26 July 2011

Ibanez TS-10 Replacement Switch

I recently bought an Ibanez TS-10 Tube Screamer with a non-functioning switch, but could not find an exact replacement. I bought a Cherry MX1A-11NN for 98 cents at Small Bear Electronics: http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=588. The listing warns that the switch "fits the opening, [but] needs a piece of wood glued to the actuating lever to press its smaller shaft." That sounded sloppy, so I hoped to find a different fix.

I installed the switch with no problems, and saw that it was indeed too short. I tried small rubber caps (including two that I pulled from the end of bungee cords). They worked, but didn't look good. Cutting them straighter would have helped. The sizes I tried fell off and would have needed glue anyway.

I grabbed two pieces of shrink tubing -- one about 4mm and one about 5mm, give or take a mm. I placed the 4mm tube on the actuator, which was a tight fit, but not a struggle. The 5mm fit over the smaller one no problem. I cut the length to about 8mm and very, very briefly heated them with a lighter, just enough to taper the end and firm them up a bit. Here is the result, which looks good and works perfectly.  Hope this has helped someone. I'd be happy to hear about other fixes for this switch.

















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