Pot values for split coil wiring

[MtFlyr]

I'm getting ready to start a 2 humbucker tele build and looking at the wiring diagrams for coil splitting I noticed that when these are wired thru a dpdt volume pot they used 500k pots but when wired thru a dpdt tone pot they used 250k pots. Yes, you can use either value pot, I just wondered if there was anything in the staging that would warrant the size change. More curious than anything else I guess. Cheers - Jim

[ArtieToo]

Re: Pot values for split coil wiring

Well, the DPDT switch on a push-pull pot is electrically independent of the pot value, so it has no relevance to whether or not your split is on the tone or volume pot. The value of the pot is usually based on the pickup used. I'm not sure I'm even addressing the question you're asking, but I'm guessing your question is based on just a quirk of the specific diagram you were looking at, at the time. Maybe.

[MtFlyr]

Re: Pot values for split coil wiring

Thanks for reaffirming what I thought. The diagrams from this SD site on wiring a 2 humbucker tele with split coils showed the different values and I thought it strange. I have a set of jazz humbuckers I'm going to use and I'll put 250's in them to mellow it a bit more. I'm going to wire it thru the tone so I can keep the volume knob virgin and avoid any roll-off accidents. Should be a fun fall/winter project.

[Mincer]

Re: Pot values for split coil wiring

Would love to hear how this turns out!

[Bowtomecha]

Re: Pot values for split coil wiring

This does bring up something interesting. Having the controls so when a humbucker is split, it sees 250k instead of 500k when it’s series. It would involve using a resistor along with a multipole switch used for coil splitting one humbucker I think. I haven’t seen it done in this fashion but I’m sure somebody has tried.

[ArtieToo]

Re: Pot values for split coil wiring

Would love to hear how this turns out!

Ditto. A set of Jazz's in a Tele should be sweet.

[MtFlyr]

Re: Pot values for split coil wiring

Years ago I was playing in split single coil and as the song died out I rolled off the volume and inadvertently bumped back into humbucker mode. When I built a Les Paul for my friend I wired the splits through the tone knobs so as to leave the volume knobs virgin. You can roll or swell without fear of squawking at your audience. I like this set up and when called for will wire this way from now on. But then I'm also one to put the Tele switch at the back. I guess I just like things out of the way.

[MtFlyr]

Re: Pot values for split coil wiring

I could see all kinds of advantages to this wiring scheme but it's more involved than I'd like to get, i would need a detailed diagram and to be honest, I'm not sure I could fit all thats required in a Tele control rout. This brings up another idea. On a 4 knob 2HB setup have a 500k master volume and tone with a switch split to single coil on a 250k master volume and tone. The wiring required is already making me dizzy.

[MtFlyr]

Re: Pot values for split coil wiring

Oops - that was in response to Bowtomecha's post