src=3WFRWXX&ZYXSEM=0&CAWELAID=26028266

 

[ja22y]

That should work. Forgot to mention that I'm looking for something without the battery and use the line voltage from the amp itself. The LS puts out 12V dc on those lines

 

[ifailedshapes]

For what it's worth, I still have the original battery in mine. It only powers a tiny LED.

 

[dangit]

I've been trying to get a ft sw with LED that would turn the LED on when the drive is engaged and off when it's not and having a hard time finding one that would work. I have no problem using a ft sw with no LED. Also the LS ft sw works but the LED is having a reverse effect (on when drive is off).
So if you got a working sw can you let me know the detail?

i used the channel switch from my studio.22+ combo
works great, light on for drive
mesa still sells them $59
http://mesa.stores.yahoo.net/fccsiii.html
maybe on ebay?

good luck!

 

[Vogelsong]

I just installed a third switch on the stock Mesa dual foot switch. I decided I don't need an LED. I converted the reverb jack in the back of the amp to a stereo jack for reverb and the third channel. So my Mesa dual foot switch now has 3 switches and 2 jacks out the side. The stock jack gets the regular cable and goes to the front of the amp. I then run a y cable, the one end has a 1/4" stereo plug that goes intot the stereo jack in the back of the amp for reverb and the third channle, the other end is split with 2 std. 1/4" plugs. One goes into the reverb switch the other goes into the new jack in the Mesa foot switch.

Everything is neat and clean.

 

[dangit]

I just installed a third switch on the stock Mesa dual foot switch. I decided I don't need an LED. I converted the reverb jack in the back of the amp to a stereo jack for reverb and the third channel. So my Mesa dual foot switch now has 3 switches and 2 jacks out the side. The stock jack gets the regular cable and goes to the front of the amp. I then run a y cable, the one end has a 1/4" stereo plug that goes intot the stereo jack in the back of the amp for reverb and the third channle, the other end is split with 2 std. 1/4" plugs. One goes into the reverb switch the other goes into the new jack in the Mesa foot switch.

Everything is neat and clean.

sounds like a great solution!

 

[dangit]

I just installed a third switch on the stock Mesa dual foot switch. I decided I don't need an LED. I converted the reverb jack in the back of the amp to a stereo jack for reverb and the third channel. So my Mesa dual foot switch now has 3 switches and 2 jacks out the side. The stock jack gets the regular cable and goes to the front of the amp. I then run a y cable, the one end has a 1/4" stereo plug that goes intot the stereo jack in the back of the amp for reverb and the third channle, the other end is split with 2 std. 1/4" plugs. One goes into the reverb switch the other goes into the new jack in the Mesa foot switch.

Everything is neat and clean.

sounds like a great solution!

 

[ja22y]

It took me awhile but I finally figured it out. Thought that a ft sw to ground is a simple thing, not quite. Here's the scoop:
The reason that only a certain ft sw works is that the ft sw is used to activate a relay (the LS(S) is full of them) and in turn the relay does the actual switching. The relay has a threshold of 10V, meaning it will switch on when the line is 10V or more and off when the line is less than 10V. So a ft sw has to have a 3k3 series 'limiting resistor' in order for it to work. Just adding an LED to a ft sw will not work since when the LED is on, the voltage across it is 1.7V (typical for the common red, green LED) and since the relay needs at least 10V, it will not switch the drive on.
Anyway I was able to get a Mesa Rectifier ft sw for next to nothing from a guy who has no use for it and mod'ed it like above. BTW the studio .22 ft sw will work perfectly.