Adjustable Killswitch

[nateboykin]

I am beginning a custom build soon, and the luthier wasn't sure if my request was doable- so I thought I'd throw the question out there. I am having an arcade button installed for a momentary kill-switch. What I'd like to do, is have this kill-switch adjustable with a simple pot (I'll actually be using a Jazzmaster style roller pot), so that I can adjust the amount of "kill". From full 100% to 0%, or from like 100% to 40%, etc. all the way down to the switch having no effect at all. Knowing that the best kill-switch circuit simply grounds the entire circuit- does anyone have any suggestions on how to achieve my desired effect? Thanks in advance!

[Jazz P Bass]

Wire up the potentiometer the way that you want it to work.
One end at ground potential.
Without a drawing it is hard to tell exactly how you are going about it.
I would think that this 'adjustable kill circuit' should come off of the original signal, not in series.
When you are satisfied with the results, remove the pot ground connection and insert the 'kill switch' between it and ground.

[Mick Bailey]

I'm thinking the same way - test the pot value first.

The kill switches I've installed have been wired effectively directly across the output socket. I'm thinking an audio taper pot in series with the kill switch should do the trick, but the degree of kill when the button is pressed and the pot at maximum won't be zero - there will be some effect because there will still be resistance being switched across the guitar output. It depends on the pot value. I see a downside in that an adjustable kill switch would also affect the tone - anything other than 100% kill is likely to reduce treble when the switch is operated.

[nickb]

Maybe try this..

[Mick Bailey]

I like the look of that. Having the kill pot as a voltage divider makes it less critical of resistance value. It also gives the possibility of adding a treble bleed cap if needed.