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Post by JohnH on Nov 25, 2012 18:33:30 GMT -5
I have a question about these handy little doovillaky’s, as supplied by Fender. Sure you can make a no-load pot, but only a bought one has the nice positive detent as it goes to the disconnect position.
Here’s the question: Does the central wiper lug connect to the third outer lug as it crosses the detent? A home-made one normally would, but since the Fender version is only intended to be used with two lugs, I wonder if they left it off or didn’t connect it to the end of the track.
My reason for asking is related to my scheming of things to do to my new Strat . I’m thinking of a master tone pot that also does ‘bridge-on’ at 10.
cheers
John
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Post by long813 on Nov 25, 2012 18:56:57 GMT -5
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Post by JohnH on Nov 26, 2012 6:50:38 GMT -5
thanks, those links are helpful J
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Post by ashcatlt on Nov 26, 2012 12:51:43 GMT -5
Yeah, looks like the first link says it will work the way you want it to. I didn't read that whole second thread, but I didn't find an answer to your question, though it seemed to offer some ideas on how you could DIY the detent thing.
Your idea sounds pretty cool, though it means that the "bridge on" on the Tone control will be mutually exclusive. Adding the bridge pickup in parralel with anything else will be quite a bit brighter already. Then you lift the load from the T and it gets even snappier. And you can't tame that down with the T control, because...
Not to hijack or anything, but I've used a trick in one of my pedals which I just realized might have some use in a guitar also:
Connect a resistor between the two outside lugs of the no-load pot. Maybe absolutely no load is too bright, but the full value of the pot is too dark? You might just use a bigger pot, but that can mess with the action of the pot, skewing the taper in one direction or another. Or maybe you want to get really fiddly and really fine tune your tone, but cant find the right value pot at a reasonable price.
You might also put a cap across those lugs, or a combination of cap and resistor. Heck, how bout a back-to-back pair of shotky diodes for a bit of "black ice" action?
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Post by JohnH on Nov 26, 2012 14:26:34 GMT -5
Ash, that is a good idea with the resistor.
I expect Id be happy without needing tone control at the same time as bridge on though. If I want a more muted tone, theres plenty of others. also the reason for making the connection as 'bridge-on' rather than 'neck-on' is so I can still have tone control when i select bridge only. J
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Post by sumgai on Nov 26, 2012 21:15:33 GMT -5
Hate to burn anybody, but..... Adding a resistor to the two outside lugs of a pot is the exact same as two resistors in parallel, one of them being variable. This will act to load the pickup even more, not less. Additionally, it doesn't matter what the two resistance values are at the outset, rotating the pot will still exhibit 'modified' taper behavior. The better/best bet is to start with a high value pot, shunt it with an equal value fixed resistor, and test for effect. Lower/raise the shunt resistor to suit both overall tonality and taper effect. However, shunting with two resistors, each between the wiper and an outer lug, that's also fair game for testing. This allows one to radically alter the taper, yet retain the desired tone at full volume. I won't comment on adding a cap across the two outer lugs, that obviously is nothing more than an uncontrolled low-pass filter (the highs go to ground regardless of the pot's wiper position). However.... remembering the above tidbit about two resistors as shunts, one could devise a pair of capacitor/resistor combos for the wiper to each outer lug. But again, that's obviously a direct path to ground for the highs. Instead, on the 'lower' lug, why not try a coil in place of that cap? Interesting times. HTH sumgai
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Post by ashcatlt on Nov 26, 2012 21:44:39 GMT -5
sg - we're talking about a No Load pot here, wired as a variable resistor.
The connection between the two outside lugs is broken internally. The wiper connects to one of them (via the resistive track) up until just as you hit 10. Then it is disconnected from there and connected to the other lug directly. The resistances cant possibly ever be parallel to one another because one or the other always has one end floating. I've done it, tested it, use that pedal all the time. It quite definitely works.
When I mentioned the cap I was picturing a fairly small value along the lines of chrisk's thoughts on pickup response tuning. Just ideas for in case the "No Load Tone" turned out to be a little too bright. Didn't realize earlier that JohnH was talking about an HSS guitar, but...
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Post by sumgai on Nov 27, 2012 2:56:43 GMT -5
ash, Actually, my mistake lays in the fact that I got off on a tangent after reading those links provided by long - I got hung up on using such as a Volume pot, not as a modified Tone control circuit. My apologies. sumgai
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Post by asmith on Nov 27, 2012 7:23:19 GMT -5
Perhaps you could use a rotary switch-pot. For a simple no-load with detent, you could use a simple SPST switch-pot, in which the switch is "on" when the pot is being turned. Connect the switch to the tone control's "top" lug as per your diagram, then connect the other lug of the switch to the wire coming from the bridge. Or, taking into account Ash's suggestions, using a SPDT switch-pot, you could swap between the pot track and a pre-determined fixed resistor and/or cap to control the brightness.
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Post by JohnH on Nov 27, 2012 14:35:54 GMT -5
Perhaps you could use a rotary switch-pot. For a simple no-load with detent, you could use a simple SPST switch-pot, in which the switch is "on" when the pot is being turned. Connect the switch to the tone control's "top" lug as per your diagram, then connect the other lug of the switch to the wire coming from the bridge. Good thought. Ive previously wondered about pots with rotary switches - like volume controls in small radios. The problem with the ones Ive seen is that, they are designed as volume controls in small radios. and so the switch hapens at the start of the turn, at the low end of a log taper, whereas a no-load pot wants its cut-off at the other end. Also, it needs a standard pot and knurled shaft to suit a US Fender knob. cheers John
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Post by asmith on Nov 28, 2012 6:33:04 GMT -5
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Post by sumgai on Nov 28, 2012 13:12:56 GMT -5
The problem with the ones Ive seen is that, they are designed as volume controls in small radios. and so the switch hapens at the start of the turn, at the low end of a log taper, whereas a no-load pot wants its cut-off at the other end. So put it in your left-handed guitar, and renew your ambidexterity! ;D
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