Multiple vol pots + treble bleed issue

[megi]

Just curious - apologies it this has come up before, but is there a way around the problem this chap is discussing?

If there is an answer I think I might find it useful one day, although all my guitars just have a master volume at the moment.

[sumgai]

megi,

What this guy did was wire his Volume controls "backwards" - that's confirmed by his hand-drawn diagrams. Simply wiring them "forwards" will eliminate the problem. (Forwards is simply reversing the two leads that aren't grounded to the back of the pot.)

Backwards is most often employed because some players can't be bothered to use the provided switch to select a single pickup from a combination - instead, they want to turn down the undesired pickup all the way. Backwards wiring means that this turning down won't 'kill' the output from the desired pickup, which is exactly what happens with Forwards wiring.... which is why guitar makers provide a switch..... which couldn't be simpler to operate....

Some people, however, don't operate under what we consider "normal circumstances".

Now, the idea of blending two pickups by turning down one or the other part way, that's not necessarily a bad idea. Tonal nuances and all that, which can tickle a player's fancy - I'm certainly not gonna poo-poo that idea, if that's what floats your boat. But the idea of killing a pickup completely, by turning down the pot instead of using the switch, that's something that I'll deliver a raspberry for, any- and everytime. After all, there's a reason we have the word "simplicity" in our vocabulary, right?

BTW, you might visit this site, www.planetz.com, just to see whatever became of that project.

HTH



sumgai

[ashcatlt]

That's interesting. Nothing I've ever considered, but then I don't deal much with volume pots. JohnH is our treble bleed man, so I'm interested to see what he'll have to say about it.

I can only see one way around it: don't rely on the V pots to select pickups! In dude's case that means replacing the switch with a 5-way.

[megi]

Cheers chaps - I score a big fat zero for not even noticing the backwards wiring of the volume pots! But yes, I totally see what you're saying there.

So really the message is - if you want to use a single pickup on its own, make sure that is catered for by whatever switching system you are using. Plus don't wire your volume pots backwards! ;D

[JohnH]

I think we’ve seen this vid before. My favourite part is the first line:

“last night I had an unpleasant surprise about treble bleed......”

It’s terrible when something like that happens, but with some time and professional therapy, one can eventually get ones life back together. There’ll always be those nightmares though, where you wake up screaming about a dull tone....

You guys have it sussed. Backwards wiring causes more problems than it solves and it doesn’t work with treble bleed properly.

J

[megi]

Lol is an acronym too often used on the net, but in this case absolutely accurate, cheers for that John, I had a good laugh when you pointed out the hilarious opening line, then clicked on the video again to check it out, and spent a further minute or so chortling away.

Ah well, I still feel a bit daft for bringing the whole thing up, but at least I've learnt something and been cheered up, so it can't be bad! ;D

[sumgai]

Never hurts to occasionally rehash something, be it simple or otherwise. Review is the best teacher.... except maybe personal experience.