Up $#!+ Creek Without a Pedal. Polypedal Alternatives for the Polymoog (part 2)

Having gotten the expression pedal working, I then need a momentary footswitch or two. There are four back panel controls that can be connected to a footswitch:

• EXT SYN enables or disables external synth connected to S-TRIG and KYBD OUT
• TRIG MODE switches between single and multi triggering of the low-pass filter
• SUSTAIN is not a true sustain, it really switches release on and off, and release must be the same as decay
• GLIDE switches the glide (portamento) on and off. Internally to the Polymoog this would only affect the VCF when keyboard tracking is on.

I decided SUSTAIN and TRIG MODE were worth having. Unfortunately, in the days of old, Moog decided sustain pedals should use 0.206" TRS plugs rather than 1/4" TS. Their thinking was this would prevent the wrong plug going into an output. To find out more I recommend going to Fantasy Jack Palance and looking at the minimoog and Micromoog manuals (By the way, I should mention I used a minimoog scan from that site in a previous post without giving proper credit. The scans on that site are excellent). Anyway, the pedal contacts connect through the tip and ring of the TRS. The sleeve was meant for the shield. I knew I needed to get 0.206" plug so I looked at mouser. The only available option was the switchcraft plug here. Incredibly, they cost $9.10 each. Ouch. I had to buy the Cinch Jones connector too so i bit the bullet.

For the pedal I considered the Roland FS-6 because it is a dual pedal with each pedal being selectable between momentary and latching. Latching would be handy for the TRIG MODE because there is otherwise no where to select the trigger mode on the Polymoog front panel. However this pedal needs a battery, which I felt was silly. I also would prefer a piano-type pedal. I ended up choosing a dual Kurzweil pedal, KFP-2M.

My original plan was to cut off the 1/4" plugs, solder on the 0.206" plugs and be done. Once it arrived I was impressed with the 1/4" plugs and couldn't bring to cut them off.

I decided to grab some cable and make double-headed plugs instead. The switchcraft plugs actually use screw terminals instead of solder lugs, which I liked. Soldering onto the existing 1/4" plug proved to be a little difficult, but I got both working on the first attempt. Here is the final result plugged into the back of the Polymoog: