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Post by spitfire23bc on Jan 24, 2007 17:51:56 GMT -5
Is there anything to be said for being able to switch between 500k and 250k volume pots for single coils?
What exactly is the difference between them?
Dan
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Post by sumgai on Jan 24, 2007 19:10:46 GMT -5
Dan, The higher the resistance of the pot, the more treble that will get through to the output jack. The difference between the two is slight, but in most cases, one would probably notice it, under the best of conditions. Under live, on-stage conditions, that becomes a 'maybe'.
So, does the difference make it worth the effort (time, space, cost, etc.) to install two controls? Well, one control would be dead when the other is alive, right? Then you have to ask yourself, "what's the benefit of having a control mounted on my axe that is effectively dead 100% of the time?"
<insert smilie of light-bulb-over-head here>
HTH
sumgai
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Post by spitfire23bc on Jan 24, 2007 20:03:42 GMT -5
what's the benefit of having a control mounted on my axe that is effectively dead 100% of the time? Yes, I had realised that, but didn't know if the benefits would outweigh the loss. Hmm, a thought that just occurred... What about a switch that swaps over the functions of the pots, so that in position 1, there is 250k volume, 500k tone; position 2, 250k tone, 500k volume..? Probably a very silly idea, but its late here, and I'm tired and really ought to go to bed! Dan
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Post by UnklMickey on Jan 24, 2007 22:13:05 GMT -5
i think you guys are making way too much out of this.
if you think the 250k pots are dulling up the tone of the HB too much, change to 500k.
if you want to evaluate the difference between the 2, temporarily connect 2 500k resistors to a push-pull that will put them in parallel with the pots. That will make them look like 250k to the pickup.
if you have a guitar with both SC and HB, use 500k pots.
if the SC is too bright, either wire a 500k in parallel with the SC, or incorporate the resistor in the switching.
just my $.02 FWIW.
cheers,
unk
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Post by sumgai on Jan 24, 2007 22:56:50 GMT -5
Is there anything to be said for being able to switch between 500k and 250k volume pots for single coils? ...... if you think the 250k pots are dulling up the tone of the HB too much, change to 500k. if you want to evaluate the difference between the 2, temporarily connect 2 500k resistors to a push-pull that will put them in parallel with the pots. That will make them look like 250k to the pickup. unk's idea has merit, but be aware that soldering a single resistor across a variable one (the pot) will change the behavior of that pot. It will no longer act in a linear fashion, if it was supposed to, and a log taper will really get bizarre on you. Just a word of caution, that's all. Better would be to use a dual-ganged pot, both sections being 500K. A switch would place them in parallel by joining together the two hot terminals, and the two wiper terminals. This would give you the expected normal action across the pot's rotation, no matter which mode it was in. Dan, this would certainly easier than trying to remember which way the controls are currently wired..... 'lessee, I gotta turn this thing up, now do I reach for this knob, or .....' However, not many hobbyists have this kind of unit on hand in the junk bin, and they aren't cheap. I advocate this only for permanent installations. For testing, unklmickey's method is faster and cheaper, even if not as precise. sumgai
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Post by spitfire23bc on Jan 25, 2007 4:17:54 GMT -5
Cool, thanks for the thoughts. I can't imagine I'll implement the idea, but I was interested to know if it was worthwhile thinking about - thanks for humouring me Dan
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