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Thanks for the tip Lorry Megaton! Assuming that I switch the guitar to magnetics only during songs that don’t need the Piezo will help save battery life?
If you use the mini-toggle to switch, when you are switch to 'Magnetics only', that will switch off the battery because the Piezo circuit will be inactive. If you opt to use a footswitch to go between different outputs, you would need to keep the mini-toggle in the middle position (mix) so the Piezo circuit will be active and would still be sending a signal to the footswitch even if that signal doesn't progress further in the chain. Therefore the battery will continue to drain.
Bands like Opeth may well use that method themselves but I bet they have a big supply of batteries on hand all the time and a tech to ensure their Batteries have enough charge to last the 'gig', swap batteries out during a gig and backup guitars they can swap over to if the battery dies. So unless you have those options too, the mini-toggle method going to be the easiest and you can do that 'anywhere' on stage too.
What you can do, is use the mini-toggle to switch off the Piezo during those songs that are Magnetic only and then switch the mini-toggle to 'mix' for the songs you want to switch back and forth. However, it will still use battery throughout the entire song and if you forget to switch it off after that song, its still active even if its not in use.
The mini-toggle is no more difficult than any other 3-way toggle and not really much different than jumping from the Neck to Bridge Humbucker (switching between Piezo and Magnetics, or switching to both (middle position). I can see having a footswitch being advantageous in select circumstances, not having to break your strumming pattern to switch between piezo and magnetics - assuming you don't have a fraction of a second to flick that mini toggle or use either Volume pot if you are going for a mix. Another option of course is having both on Clean and then at some point, kicking on an Overdrive for example for the Magnetics which really pushes the Piezo back and whilst that chord is still ringing, turn off the Piezo. You can also turn on the Piezo whilst the chord is ringing out with that overdriven sound before you turn the pedal off to do a 'clean' blended sound.
Its up to you of course as there are pro's and con's to each option and it just depends on what Pro's are more important or more what Con's you can live with easier. I am sure that you would get very proficient with using that mini-toggle if you wanted and may find the cost and hassle of replacing batteries is too much of a con or maybe the benefits of changing pick-ups without having to stop strumming - even for a fraction of a second is worth it, even if it means you have to be at your pedal board, and you go through more batteries as a result. I don't know if it will have a fraction of a delay when you switch using a footswitch and could sound odd if the Magnetics don't trail either or the signal drops as the pedal switches (if you go to blend to keep trails) - its things you may want to consider to find the right option for you...
