Water starts/stops/starts

[CaptPhoenix]

Hi all!
I have what seems to be a fairly standard submersible pump (gould 3/4 HP) and pressure tank. I can't tell whether it's a bladder tank or not - it's about 10 years old.
The problem I've started having is that when I turn the water in the house on, it will run fine for an indeterminate bit then stop. After a pause of anywhere from 1/2 to about 6 seconds, the water will resume. There is no sudden surge of pressure; just a bit of a gurgle to indicate the water is rising back up through the pipes (bathroom is on second floor), and the flow resumes normally.
I have noticed a brief weakening of water pressure from the shower that gives warning it's about to do it, but no other abnormal behavior. My wife claims it has done it twice during one of her long showers.

From the forums here I suspect it may have something to do with the pressure tank not signaling the pump to turn on at the right time. After contortions that would shame a cat in my isanely tiny well-house I got one eyeball on the pressure gauge: it read 26 with the pump not on. That seems a bit low from what I've read here. I would have loved to open the valve and watch what pressure the pump turns on and off at, but I need to scrounge a hose first so I don't drown myself.

Anyone have any ideas what may be the source of my problem? Or perhaps some other things I can check to narrow it down?

[Rancher]

It could be several things.

First that comes to mind is that the pressure switch is not responding to the decreasing pressure and hence the tank runs out of water, the pressure dropps suddenly and the pressure switch works. Clean out the tubing attached to the pressure switch and report back.

Rancher