# EQ order switch: foot or toggle?



## bifurcation (Apr 2, 2021)

I'm building a pedal with a Box and All EQ and Two Sticks of Derm fuzz in the same case. I'm putting in an order switch, and I'm curious if you had that pedal, would you want a footswitch to switch it on the fly, or is that pointless and you'd just use a toggle switch?

_(_*Note:*_ The Box and All also functions as a booster pedal or even a treble/mid/bass booster.)_


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## Barry (Apr 2, 2021)

I'd probably do a toggle, I likely wouldn't switch mid song


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## Feral Feline (Apr 5, 2021)

What size of enclosure? 

Will the Box&All be on all the time?


I'd stick with two bypass footswitches, and a toggle.
If the EQ is to be on all the time, then I might consider making the pre/post switch a stomper. 

Unless I had a specific song where I needed to stomp between two sounds, or had a bad back, I'd go with a toggle. Chances are, swapping between pre/post EQ will require some knob twiddleage to dial in exactly what you want for both configurations. So if you did have a song/tune that required switching pre/post on the fly, you might be better off having two EQs (pre/post) to swap between. 


When I first started out, I wanted to cram as much functionality as possible into each pedal build, to offer up as many options as possible — but I'm moving away from that now. Three stompers on a 1590BB is about as much as should be squeezed in, for me (I've seen 4!), I've got big feet — and you know what they say about big feet, it's harder to target close-quarter stompers accurately.


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## bifurcation (Apr 5, 2021)

Feral Feline said:


> I'd stick with two bypass footswitches, and a toggle.
> If the EQ is to be on all the time, then I might consider making the pre/post switch a stomper.



Hmmm... I was thinking the bypass switch would be for both effects at the same time. 

It might be cool to have a second footswitch to swap out the boost pot with a resistor set to unity gain. I think it'd be fine for the EQ to be on all the time.



Feral Feline said:


> Unless I had a specific song where I needed to stomp between two sounds, or had a bad back, I'd go with a toggle. Chances are, swapping between pre/post EQ will require some knob twiddleage to dial in exactly what you want for both configurations. So if you did have a song/tune that required switching pre/post on the fly, you might be better off having two EQs (pre/post) to swap between.



Yeah, for the EQ switch, I was thinking I might get two useful sounds out of before and after, but you're right, it probably would be one useful and one _terrible_, so maybe that could just be a toggle.



Feral Feline said:


> When I first started out, I wanted to cram as much functionality as possible into each pedal build, to offer up as many options as possible



Yeahhhhhhh, I'm still growing up. 😒 But learning... slowly.


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## Feral Feline (Apr 13, 2021)

One footswitch to rule them both is always cool, if less versatile.


I've got a few builds where a 4PDT swaps out two pots (2-poles) and one pole switches out some other functionality (diodes, a resistor, a cap), and the last pole is used for LED indication of which mode. Very versatile, you can swap out a tone pot, volume or a gain pot and with the additional component change, you can vary a pedal's response, tone, character whatever quite a bit, kind of like having a two channel amp if it's dirt, or going from minimal repeats on a delay to feedback oscillation...


BTW, in my previous post, AND at the beginning of this post — I thought you were having two dirt pedals and an EQ. So, above when I said "less versatile" I was still thinking two fuzz circuits. Every dangnabbed time I see "Two Sticks Of Derm" my brain short circuits and I think people are talking about two fuzz circuits.



So, yeah, Definitely one bypass for both the EQ and Fuzz circuit, an order toggle, and a second stomper for boost. Lotsa versatility there.

FF


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