Rubberneck circuit switcher

A guitar pedal to move other pedals in or out of an effects loop.

Parts

  • One 4PDT switch (latching footswitch or toggle switch).
  • Six 6.35mm (1/4 inch) jack sockets.
  • A case you can stomp on to keep everything in place.
  • Wire, preferably of a few different colours.

Internal wiring

This is fiddly due the switch having 12 pins! I've tried to display it as cleanly as possible in the interactive diagram below. Use the buttons to show different levels of detail and simulate clicking the toggle switch to see how the connections change. Signal path will draw arrows to show how each signal travels through the switch.

Hover/tap on a terminal to show info here.
Terminals only
Show connections
Show signal path
Toggle switch

Key:

  • Grey lines show the internal connections of the switch - you don't need to do anything about them but may help you understand how the switch works.
  • The terminals with white arrows should each be wired to the tip terminal of an audio jack socket.
  • The blue and green lines represent wires to show which terminals you need to connect together.

...and in plain text:

  • Connect 3 to 10 and the tip terminal of a socket.
  • Connect 4 to 6 and the tip terminal of a socket.
  • Connect 1 to 11 and the tip terminal of a socket.
  • Connect 5 to 12 and the tip terminal of a socket.
  • Connect 7 to the tip terminal of a socket.
  • Connect 8 to the tip terminal of a socket.
  • Finally, for each pair of audio jack sockets (3, 4), (7, 8), (11, 12), connect the sleeve terminals together.

Case

I won't go into detail on how to make the case. Basically you need six holes for the audio jack sockets and one more for the switch. Make sure you keep track of which socket is connected to which terminal on the switch!

External wiring

  • Socket 3 to Rubberneck SEND.
  • Socket 4 to Rubberneck RETURN.
  • Socket 11 towards your instrument.
  • Socket 12 towards your amp.
  • Socket 7 to input of the first pedal in your FX loop.
  • Socket 8 to output of the last pedal if your FX loop.

Your Rubberneck should be in your main chain either before 11 or after 12.

More groups?

This guide has just used a single switch for a single pedal group but you can have as many as you want by chaining more switches together. You will need one additional switch and two additional jack sockets for each additional group.

For each switch in the chain:

  • Connect 4 of the first switch to 3 of the next switch.
  • Connect 12 of the first switch to 11 of the next switch.

Otherwise the wiring is the same.

Clear as mud?

I hope that all makes sense. If not, contact me with any queries.