Blender Pots in Strats! Every Strat player should try one.

[Lewguitar]

All of my Strats except my old '63 now have this configuration:

Master volume pot, master "no load" tone pot and blender pot.

The blender pot is a "no load" pot that when on "10" removes itself from the circuit. But when you turn it down it starts to blend the bridge pickup into the neck pickup setting or the neck pickup into the bridge pickup setting.

This really fattens and warms up a bright, thin sounding bridge pickup and brightens up and adds some "cluck" to a neck pickup.

When I'm soloing on the bridge pickup and if it sounds a little bright, instead of rolling down the tone control a little, I instead add in a little neck pickup. Not alot! Just enough to warm up the bridge pickup and fatten it up.

Highly Recommended!

I've started making these myself...as well as "no load" tone pots. I have them for $10 each if anyone would like to try one.

Or you can open up a CTS pot and paint the end of the carbon strip with nail polish and make one yourself if you have the patience.

Lew

 

[Thames]

Re: Blender Pots in Strats! Every Strat player should try one.

Lew dude, I'm completely rewiring the Strat at the moment. What would be the wiring diagram with such blender pot ? Do I need a special blender pot or std vol/tone pot is fine ?

I already know how to make a no-load pot.

 

[Artie]

Re: Blender Pots in Strats! Every Strat player should try one.

For anyone who doesn't want to try and "make" a blend pot, there are pots like this one from Jameco that have the switch built in. They come in 250k and 500k, in both linear and audio taper. (Other values available also.)

http://www.jameco.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/Jameco/searchResult.d2w/report?sort=BPA&search=263679cl

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Blender Pots in Strats! Every Strat player should try one.

Lew dude, I'm completely rewiring the Strat at the moment. What would be the wiring diagram with such blender pot ? Do I need a special blender pot or std vol/tone pot is fine ?

I already know how to make a no-load pot.

This is sort of the way I do it. I leave off the bleeder cap and resistor across the volume pot...I don't need it if I connect the tone cap to the middle terminal (the wiper) of the volume pot. Or if I use a no load tone pot. Lew

http://www.fralinpickups.com/schm-stratblend.htm

 

[beandip]

Re: Blender Pots in Strats! Every Strat player should try one.

If you plan on using the wiring diagram from Kinman, reverse which lug the wire goes to on the blender pot. I dont know why, but Kinman has his wiring so that at 0, both pickups are on full, and at 10 you have only the bridge or neck pickup. Or is it the other way round? I think its the other way. Just a heads up.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Blender Pots in Strats! Every Strat player should try one.

If you plan on using the wiring diagram from Kinman, reverse which lug the wire goes to on the blender pot. I dont know why, but Kinman has his wiring so that at 0, both pickups are on full, and at 10 you have only the bridge or neck pickup. Or is it the other way round? I think its the other way. Just a heads up.

I dunno about Kinman...but there's two wires coming from the Blender Pot and it makes no diff where those wires go as long as one goes to the neck pickup and one goes to the bridge pickup where they connect at the switch.

Hey Bean...how's your mom doing?

Lew

 

[Artie]

Re: Blender Pots in Strats! Every Strat player should try one.

The dual-humbucker crowd can play too.

Just find a place to mount the "other" pot. (dual concentric maybe)

1. Neck: dial in how much bridge you want.
2. Neck/Bridge: normal operation, by-passing the blend pot.
3. Bridge: dial in how much neck you want.

Use a "no-load" or switched pot, and with it turned to "off", you have completely normal, unchanged operation.

(If you happen to put the blend-pot on "10", the 3-way is by-passed.)

 

[Kent S.]

Re: Blender Pots in Strats! Every Strat player should try one.

If you plan on using the wiring diagram from Kinman, reverse which lug the wire goes to on the blender pot. I dont know why, but Kinman has his wiring so that at 0, both pickups are on full, and at 10 you have only the bridge or neck pickup. Or is it the other way round? I think its the other way. Just a heads up.

That's the way it is with the Fralins, that's the only way it would work using the CCW and W lugs ... Also it makes no difference what wire goes to what pup, or what lug (as long as one is the CCW and the other is the W).
This also still uses the taper of the pot correctly (according to our ears), and has a very smooth and controllable blend between the two pups.

 

[Kent S.]

Re: Blender Pots in Strats! Every Strat player should try one.

I dunno about Kinman...but there's two wires coming from the Blender Pot and it makes no diff where those wires go as long as one goes to the neck pickup and one goes to the bridge pickup where they connect at the switch.


Lew

Ah ya beat me too it lew! One day I'm going to read all replies first ... Kinman also bastardizes the tbx for something similar as well.

 

[Kent S.]

Re: Blender Pots in Strats! Every Strat player should try one.

For anyone who doesn't want to try and "make" a blend pot, there are pots like this one from Jameco that have the switch built in. They come in 250k and 500k, in both linear and audio taper. (Other values available also.)

That would be basically the same idea as Fender No-Loads (although they only come in 250k-A), which can be used the same way. Some people are bothere by the detent, some people like it ... it doesn't bother me, and it leaves that CW lug free for other uses. ...
Since everyone else is throwng out there versions of no-load pots, I have a different version which I like ... I open the pot and take a dremel with a fine sanding drum in the collet and file the nylon stop down that contacts the wiper stop in the top of the pot cover. This allows the pot to turn (as Spinal Tap said) to *11*. Whereby it is removed from the circuit ... very cool if you use both sides of the tone control as I do, as it still allows the use of the CW lug.