I was listening to a very talented guitarist today his name is "Buckethead" he is a very odd person, he is only ever seen wearing a mask and a chicken bucket whenever playing, only speaks in interviews through hand puppets stuff like that. Anyway I was listening to a song of his called "Jordan" I tried playing it on my guitar and I got fairly close, except for the stuttering sound that he has his on his guitar. Now he uses a device called a "Kill Switch" basically it either cuts the signal by breaking the SIGNAL side or another way to do it is to connect the GROUND and the SIGNAL on the switch so the guitar stops sending out sound for a second.

Now if you watch this video you will see how he is hitting the switch every second or two at a precise rhythm, he even lets some audience members do it. [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRmKnNwBFfE
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Now this is a normal set up, but lets say I am doing something with both hands on the guitar like lets say "picking" or "two hand taping" then I obviously cant use this kill switch.

But last night I had what I think was a stroke of genius!

Make a variable ON/OFF switch and make it variable from about 1/8 of second to about 2 seconds intervals of ON/OFF creating a variable "stuttering" effect for the guitar? I was thinking of somehow using a 555 timer to do this, but I have barely worked with them before and wouldnt really know how to set a variable time, (Probably a variable resistor pot?) Another problem I though is translating the component values to a specific timing? In the most basic terms I want to make a circuit that will turn off every variably from 1/8 seconds to about 2 seconds?

References,
http://alexplorer.net/guitar/mods/killswitch.html
http://alexplorer.net/guitar/mods/silent-kill.html

This is a simple oscillator (astable circuit). R1, R2 and C1 all interact to determine the frequency of operation, and the amount of both output low time and output high time.

The values shown for R1, R2 and C1 should get you in the ballpark. Your timing specs are about the same as those I used in this circuit to repair a paper folder at work. Adjust R2 and C1 as necessary to fine tune to your needs. Try 10k for R1 and 1 Meg for R2. R2 is the variable frequency control in this circuit. It is a potentiometer.

Use the top circuit to get started, to experiment with values. The bottom circuit includes a simple power supply and relay to wire up to the guitar circuit.

Understand that you need to have some basic skills at following a circuit and DIY construction. I can not hand hold every step of the way

http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/555timer.htm#astable

Thank you very much for the help!

Hi,

Anyone tried this?
I'm wondering if the relay can work at 1/2 or 1/3 of a second.

Regards
Gabriel

Well, on a quick search at Mouser this came up as the cheapest ($0.98) reed relay
http://www.cotorelay.com/images/stories/9081/9000_Spartan.pdf
and it has sub 1 millisecond operate and release times with the spec saying that's measured at 30 Hz.

Btw, I'm not saying that would be a good one to get because those aren't low level contacts but I figure
if the 'el cheapo' can go that fast then you should be able to find others that will too.

Yes, it has been tried. By me.

I put this circuit in service in August 2009.
By now the relay contacts have in excess of 1 million cycles on it. It's a relay I bought at Radio Shack.
The speed varies from about 2 cycles per second to nearly 10 cycles per second.

The relay controls an automatic paper folder with a defective sensor.
The defective sensor means the operator has to push a manual feed button for each sheet of paper.
Manual press of a button gets tiring at 300k sheets a year minimum.

The relay contacts are wired in parallel with the manul feed switch contacts.

There is nothing rocket science or difficult about this circuit.

The circuit shown, flips the relay On and Off, at an adjustable rate from 1/10th to ~1second. Almost 50% duty cycle. That is 1/2 sec On and 1/2 sec Off, at slowest setting, with parts shown. You can change the range, by altering that 1uf cap.

I read the original post, and I'm not quite sure if this is what you want ? That circuit is constantly flipping the relay On then Off, repeatedly. This is the astable (or oscillating) mode of the 555.

It can also operate in the monostable (one-shot) mode. That way you hit the switch, and it stays On (or Off) for a preset time, then turn itself Off (or On).

As far as relay response, I remember evaluating a reed relay decades ago. It could be switched at close to 3KHz. That means it could close at ~150uS, and open in about the same time (~150uS). Your big relays, like a contactor on a compressor, respond much slower. In the ballpark of 50mS (1/20th sec).

Btw: 555 is over 40 years old. Depending on your reference, it was either first produced in 1969, or 1971.

You can use a kill switch with a digital delay (pedal switch) to loop the on / off signal from the guitar to the amp while you are hammering or picking.
Buckethead uses a kill switch with a cascaded digital delay.

Maybe take a look at tremelo circuits from old guitar amps and modify one for a larger and sharper swing between high and low to get the kill cutoff effect

This takes me back - the 555 was the first IC that I ever played with. I used one to trigger a strobe, iirc.

I have not seen the video but from what your describing there may be a very low tech way to achive the same effect depending on the type of guitar you have. If you have a two pickup guitar like a Les Paul you can turn the volume control all the down on one pickup and all the way up on the other and then use your Pickup selector switch to swith between the pickup with the volume off and the one with the volume on producing a effect much like you are describing.