Are there any downsides to mixing pot values in the same guitar?

[Rex_Rocker]

I have a Gibson Les Paul with a 500T in the bridge and a Duncan SH-6N in the neck. I like it for the most part, I'm just curious about giving the Distortion a tad more sparkle on the cleans.

Right now, I have a 250K volume on the bridge pickup, and a 500K volume for the neck. No tone controls on either. I'm thinking of up'ing the neck pickup's volume control to 1 Meg.

Will there be any downsides to it? I mean for the middle position. I love the sound of the middle position now, but I want to improve the neck position. Will I mess something up?

Kinda silly question, I know, but just figured I'd ask.

 

[jeremy]

nope. i do things like that all the time. it will subtly change the middle position tone, but id go for it

 

[GuitarDoc]

Agree, no problem mixing.

 

[ehdwuld]

I have mixed values in the same pot

for example

my single coils want a 250 k pot
and the Hum on the bridge wants a 500 k pot

I will put a 500k pot in for the volume and a 250k resistor to ground for the single coils at the switch

this lets the hum see a 500k pot and the singles see the same pot as 250k

 

[Artie]

Keep in mind, that in the middle position, both pickups will "see" the combined value of the two pots. When you add two resistors, the total value is always less than the smallest resistor. So, a 250k and a 1M will effectively be a 200k load to both pups.

Which, as others have said, is no problem.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I have mixed values in the same pot

for example

my single coils want a 250 k pot
and the Hum on the bridge wants a 500 k pot

I will put a 500k pot in for the volume and a 250k resistor to ground for the single coils at the switch

this lets the hum see a 500k pot and the singles see the same pot as 250k

I have the same thing going on in my Strat. A single 500K pot. The bridge sees 500K. The neck SC has a 1 Meg resistor in there so that it sees roughly 300-something K.

The Les Paul has independent volumes, and I'd like to keep that.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

OK. Thank you all. Ordering a 1 Meg pot, then.

 

[misterwhizzy]

I have mixed values in the same pot

for example

my single coils want a 250 k pot
and the Hum on the bridge wants a 500 k pot

I will put a 500k pot in for the volume and a 250k resistor to ground for the single coils at the switch

this lets the hum see a 500k pot and the singles see the same pot as 250k

That's a really good idea. I might have to do this in my Strat since I pulled out the pot that sits right under my picking hand in favor of a master-volume master-tone setup.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Alright... 1 Meg pot ordered!

So... in retrospective, 1 Meg pot will brighten up my neck pickup, but it will also brighten up the middle position ever so slightly?

 

[jeremy]

just a touch

 

[ehdwuld]

That's a really good idea. I might have to do this in my Strat since I pulled out the pot that sits right under my picking hand in favor of a master-volume master-tone setup.

It's not my original idea

Someone on the forum told me about it some years ago

May have been Artie or GuitarDoc

 

[Artie]

just a touch

It's a smidgen. Your meter is on the wrong range.

 

[magillver]

Artie, I'm impressed that you know your Ohm's law! 200 ohms on the nose...