Set the controls ...

More NOS goodness from the depths of surplus electronics stores across America and the world.

These little things sure add up costwise, but they're also adding up to a nice little stash of parts for my upcoming builds.

I can set the feel and the flavour of the controls :

Ready for some Italo/German pushbutton madness ?

These little toys are actually beautifully made, some japanese, some US built, they each have very sturdy mounting brackets of steel or brass and they feel so 60's. Many of them are 'ganged' to operate one at a time, when one button is pushed his brothers pop back up, this can be overridden just like the controls on old studio rack gear to find hidden options perhaps ?

I can imprint gold/silver letterpress symbols into the buttons or into the adjacent pickguard to replicate the arcane switching options on old Eko, Hagström and Wandre guitars - pickups on or off, series or parallel, coil tapping or maybe capacitor tone cuts and Leo Fender style 'mud'-switch options.

If I can manage to use some of these and still keep things simple ( help me Deiter ! ) I'll be happy - all ganged together in their little rows they don't actually look cluttered and can be designed into existing guitar and pickguard shapes.

I'll be using a single pushbutton on Harvester #22 for an option to hear both pickups in series for vintage Danelectro style high-output.

Now, here's some vintage Chicago, USA Dakaware :

These guys ( still in their 1969 boxes and padding ) can be found on Fender Electric XII's and many old Harmony guitars in black, brown or cream.

There's a particularly long-beaked relative used as the speed shifter on 1960's Ampex 4 track consoles.

More American made vintage plastic : extra long toggle switchtips.

Nice, old-fashioned military spec rotary switches and some Rogan 'stove' knobs.

And some weird little geometric things ...

AP