Homemade half moon switch

[bboyjamin]

Hi all, first post!

I just ordered a C2. But I refuse to pay the ridiculous price of the half moon switch. I want to make one with a wood body and a 3-way lever switch from a telecaster or something.

I'm wondering if someone can give me details. Is it really just a switch, or something more, like variable resistance?

I'm guessing it's like:

slow setting: tip grounded to sleeve
off setting: nothing connected to sleeve
fast setting: ring connected to sleeve.

Would someone who a half moon switch for the c2 feel like putting their multimeter on it, and get back to me?

Thanks, and if I do get some help here, I'll post a how to.

[mjbrands]

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Have a look at this post: http://www.norduserforum.com/accessorie ... t1085.html

[Mooser]

"Would someone who a half moon switch for the c2 feel like putting their multimeter on it, and get back to me?"

The late model "Leslie Control center" is cheap, and adaptable to that use. It's not as good as a half-moon, but it's better than a footswitch.

[flmc59]

Switch sleve to ring or tip.
No connecetion to either gives you stop

[bboyjamin]

Great! Thanks everyone. I picked up a couple of three way guitar switches to try it out with. I'll let you know how it goes.

[bboyjamin]

I have a working prototype Half Moon Switch for C2, which I made at home with materials on hand. Here are my notes and pictures, I hope it helps.

It's just my first try, so it's kinda ghetto, not pretty. But works and sounds good.

I'm not a pro. Attempt this at your own risk.

Materials:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3-way guitar switch, Retro Parts RP181B. This switch is not the smoothest, so I'd shop around a bit if I were you. $10
4" square steel top plate for an electrical box, $3
TRS connector and cable which I cut off an old piece of equipment, 2.5 ft is plenty long
2 ea. metric screws, 4mm diameter, about 5mm long. For mounting the box to the keyboard
2 ea. small nuts and bolts to mount the guitar switch to the box
zip tie for strain relief
flux and solder

Equipment:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gloves
Glasses
(sparks will fly, and things are sharp)

Tools:
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Dremmel, with 1" cutoff discs
Drill, and bits up to 1/2"
Grinder and zip discs
Clamp
Multimeter
Soldering iron
Screw drivers
Pliars
Cold chisel
hammer


Measurments:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Keyboard: mount holes are 2 3/4" apart and set back 5/8", they require metric 4mm screws

keyboard measurements

kbd diagram.JPG (321.88 KiB) Viewed 10976 times

2. Switch: the body is 1" tall, so it will fit nicely underneath the keys. The top of the lever will be about 3" below the key tops.

switch measurements

switch diagram.JPG (229.93 KiB) Viewed 10976 times

3. Wiring: the dashed lines show the connections made in each switch position.
TIP-SLEEVE = SLOW
RING-SLEEVE = FAST
NC = not connected

wiring diagram

wiring diagram.JPG (187.58 KiB) Viewed 10975 times

Making the switch:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's just a prototype and I don't weld, so I decided to fold a steel plate into a box to house the switch.

Make the box big enough for the switch and leave some wiggle room.

Here I am cutting a slot with the dremmel and cut off discs. Stack the discs to make a wider slot.

dremmel cutting the coin slot

1.JPG (96.9 KiB) Viewed 10976 times

Here's the shape of my cut out:

cutout steel plate

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Here I've started to fold the box into shape. I used a cold chisel to hammer out the creases, then the plate folds just right.

box taking shape, with holes for switch

3.jpg (71.87 KiB) Viewed 10976 times

Completed soldering. My soldering skills are marginal.
In my cable RING=RED.

soldering complete

4.jpg (128.09 KiB) Viewed 10976 times

Switch mounted in the box. I couldn't find screws to fit that guitar switch. They might be a #5 screw. I drilled the holes out and through-bolted with some #6's I found. Below the switch, I drilled a 1/2" hole for cable egress, and 2 x 3/16" holes to zip-tie the cable for strain relief..... ghetto!
Also, there's a tension spring on the guitar switch. I pulled that off because I thought the action was too stiff.

switch mounted in box

5.jpg (71.67 KiB) Viewed 10976 times

strain relief viewed from the bottom.

strain relief

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After mounting the switch in the box, and setting up the strain relief. I gave it a final continuity test with the meter. Then I folded the bottom flap up, and installed it on my Nord.

There's a menu setting on the Nord to select the half moon switch. System menu #8, select HA.

Here is the diy half-moon switch on the Nord.

box mounted on keyboard

7.jpg (100.7 KiB) Viewed 10976 times

I took my C2 for my first gig tonight, so I didn't have time to paint the switch. It worked great!

Thanks everyone for helping me build a switch for one tenth of the cost.

Let me know if you have any improvements or ideas!

[marvintheandroid]

Hi guys,
I’ve just finished making my version of the half moon switch with information from this thread. Thanks for the valuable info and measurements. I though I’d post a couple of pictures of the finished object.