DIY Meris Preset Switch

[daeg]

Great pedals, but, there are hidden second and third layers of controls set by holding Alt keys and turning knobs. The pedals lack any ability to save / recall presets without MIDI or their proprietary Preset Switch. So it's very time consuming to dial in a good sound, and very easy to lose it.

Their Preset Switch isn't the right form factor for my board, and their MIDI solutions that involve Bluetooth, Desktop Apps and Mobile apps just aren't for me.

A DIY solution is in order. I'm going to design a preset switch that many people would find more useful for Meris pedals.

Goals:

• 1590B Enclosure, Top Mounted Jacks
  • Meris Pedals are 1590BB with TMJ, so it'll look good side-by-side.
  • Meris Pedals have 1 TRS out that can be used for Preset, Expression Pedal, Midi or Tap-Tempo.
• 2 Channels
  • Control 2 Meris pedals independently, unlike the proprietary switch which requires a Y-Cable.
• 4 Presets each
  • Though the pedal has 16 Preset slots, only the first 4 can be recalled via Preset Switch.
  • Testing with pots shows that channels can be switched with simple voltage division.
  • 4 Position mini-rotary switches will be used to do voltage division.
  • Exact resistor values / voltages still need to be determined.
• TRS Passthough
  • Bottom Mounted TRS Jacks for expandability.
  • Would give the user the ability to switch from Presets, to Expression Pedal, Tap-Tempo or MIDI without rewiring their board.
  • DPDT switch for each channel to switch between 4 Position Rotary and TRS Passthrough

 

[daeg]

The plan is simple. 2 TRS Jacks on top. 2 TRS Jacks on bottom. 2 Mini Rotaries and 2 DPDT switches on the face. Left and Right channel design.

Top TRS goes to DPDT Switch. DPDT Switch switches the Mini Rotary or Bottom TRS Jack.

Mini Rotary will have a 22k series resistor, then voltage divide by some sub 1k values (100, 220, 390, 470 -- something like that).

 

[daeg]

Now that I think of it, the DPDT switches might be unnecessary if switching TRS jacks are used. Just plug in an expression pedal and the Rotary gets disconnected.

The T and R from the Top Jacks would go to the T and R of the bottom jacks, then the secondary lugs would connect to the Rotary when no plug is in the jack, and disconnect when something is plugged in.

 

[daeg]

This is the part I could use some help with. Placement of the Jacks and Mini Rotary Switches.

 

[Feral Feline]

Quite the undertaking!
How goes the battle?