Footswitch

Hey all,

I'd like to find an old footswitch to use with an old Guild amp.

I don't think there's much chance of finding the real deal, but something with that vintage groove would be nice. Like those old wooden block styles, etc. I may just try to make one, but that's last resort.

Anybody know of a source? Got one you'd sell?

Dave

Hi Dave,

Similar to this type?



Dug this one out of the basement. It's certainly showing its age,
and there's no cord or backplate (only the original footswitches),
-- from the Westerly factory--

Hi Paul; I think that footswitch might go with a T1 RVT (or a version 1 Thunderbird?) with reverb and trem. Dave's amp is a 66J with trem only. Gotta wait for matsickma but I think the 66J had wood switch body ... like the one in this pic of matsickma's 98RT except just a single switch ... so narrow and wedge-shaped it looks like a doorstop.

Thanks, John. I know quite a bit about guitars, but Guild amps...not so much

hideglue said:

Thanks, John. I know quite a bit about guitars ...

Click to expand...

... and bird-watching :wink: Actually, your having posted it might help someone who's looking for one. J

That would be me. :lol:
Pm hideglue

Funny story on me;

Early on at the very beginnings of my Guild collecting, I was in a music store in North Jersey and I asked them if they had any old Guilds.

The guy said they didn't have any guitars, just this old wooden footswitch. It looked like a doorstop that somebody had put a switch and cord on, then slapped a "Guild" decal on it.

I chuckled and passed on it not believing that a musical instrument manufacture would even make anything electronic out of wood! (Not like guitars and amp cabinets aren't!).

Oh well, live and learn!

The Guilds of Grot said:

Funny story on me;

Early on at the very beginnings of my Guild collecting, I was in a music store in North Jersey and I asked them if they had any old Guilds.

The guy said they didn't have any guitars, just this old wooden footswitch. It looked like a doorstop that somebody had put a switch and cord on, then slapped a "Guild" decal on it.

I chuckled and passed on it not believing that a musical instrument manufacture would even make anything electronic out of wood! (Not like guitars and amp cabinets aren't!).

Oh well, live and learn!

Click to expand...

You mention slapping a Guild decal on it, Grot.

I think I've seen one or two (including above) of the wooden-types around on line, but I don't see a decal. Was it on the bottom? Or just wears off after half a century or so?

Dave

Uh-oh! Geezerdom attack!

Well now that you mention it, maybe it didn't have a Guild decal on it and that's why I passed on it. It was about 15 years ago so the old brain might be a little fuzzy on the details.

I might just be getting it confused with a "Guild" foot pedal I bought once that wasn't really a Guild and just had a decal slapped on it. I sent that one back.

So this is what I have to look forward to, 'eh? Gettin' old sux!

My T-32 has a footswitch that's made out of a rubber doorstop. Here's a Kent that's similar.
http://cgi.ebay.com.my/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... 0323759417

Giulietti amp that has something that similar. This one was made by Ampeg for an accordion company.

Guild phased out the wooden foot switches at the start of the Thunder amp series (circa 1965). Prior to that they were hard wood with a fixed cord and full rubber anti skid bottom. I have seen three styles: Two stomp switches for Reverb + Tremelo (98RT AMP) with fixed point wiring to the amp, a plugin Single Stomp switch + cord w/phono plug, assumed for Tremelo but not marked (66J, 99J, 100J, 200S) and a mini "doorstop size" Single Stomp switch, assumed for Tremelo but not marked (20RT, 40T, 50J) where the 20RT was hard wired to the Reverb/Tremelo converter amp and the switch only activated the Reverb-tremelo was a rocker switch. The dual stomp switch pedal of the 98RT was around a 5 inch square with a rise of about 2 inches. The single stomp switch was around 6 in x 3 in and a 2 inch rise. The mini switch was around 2 in x 4 inch x 1 in rise (all my numbers are estimates. I never measured these pedels and have long since sold the amps with pedals they came with).

Thunder 1RVT, Thunderbird(s), Thunderstar, Superstar and Maverick used the cast aluiminum pedal as shown by hideglue. The Thunder 1 RVT and 1st style Thunderbird and Superbird amps had the pedal hardwired, others have RCA connectors. The Superbird series of amplifiers used the cast metal pedal and added a 3rd unmarked middle stomp switch for the built in Fuzz Tone.

The Thunder 1 (no Reverb but with Tremelo) did not use a footswitch. Instead the Tremelo was activated from a front panel switch. The only amp I am unsure of is the very rare Super Thunderbird- I assume a footswitch was used but don't know if it was hardwired or plugged.

One other item...Guild made an unusual tone modification pickup that had some active equalization features. It divided the frequencies into 3 bands. The cast aluminum foot pedal was used in the accessory with a 3rd stomp switch added like the Superbird footswitch. Check out Guild-of-Grots site. I think he has one of those gizmos.

I am not sure what wood was used for these pedals but it could have been mahogany.

Also, about ever 2 to 3 years one of these wooden pedals pops up on ebay. In the begining they sold for a reasonable $20-$30 price but the last one(s) I saw were sold around $80.

M

Thanks for the info, everybody.

I gather I need one of the wooden ones. A trip to Lowe's may be coming soon.

I may have to hunt for the switch itself.

Dave

You can get a "stomp-switch" by searching under "guitar amp parts" on google or ebay.

dapmdave said:

... I may have to hunt for the switch itself...

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Hi Dave: lots of sources for the switch ... here's one: Hoffman Amps ... top of page. The Carling is US-made, prices vary all over the place ... can get made-in-Mehico for less. J

Hey Dave: This is it!

capnjuan said:

Hey Dave: This is it!

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I just can't believe this! I've been checking e-bay frequently this week. How the heck does this come and go without showing up in my searches?

Oh well, at least I know what it looks like now. Except for the actual switch, which looks wrong to me.

Dave

Unbelievable! By the way...that is a sample of the mini version which is about the size of a door stop. I didn't remember the decorative routing about the top perimeter of the switch.

M

dapmdave said:

.... Except for the actual switch, which looks wrong to me ...

Click to expand...

Agree; the shaft with the squared-off sides doesn't match what's out there now ... don't know whether that particular button switch is the original or not ... I don't think it lasted more than 2 hours.

capnjuan said:

dapmdave said:

.... Except for the actual switch, which looks wrong to me ...

Click to expand...

Agree; the shaft with the squared-off sides doesn't match what's out there now ... don't know whether that particular button switch is the original or not ... I don't think it lasted more than 2 hours.

Click to expand...

Maybe somebody on LTG picked it up.

I wonder if it's really original? I kinda questioned the routed top in my mind, too. The more I look at it the more it looks funny. Maybe that's a good thing. No one really knows what it's supposed to look like, and it's made of wood and a switch, with 10 feet of lamp cord and a phone plug. I can even imagine recreating the "Guild" (rub-off lettering under some poly?) although the 2-button version doesn't seem to have a logo at all.

Dave

dapmdave said:

... original?... No one really knows what it's supposed to look like, and it's made of wood and a switch, with 10 feet of lamp cord and a phone plug. I can even imagine recreating the "Guild" (rub-off lettering under some poly?) although the 2-button version doesn't seem to have a logo at all.

Click to expand...

Hi Dave; sorry you missed it but, were I looking for one and had a choice between making one from scratch, buying something that doesn't seem to exist and nobody is exactly sure what it looks like, and this switch, I'da bought this one. You could always say: 'This is my vintage Guild 66J and a footswitch marked 'Guild' :wink: ... would work until a bona fide switch showed up. Too bad; despite the coincidence that this popped right after this thread, at best, these are once-a-year-on-eBay .... if that.