Make a Strat Pedal to Activate Overdrive for under $20

[Mystaskratch]

If your Strat is anything like mine, sometimes it might activate Overdrive by itself, or it might decide to not activate Overdrive no matter what you do. So then you have to hit the Select button to activate it, and probably end up breaking your streak (none of that "pinky on the select button" talk, I'm left handed).

Well, I got tired enough of faulty tilt sensors to take my Strat apart and see what I could do. I tried re-angling the sensors (it's the chip with 2 tubes on it, not 2 seperate ones like some have), but it didn't have any real effect. After confirming that Overdrive activates by just shorting the pins on the circuit board out, I rigged up a pedal to activate it for under $20 in supplies.

All this I bought at Menards, so if you're not in the Midwest, you'll have to go to Home Depot or something. You need to get a SPST push button switch ($3), an RCA splitter (2 female ends, $2), a mono RCA cord (6-12 ft, $2), some small metal plates to help hold it together ($1), 2 small right angle wooden shelf brackets ($2 apiece), and some felt pads or something for padding ($3); total cost = $13. If you don't have a glue gun then I suggest you get some wood glue or something too.

Take the RCA splitter and cut off the female ends, separate the outer silver wire from the shielded middle wire, these 2 wires will be attached to the 2 screws on the switch. You need to glue the 2 shelf brackets together to form a stable base, with the angled part being where you'll mount the switch. Drill a hole for the switch, and a hole in back for the RCA plug. You can see the pictures if you have any questions about it.

You have to unscrew 16 screws on the back of the Strat, and remove the back of it. I don't know how the other versions circuit boards look like, but it should be pretty easy to tell where the tilt sensors attach to. I completely removed my tilt sensor because it was just too faulty for me. I took the other female RCA end and spliced the pin connector from the tilt sensor onto the 2 wires from that one, and mounted it where the wire would be if I had a 360 Strat (so, if you have a 360 then you just have to drill a hole somewhere else on it).

As long as you don't screw anything up, you should have a pushbutton pedal that will activate Overdrive anytime you push it. Takes 1 second and you never miss a note.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1/Mystaskratch/RockBand039.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1/Mystaskratch/RockBand030.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1/Mystaskratch/RockBand027.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1/Mystaskratch/RockBand008.jpg

[Bobman32x]

thats pretty sweet. Ill have to give it a try. I have the ps3 version. Any chance this will be a problem? also is there a wire going from the strat to the pedal or is it wireless?

[Quinarvy]

Ok, so you took out your tilt sensor? Is there a way to do this but keep he tilt sensor?

[TheRequiem]

What a great idea.

I definitely want to do this.

[Mystaskratch]

thats pretty sweet. Ill have to give it a try. I have the ps3 version. Any chance this will be a problem? also is there a wire going from the strat to the pedal or is it wireless?

I have the PS3 version too :) Yea there's just an RCA wire (12" long) running from the end of the Strat to the back of the pedal. If I had the time and hardware I'd make it wireless lol


Ok, so you took out your tilt sensor? Is there a way to do this but keep he tilt sensor?

Sure, you'd just have to splice the 2 leads from the pedal in series with the 2 wires that go to the tilt sensor. So, instead of cutting it out, you'd just cut the wire and splice the extra ones onto the pin connector along with the tilt sensor wires. At least, in theory that would work.

[Bobman32x]

this looks awesome, but the pictures you provide are a tad confusing. Mind posting a few more pics?

[Mystaskratch]

If it's the inside of the Strat that's confusing, here's another pic of the RCA plug after it's installed. All RCA plugs have 2 wires inside the plastic coating, all you're doing is essentially making those 2 wires short out when you push the button on the foot pedal. There's no positive or negative, so you don't have to worry about doing anything backwards.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1/Mystaskratch/strathookup.jpg

Remember that if you have a different version of the Strat, it's going to look somewhat different inside. All you need to do is locate the 2 pins for the tilt sensor and go from there.

[Bobman32x]

hmm. I see. I may give this a go. The onyl thing wrong with my start is that overdrive problem. Looks Simple enough. I think Im gonna pick up a cheap or broken real Guitar Pedal and gut the insides though to make it look cooler:) awesome idea.

From what I see the red wire doesnt even need to be used? Just the white one?

[Mystaskratch]

From what I see the red wire doesnt even need to be used? Just the white one?

The red and white wires from the tilt sensor are spliced to the white and silver wires from the RCA in the Strat; the red and silver from the RCA in the pedal is wired up to the button. One RCA has red and one has white, only because one is left and one right. It makes no difference what color goes where, but you need to be using both wires from both RCA ends to make it work.

[Killbasa]

Good post. I may try it.

If you figure a mod to put the effect selector switch on a pedal that would really rock!

[karmajack]

Is it possible to use the drum's kick pedal for this mod?

[Mystaskratch]

It is, if you either a) put a 1/8" stereo jack on your Strat instead of an RCA plug, or b) get an RCA to stereo converter and plug it in that way. It's the same closed circuit concept

[PukinDog]

Is the STSP switch normally open or closed? Thanks.

[AnonymousMonkey]

normally open.

I did this with my strat, only I used a 1/8" phono jack and a standard commercially available footswitch that I already had.

[Bobman32x]

Hmm. Im trying to do this. I havent opened the strat up, but I bought the sptp switch and a rca splitter. when putting those together do i put the outer wire of the splitter on one ond of the switch and the inner one on the other end or do I twist them both together on both switches? This is especailly important as there are only like 2 or 3 of those tiny copper wires on the spiltter that are OUTSIDE of the center wire, and its hard to keep them from being cut when i strip the wire. And im running out of room on the splitter.

[Bobman32x]

woo! got it working! awesome mod man! I suggest picking up a Project box at radioshack for 2 bucks or so instead of the wooden "pedal" you contructed. It makes it look much nicer and you cn carry it around easier:P Ill get pics up later:) also for anyone else looking to do this i suggest a sptp switch thats momentary instead of an "on/off" variant. On/off you need to press again to reset the pedal, but momentary is only 1 push to deploy