Switching Box

[jghfslk]

I really enjoyed adding an insert loop to delays to have only the repeats be affected by whatever effect i put in them.  I would like to come up with a box that allows me to switch between having certain effects in my normal signal chain and having them in the loop of my delay. I drew up this diagram (apologies if it is sloppy) and tried it out but unfortunately it did not work.  

http://s1126.photobucket.com/user/jghfslk/media/switching%20box_zpsep0brds1.png.html?sort=3&o=0

My guitar would go to in.  Delay in would go to the input of my delay pedal (the output of my delay would go to my amp).  Effect in would go to the input of an effect I want to switch between having in my signal chain and in the delay loop.  Effect out would go to the output of that same effect. Insert in would go to the insert in jack of my delay pedal and insert out would go to the insert out jack of my delay pedal.

Can anyone explain why this system doesn't work?  The only problem I could think of was that the effect in and out connect to more than one place.  I didn't think this would be a problem since they never connect to more than one place at the same time.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Also, I wasn't sure where to post this.  I hope the debugging section is okay!

[Zanius]

Well that took me some time too because I never used or thought about a "delay loop".

My guess is that you misinterpreted the markings on the delay loop. The "out" of the delay loop is the "send" and the "in" is the "return" of the loop.
So in other words your design should work if you switch "instert in" and "instert out" . Or if you have it already boxed, just switch the cables

of course you can also go switching the effect in/out, it'll have the same result.

[Neil mcNasty]

This is what I use for cases like these, but it is has it's own box/enclosure, instead of being added inside a specific effect pedal. IOW: It's A Standalone Dropout Looper that can be used in your case, or in a case where you want to move effects from the pedalboard, into the amp's effect loop:


The leads marked Loop send and return goes to your Delay's send/return (or any other send/return point), and the FXs send/return goes to the effect that you are moving in and out of the loop.
The box that house this dropout looper, goes where you would like to have the effect in your pedalchain, when it is not being used in the Delay pedal's loop.
Does that make sense?

If you do not need LED indicator and do not want to use a 4PDT switch, you can loose the second row used for the LED and use a 3PDT instead...

[jghfslk]

Thanks for the replies!

For the Dropout Looper, I need two different footswitches to change the placement of the effect?  Does each footswitch do something different, or is this a case where two footswitches are required to accomplish one thing?

[Neil mcNasty]

Sorry for the late reply.
Been offline lately...
I'll do my best to clarify!

The 4PDT "Dropout Looper" Switch is the dropout looper itself.
This switch moves the effect back and forth between the two positions of your choice (in your case: the Delay's effect loop and a location somewhere in your pedal-chain)
This can also be used separate/without the "bypass", and if so: the two yellow leads going from the 4PDT switch to the bypass switch becomes the FX's Send/Return leads. (top one is Return, bottom one is Send)

The 3PDT "Bypass" switch is a regular on/off bypass switch for the effect that you are "dropping".
This can be removed if bypassing of the effect is not needed from the looper box. (meaning: if you always will be using the effect's bypass switch for this)

But... Yes! you really, really want both switches!
And you also want to build it as a standalone looper box inside a 1590B enclosure instead of integrating it into an already existing pedal. Trust me 100% on this!!!

Why do I say that?

Consider this scenario:
You find a combination of several different pedals that when combined, creates a shimmer like effect in your Delay's effect loop, but it's "set and forget" and there is no need to tweak the knobs during the show. Enabling you to put these pedals away, somewhere else, so that it will not take up space on your pedalboard.
Now you will definitely need a bypass switch on the looper/pedalboard, as it enables you to engage all the 3 effects with a single stomp + it only has a single 1590B footprint on your pedalboard.

Another scenario:
One day you change your setup (which is 100% guaranteed that you will do), and you would like to use the looper to drop a Tape Delay back and forth between a location on your pedalboard and your amp's effect loop.
You also wan't to have your Tape Delay located on top of your amp, since it is a quite large unit that does not fit any normal sized pedalboard.
Now you also desperately need the bypass switch...!

You see where I'm going with this?

Personally i use a 4PDT Toggle switch for the "Dropout" function, and a stomp-switch for the bypass, as I only need to "drop it" between songs, but I need to bypass the effect(s) during songs.
The effects that i "drop" are "set and forget", hidden away so that they do not take up any space on my board.

Here is a link to T1M Effects "The Dropout" which is exactly how I built mine, except for the fact that the T1M box does not have a bypass switch for the effects that you are "dropping".

Hope this helped to clarify.
Cheers!

[jghfslk]

Thanks for the explanation!  This was very helpful!  I will be building this with both switches :)