Vox V1141 Footswitch

[fessmess]

I have a Vox V1141 Beatle amp and would like to build a footswitch for it. I have a schematic for the amp that shows the footswitch effects connections but it does not show the red distortion indicator lamp. Does anyone have a schematic for a V1141 amp/footswitch that shows the red distortion lamp connections present in the old original footswitches?

Thanks for the help

[R.G.]

Does anyone have a schematic for a V1141 amp/footswitch that shows the red distortion lamp connections present in the old original footswitches?

I'd guess that no one does. I do have the schemo for the V1141 and the 1143*6, and the 1141 footswitch assembly does not have lights on it. Apparently the lights were new for the 1143*6 model.

wait... wait... my telepathic sensing is tingling... yes, I hear... yes!

Your question is then "well how does the 1143 do it and can I do that on my 1141?"

Did I get it right??

The 1143*6 runs a separate ground and +31V line to the footswitch assembly, then uses a DPDT switch for each effect except MRB. The switch uses one section to switch the effect, and the parallel section to connect the 24V lamp through a 330 ohm resistor to ground.

[fessmess]

Thanks R.G. but your telepathic powers were not working on this one.

True, the V1143 does have a multi lamp footswitch, but ......

All of the V1141 footswitches I have seen for sale on ebay / other sites and the North Coast Music reproduction footswitch have a red indicator lamp for the fuzz effect. (attached a picture of a typical V1141 footswitch)

Also, the VOX Showroom bbc Archives site states:

"The footswitch for the V1141 had four buttons and one : : indicator lamp for the fuzz circuit. The later V1143 heads carried the "Beatle" moniker. It had : : the features of the V1141 plus repeat percussion and a E-tuner. The switching of the fuzz and MRB : : circuits was accomplished though a switching FET. The footpedal had five buttons and four indicator : : lamps"

So I guess the question remains: Does anyone have a schematic for a V1141 amp/footswitch that shows the red distortion lamp connections present in the old original footswitches?

Maybe all V1141's were not created equal?

Thanks,
fessmess

[R.G.]

Thanks R.G. but your telepathic powers were not working on this one.

That happens a lot! Some days I can't even tell what *I'm* thinking.

but ......

All of the V1141 footswitches I have seen for sale on ebay / other sites and the North Coast Music reproduction footswitch have a red indicator lamp for the fuzz effect. (attached a picture of a typical V1141 footswitch)

I'm fine with that. What my info is from is the collection of Thomas Vox service manuals I consulted before I posted. I checked the 1141 and the 1143*6*. 1141 had no lights, 1143*6* had four lights.

Also, the VOX Showroom bbc Archives site states:

"The footswitch for the V1141 had four buttons and one : : indicator lamp for the fuzz circuit. The later V1143 heads carried the "Beatle" moniker. It had : : the features of the V1141 plus repeat percussion and a E-tuner. The switching of the fuzz and MRB : : circuits was accomplished though a switching FET. The footpedal had five buttons and four indicator : : lamps"

So I guess the question remains: Does anyone have a schematic for a V1141 amp/footswitch that shows the red distortion lamp connections present in the old original footswitches?

Maybe all V1141's were not created equal?

I think you've probably hit on it - there may have been some shipped with a single-light footswitch. However it's not documented in the service literature. That would not be impossible.

The footswitch is also the single most-lost and most-swapped part of these amps. It's possible that both users and factory juggled them.

Just to be sure, I went looking in the service manual for possible cross pollination. I did find that - the 1123, 1153, and 1133 and 1154 show a single light footswitch, and it's for distortion. The 1141 Beatles did not have it, and the 1143 Beatles had four lights, so maybe this was a late addition or an intermediate addition for the 1141 and not documented, and maybe they just used the single-light housing for 1141 Beatles too, and maybe the Viscount 1154 was the right time for this to happen.

So maybe the question is: Does anyone have a schematic for any Thomas Vox amp/footswitch that shows the red distortion lamp connections present in the old original footswitches?

To that question, the answer is: yes, I have the schemo for the Viscount 1153 and 1154, the 1123 Buckingham and the 1133 Royal Guardsman, which have that config. It's wired

Pin 1: To Tremolo switch to ground.
Pin 2: To Distortion DPDT switch pole A; throw A1 to ground, throw A2 open
Pin 3: To reverb switch to ground
Pin 4: To momentary switch to ground for MRB
Pin 5: Internal 330 ohm resistor from -30.5V to distortion DPDT pole B; throw B1 to ground, B2 open.
Pin 6 Ground.

The base 1141 Beatle footswitch has Pin 5 open, as do all the 11x1 footswitches, so the thing to do is to wire a 330 ohm resistor to -30.5V from pin 5 of the socket, take that pin on the cable to the pole of a new DPDT switch in the distortion position, and put the throw of that new DPST to ground, matching when the signal half of the distortion switch goes to ground. Any 11x1 footswitch can be made into a single-light distortion pedal by replacing distortion switch with a DPDT, installing the light, and hooking the extra switch section through a 330 ohm to -30.5 on pin 5 of the cable/socket. The Beatle 1141 head will ignore it, as it has no voltage to pin 5, unless they just threw that in and did not document it. Any 11x3 series footswitch except the 1143 Beatle will give you the single light footswitch if you go wire -30.5V through a 330 ohm resistor internally to pin 5 on the socket.

The wiring is not compatible with the Beatle 1143, as that one puts -30.5 on pin 6, Repeat Percussion on pin 5, and ground is carried on the shell: they ran themselves out of pins.

My personal Beatle is an 1143, so I have no experience with the 1141 directly.

[fessmess]

Excellent R.G.

I think you have solved the mystery.

I'll check pin 5 on the footswitch jack of my V1141. If it's open I'll use it to provide voltage for a distortion lamp as your great research revealed was done on the 1133 Royal Guardsman and others.

Thanks a Bunch!

fessmess

[R.G.]

My pleasure. Let me know how it works.

R.G.

Excellent R.G.

I think you have solved the mystery.

I'll check pin 5 on the footswitch jack of my V1141. If it's open I'll use it to provide voltage for a distortion lamp as your great research revealed was done on the 1133 Royal Guardsman and others.

Thanks a Bunch!

fessmess