ON/OFF/ON switch sanity check - are these two schematics equivalent?

[ctelecaster]

I'm 99% sure this is the dumbest question of the day, but these two arrangements of an ON/OFF/ON in relation to a pair of hard clipping diodes are functionally identical and both "correct", right? The objective is center disconnected, one side connected through a limiting resistor, and the other side connected directly.

 

[benny_profane]

Yes, they are functionally equivalent. I’d personally use the arrangement on the left so the common is connected to the circuit and there isn’t a hanging resistor.

 

[Feral Feline]

The only difference is, if you're fabbing a PCB for this and the switch is board mounted instead of offboard wired, then you have to consider which way you want the toggle facing when it's connected to the resistor. Using the left arrangement as suggested by BP above, you could stick the resistor on lug 3 instead of lug 1 — if that's what makes sense for how you want the control-functionality on the face of the pedal (left vs right or up vs down).



Don't forget, when the toggle is up, it connects the bottom two lugs and vice versa (or left & right):





Of course, if it's offboard wired you can just turn the switch around to whatever orientation you like, if you gave yourself enough slack with the wiring.