CTS No Load Pot

[andyg_prs]

Hi,

I got one of these to use as a blender pot for the neck and bridge single coils on a strat.

1. Is it normal that only one of the side lugs appears to connect to anything - regardless of the 1-10 range of the pot? Normal pots allow you to use either of the outside lugs...

2. Do I need to solder a wire to ground off the back of the pot? I'm always paranoid about burning out the pot.

The inside of the scratchplate is metal foil plated anyway, so does this not earth the pot anyway as long as one of the items tightened to the plate is taken to ground? For example the case of the 5 way switch is solid metal and has a dedicated lug for an earth wire...

Thanks,
Andy

 

[Clint 55]

Re: CTS No Load Pot

Yes, that's how it's wired, one to the middle lug and one to the right lug. Yes, it's best to ground all your components with a wire. The back of the pot isn't fragile like the lugs. I use an 100 watt soldering iron for pot backs and I haven't had a problem with cooking pots.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: CTS No Load Pot

One outer lug and the middle lug are used for input and output. The other outer lug is grounded. The only possibility of damaging the pot with heat is if you use a lower than 40 watt iron and need to leave it in contact with the pot for a long time to melt the solder. It is always best to use a lot of heat for a short period of time, rather than use a little heat for a long period of time.

A 100 watt iron may be overkill (it can sure come in handy though), but you really can successfully accomplish anything in guitar wiring with an iron at least 40 watts (I personally use a 50 watt iron and have had absolutely NO problems from not enough heat...even when I used to remove pup covers with a soldering iron, which I don't do any more).

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: CTS No Load Pot

Is it normal that only one of the side lugs appears to connect to anything - regardless of the 1-10 range of the pot?

No. Both of the side lugs are connected to the resistive material in the pot, one lug to each end. The middle lug connects to the "wiper" which determines how much resistance you get as the knob is turned. All three of the lugs must be used. One of the outside lugs must be grounded for the pot to work as a volume control. Used as a blender pot, the outside lugs are connected to pup outputs and the middle lug of the pot is its output. As the knob is turned it "blends" the amount of each pup that goes to the guitar's vol or output jack.

 

[andyg_prs]

Re: CTS No Load Pot

No. Both of the side lugs are connected to the resistive material in the pot, one lug to each end. The middle lug connects to the "wiper" which determines how much resistance you get as the knob is turned. All three of the lugs must be used. One of the outside lugs must be grounded for the pot to work as a volume control. Used as a blender pot, the outside lugs are connected to pup outputs and the middle lug of the pot is its output. As the knob is turned it "blends" the amount of each pup that goes to the guitar's vol or output jack.

Ok, I can confirm that using a continuity tester...pot fully clockwise there is no continuity between the left outer lug (looking down as if installed in the guitar) and the middle lug...this is the zero point...turning the pot a fraction I get continuity...which makes perfect sense. There is non continuity between the middle lug and the right outer lug regardless of where the pot is turned to. There is no continuity between the outer logs regardless of where the pot is turned to.

I can still make this work by taking the bridge from the 5 way to the centre lug and the neck from the 5 way to the left lug.

However, I was slightly surprised at the right lug doing nothing...

 

[Clint 55]

Re: CTS No Load Pot

I've only been using 2 lugs for a blender.

http://rdawgguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Blender-Strat-Mod-Wiring-Schematic.jpg

 

[andyg_prs]

Re: CTS No Load Pot

I've only been using 2 lugs for a blender.

http://rdawgguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Blender-Strat-Mod-Wiring-Schematic.jpg

Yup, that's how I plan to wire it...