Alright dudes. I need some help!

[Artie]

Re: Alright dudes. I need some help!

Does anyone know of a company that sells long shaft, 1meg, push/pull dpdt switches?

That could be tricky. I've seen long-shaft 1M's. I've seen long-shaft push/pulls. But never long-shaft 1meg push/pulls. Here's a good place to look, but it looks like you'll have to compromise on at least one parameter:

http://www.guitarelectronics.com/category/20electronicparts.2controlpots

I'd probably go with long-shaft 500k push/pulls.

 

[Artie]

Re: Alright dudes. I need some help!

So . . . are you up real early, or up real late?

 

[Third Eye Visions]

Re: Alright dudes. I need some help!

So . . . are you up real early, or up real late?

Up late. I'm on the East Coast.

Okay. Been reading and researching some more. I found some advice from an old article.

One guy who worked on Les Pauls said use a 500K volume and a 1 Meg tone with a .022 cap. Also where you tap off the volume pot for the tone capacitor (lug #1 or lug #2 of the volume) will alter how your tone control operates when your volume pot is rolled down to lower settings. If you have a cap wired to lug #1 of your volume (going to the tone control) try moving it to the #2 middle lug (of volume) and notice the way your tone pot changes with volume interaction.

Any of that make sense?

 

[Artie]

Re: Alright dudes. I need some help!

Up late. I'm on the East Coast.

I'm east coast too. I'm up early.

Okay. Been reading and researching some more. I found some advice from an old article.

Any of that make sense?

Yup. Its the classic "50's mod", as outlined here:

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?t=18842

 

[Third Eye Visions]

Re: Alright dudes. I need some help!

How do you think a Les Paul would sound with 1meg pots for volume and tone? People are telling me I'll get more gain and sweep by using 1meg pots. They said that they work great with high output ceramic pups like I have.

 

[Artie]

Re: Alright dudes. I need some help!

People are telling me I'll get more gain and sweep by using 1meg pots.

You won't get more "gain", and I'm not sure what they mean by "sweep" in this context. Using 1 meg pots just means you'll pick up a very subtle increase in high-end. It may not even be noticeable, or it could prove to be ice-picky.

Its one of those things that you'll just have to try, and see for yourself. Conventional wisdom would be to go with 500k's. I believe that many folks use 300k's with LP's. Not sure about that, though.

 

[Third Eye Visions]

Re: Alright dudes. I need some help!

Grrrr. I expected more help from people here. Doesn't seem like some of the more experienced techs are reading my thread. I have no experience with this stuff. I've swapped pups and pots before, but never actually even thought there were differences in them.

Now I'm finding out that there is a major amount of variables. I'm trying to get my tone to where you can hear every note in a chord even under heavy distortion. I chose a Les Paul because it's bassier and has that sweet sustain. I really wan't to be able to get some good harmonics without having to go out and buy active pickups.

That's why I'm trying to save some cash here and do this mod myself. I'm not looking fo a vintage sound. I'm looking for a sound similar to Dimebag and Zakk.

 

[Artie]

Re: Alright dudes. I need some help!

The problem is, there's so many variables. At some point, you just need to jump in and try something. For example, I use all 250k pots in my guitars, whether they're singles or humbuckers. Its what I prefer with my set up.

Here's what I'd do if I were you: Check out this thread:

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?t=27328

Temporarily wire up your guitar using a 500k pot with a 500k resistor. That will allow you to vary the "load" from 1 meg all the way down to 500k. See if you can hear a difference and select the pot value based on what sounds good to you. Its worth the effort to find "your" perfect setup.

btw - You could also use a 1 meg pot with a 250k resistor. That would allow you to test the entire range from 1.25 meg to 250k.

 

[Third Eye Visions]

Re: Alright dudes. I need some help!

I might just consider getting some active pickups and calling it a day. The problem is money. LOL

 

[tone4days]

Re: Alright dudes. I need some help!

Grrrr. I expected more help from people here. Doesn't seem like some of the more experienced techs are reading my thread. I have no experience with this stuff. I've swapped pups and pots before, but never actually even thought there were differences in them.

Now I'm finding out that there is a major amount of variables. I'm trying to get my tone to where you can hear every note in a chord even under heavy distortion. I chose a Les Paul because it's bassier and has that sweet sustain. I really wan't to be able to get some good harmonics without having to go out and buy active pickups...

i have never heard a guitar with crushingly high output pickups driving an amp into heavy distortion ever produce each note of a chord - great harmonics? yes ... individual note clarity? no ... neither active nor passive pickups ... once you crush the signal against the rails of the amplifying device, you get so many upper and sub harmonics that the frequency spectrum just gets smeared to where all the notes are nondistinct and compressed into mush (imo) ... it is no wonder that you havent heard much difference in the past when you've swapped pickups ... they DO all sound the same when you compress their signals past the point of revealing their differences ...

no amount of swapping around 1M or 500K pots is going to get you any better note definition ... you are using very high output pickups that are already going to hit the preamp very hard ...

there is a reason they call it distortion .. it DISTORTS the true fidelity of the input frequency spectrum ... there is a reason guys like EVH or SRV used LOW output pickups .. it lets the amp do the 'heavy lifting' of an input signal that remains essentially in tact, NOT distorted ...

good luck
t4d