Eliminating all my pots?

[Art248]

I've got an older craigslist Epi that I've been going through, with the intent of gigging it. Last week I scooped up a Pegasus/Sentient set off of reverb for it. I was originally planning on wiring them with a three way toggle and one volume pot. There is a wiring diagram here for this particular configuration. But then I started thinking, I have my instrument turned all the way up whenever I'm playing, and all the way down whenever I'm not. What if I just eliminated the volume pot altogether and put in a kill switch instead? Better signal path equals better tone, right? What do you guys think? I know Marty Friedman had a signature ibanez that had this configuration with just one humbucker, and I personally think the aesthetic of no knobs looks pretty sharp, minus the gaudy star he had.

[AlexR]

Re: Eliminating all my pots?

For one, less pots doesn't mean a better signal path.
And removing the load on a pickup certainly doesn't mean better tone.

Plenty of people have tried just a on/off switch as the only control. You certainly get more top end one you remove the pot. Ive had a few no load tone pots before and even with just that load removed it was obnoxious in the bridge slot.......so you'll have to try it to see.

[Chistopher]

Re: Eliminating all my pots?

I thought that last word was "pets" are first.

But to answer your question, I don't think it's a good idea. It may still sound nice with the right guitar and pickup, but minimalism on a guitar does not work in excess. With a single volume, single humbucker guitar, less is more; but with a single humbucker no volume, it all falls apart and less ends up being less. Without the volume pot, the minimalist approach starts to lose it's charm.

But it can't hurt to try, maybe you'll learn something, and it's always possible to put the pot(s) back in.

[ICTGoober]

Re: Eliminating all my pots?

I loaded a Tele with Lindy Fralin humbucking P-90's, and used no controls but a pickup selector. It was noisy! Called Lindy about it, and he said you should really have at least a volume pot, even if you never use it. That took care of it.

[Hollywood Rock]

Re: Eliminating all my pots?

Hot humbuckers can sound good with no load on them, but vintage pickups changes the sound a lot and you have to decide if you want a bright sound. You could use a resistor or also a cap to tame the brightness if you like the no pots aesthetic.

[Mincer]

Re: Eliminating all my pots?

I am trying to decide if I could use a guitar without pots. I don't think I coul, as I use both volume and tone so much as integral parts of my playing. I am happy there are such diverse players out there, though!

[Lucius Paisley]

Re: Eliminating all my pots?

Been there, done that. It will always depend on your pickups. In a HH config, the neck position sounded nicer than the bridge, even if "nice bridge" wasn't exactly what I was aiming for.

[MythicGuitarCo]

Re: Eliminating all my pots?

The direct wiring doesn't necessarily make "better" tone. As you know, and others will say, a good portion of "better" or not as good tone or whatever, is largely subjective. Go to guitar center and ask them to pull down an American Elite series stratocaster. Some of them have a "passing lane" switch, which ties all of the pickups together and bypasses all of the pots and caps. It's basically, all pickups, balls to the wall. I don't necessarily like it. So "better" is one thing. "Less impedance" is another thing. They aren't always analogous.

With that said, it's possible to do it. Just make sure that all of your pickups are wired in the right directions, and decide if you want them to be parallel or in series, in or out of phase etc. I wouldn't personally do this.. but if I did, in the case of a guitar that had multiple pickups, I'd do a kill switch for each and wire them in parallel.

I honesty didn't read thoroughly enough to know if the guitar you attached a picture of was THE guitar, or what you're trying to emulate.

Another route is to put the on/off/on switches like a mustang for each pickup. That's basically what it does, except you can go in and out of phase then too. (They do come in toggle form). I'd still try out different caps, and keep soldering things until you get the sound you want. (Not the typical cap values that you would normally use, because they assume that you are using a pot) You'd have to experiment with several at many different values. Something will eventually sound good, but would kind of beat the purpose of what you asked.)

Bypassing all of the pots and caps makes it very bright and tenny. Not necessarily better tone.



mythicguitars.com

[MythicGuitarCo]

Re: Eliminating all my pots?

Edit... bypassing everything "can" make it bright and tenny, depending upon pickups, as others have pointed out before me.

mythicguitars.com

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Eliminating all my pots?

That's like removing the transmission from your car and just run your crankshaft directly to the axle.

The vol and tone pots serve a very useful and valuable function. However, to each his own.

[MythicGuitarCo]

Re: Eliminating all my pots?

That's like removing the transmission from your car and just run your crankshaft directly to the axle.

The vol and tone pots serve a very useful and valuable function. However, to each his own.

Hey, if it's good enough for a Lawnmower, it's good enough for a mazda, right?

The guitar would likely sound like a lawnmower.. so... 1:1 comparison.

mythicguitars.com

[MythicGuitarCo]

Re: Eliminating all my pots?

Hey, if it's good enough for a Lawnmower, it's good enough for a mazda, right?

The guitar would likely sound like a lawnmower.. so... 1:1 comparison.

mythicguitars.com

A joke. ^

mythicguitars.com

[NegativeEase]

Re: Eliminating all my pots?

I don't use my pots really, but I can tell you a bridge pickup gets chainsaw gritty without a little pot action and tone cap. -even in the "off" position, they are engaged slightly.

Many neck pickups will sound great au natural' -maybe better in some direct combinations with amps

[Synapsys]

Re: Eliminating all my pots?

My Jackson on my avatar came stock with a single TB-4 and a volume know. To get more versatilty out of it I swapped the pot for a DiMarzion EP1111, so now I get series, split to the inside coil and parallel out of one 4-conductor pickup.

The guitar now abaolutely screams in 80's glory, but still gives me lots of different tones.

[AlexR]

Re: Eliminating all my pots?

I don't use my pots really, but I can tell you a bridge pickup gets chainsaw gritty without a little pot action and tone cap. -even in the "off" position, they are engaged slightly.

Many neck pickups will sound great au natural' -maybe better in some direct combinations with amps

Just as long as you realise there is no 'off' position with tone pots, unless you have a no-load.......and volume pots load the pickup at all positions on the dial too.