[HAM] Smooth Drawbars and Percussion.

[Dave Bishop]

Hi John:

The issue with ratchet bussbars is that they are wide (my first post had it 
backwards).  Only one contact has to pass tetween drawbars to make a sound 
louder.  With smooth drawbars the bussbar is thinner and separated slightly 
more. Smooth drawbars have two contacts with a 1 ohm resistance between them 
in a make-before-break configuration.  When you use two contact drawbars 
with the wide busbar you don't always get the make-before-break action.  The 
busses on the ratchet drawbars are separated by ridges, while the smooth 
busses are flush.
I don't think one can use two M3s' bussbars, cases and spacers (without 
perhaps some welding), because eash is too short for two full sets of nine 
drawbars plus two pedal drawbars.

There are lots of ways (and compromises) one can employ to cobble together 
smooth drawbars, but I haen't found one yet that is cheap, easy and results 
in perfect replicas.  If one takes the time to program the pre-sets, ratchet 
drawbars are very usable, IMHO.

Yes, I love the way a B2 sounds, too.

Regards,

Dave Bishop