When humbuckers are wired with a volume and tone, in general they are both 500k pots. My understanding is that two 500k pots equals a resistance of 250k. If that is the case, and you only want a volume to control the humbucker without the tone, should you simply use a 250k pot? Or, is it more complicated? What pot should I use for a volume with no tone on my humbucker?
Announcement
Collapse
No announcement yet.
Single Volume on Humbucker?
Collapse
X
-
No.
Humbuckers get 500k pots normally. Even with a single volume.1 PhotoJC
-2023 Indio 66SB DLX Plus - Goldtop w/ P90s
-2020 Indio 66 DLX Plus - Goldtop w/ Seth Lover neck & '59 Model bridge w/ Faber hardware(#1 guitar)
-2021 Indio 66 DLX Plus - Iced Tea Burst
-2023 Indio Boardwalk (335-style)
-2022 Indio Retro DLX Plus(T-style) - w/ Fender AVRI 62 Custom neck & 52 bridge pickups.
-2020 Stage Right 1x12" 15w tube combo(Laney Cub 12R)
- Likes 1
-
Originally posted by Luxu View PostWhen humbuckers are wired with a volume and tone, in general they are both 500k pots. My understanding is that two 500k pots equals a resistance of 250k. If that is the case, and you only want a volume to control the humbucker without the tone, should you simply use a 250k pot? Or, is it more complicated? What pot should I use for a volume with no tone on my humbucker?
EDIT- If you want to see the action of resistive loads on resonant peaks, see for instance the fig. 14 in this page: http://buildyourguitar.com/resources/lemme/
There's many other pages of the same kind showing the same thing but this one was among the firsts so I share the link. :-)
A single 250k volume pot gives exactly the same resonant peak than a 500k volume pot + 500k tone control when pots are full up. The differences are...
-harmonics, a tiny wee bit affected by the tone capacitor, even when the tone pot is full up. This difference is minuscule and might even be not really perceptible in some situations but it's there (lab gear and 5Spice sims can detect it);
-the TAPER of the volume pot and its darkening action... a 250k @ half its resistance puts only 125k between hot and output but also only 125k between output and ground so it darkens the sound more when lowered.
If you want to mimic the -2dB rounding action @ resonance of a 500k tone pot full up without loosing the taper of a 500k volume control, put a 470k or 520k resistor in series with a 22nF (0.022µF) then solder the whole from output to ground. I've done that sometimes (and legends tell that EVH had hidden a fixed tone pot in the cavity of his Frankenstrat. If he had used a trim pot or a resistor, it would have been the same).
FWIW: my two worthless cents, not far from the price of a resistor. :-)Last edited by freefrog; 12-03-2022, 12:16 AM.Duncan user since the 80's...
Comment
-
Originally posted by Luxu View PostWhen humbuckers are wired with a volume and tone, in general they are both 500k pots. My understanding is that two 500k pots equals a resistance of 250k. If that is the case, and you only want a volume to control the humbucker without the tone, should you simply use a 250k pot? Or, is it more complicated? What pot should I use for a volume with no tone on my humbucker?
Comment
-
Thanks, everyone! I dug out two 500k pots and a cap and wired them up as one volume and one tone. It sounds very different from simply one 250k as a volume. It really sounds much better with the two 500k and cap as volume and tone. To my ears, it is warmer and more balanced. I am going back to the traditional wiring. Thanks for sharing your knowledge; it really helped!
Comment
-
Originally posted by Luxu View PostThanks, everyone! I dug out two 500k pots and a cap and wired them up as one volume and one tone. It sounds very different from simply one 250k as a volume. It really sounds much better with the two 500k and cap as volume and tone. To my ears, it is warmer and more balanced. I am going back to the traditional wiring. Thanks for sharing your knowledge; it really helped!
Anyway, glad for you if it worked. Enjoy! :-)Duncan user since the 80's...
- Likes 1
Comment
-
Ah. That makes sense. One more question: Do you recommend I keep experimenting? Or, is it just smart to stick with the Duncan recommendations? I took the tone out originally because I don't use it and it seems like the simpler the better when I mess around with pickup swapping. Although, in my attempt to keep it simple I seem to have created more work for myself--the curse of the amateur. The 500k volume alone seems a bit harsh to me (it is a Custom SH-5 with an already strong top end).
Comment
-
I've nothing against the Duncan recommendations, of course, but a guitar tone depends on many things. So, if you find your SH5 a bit harsh with a 500k volume alone in your guitar, you might be interested by the "fixed tone control emulator" evoked in my 1st answer above: a 470k or 520k resistor in series with a regular tone cap and the whole soldered from hot to ground. It's cheap, easy to do and reversible. :-)Duncan user since the 80's...
- Likes 1
Comment
-
Just roll the volume back a little and it will make it less harsh/remove some highs. You may want or need that little extra brightness and oomph for some tones, amps or certain pedals. That or just adjust your amp EQ a little different for the new guitar setup.Last edited by Mr. 80's; 12-04-2022, 01:45 PM.
Comment
Comment