Hotrails blender

Mak

New member
I I'm sure this has been asked before but can I blend in the second coil of a Hotrails with a pot rather than a switch?
Does it work out OK?

Thanks in advance
 
Re: Hotrails blender

Are you referring to something like a spin-a-split?


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Re: Hotrails blender

Yeah, it works best with a 100K linear pot, IMO. Frank Falbo suggested that a reverse audio pot might be even smoother. You can find suitable pots on ebay, but you have to wait a couple weeks to receive them since they mostly ship from China. You can use a 250k audio pot, but it's going to behave more like an on/off switch than a knob unless you wire it backwards, where 10 is split and 0 is full (I think...).

I bought a three gang 100K pot and variably split three blade humbuckers with a single knob, and it's awesome. The pickups in question are DiMarzio Air Norton S pickups, and I wouldn't otherwise like on account of their being a bit too dark are saved by the fact that I can lift highs and drops the mids slightly with the spin-a-split knob, but still access the full output with a flick of the knob.
 
Re: Hotrails blender

Are you referring to something like a spin-a-split?


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Yes that's exactly what I had in mind. Thanks for the pot values. Does anyone know whether the pot adversely " loads down" the coils?
 
Re: Hotrails blender

Does anyone know whether the pot adversely " loads down" the coils?

There will be some load between the two coils, unless you use a no-load pot, so one coil will be working 100%, but the other will produce slightly less. Even with the 100k pot, I can tell by tapping the two coils with a piece of metal that the second coil is producing less output, yet overall, it still has full humbucker voicing. I'd never have guessed one coil was producing less if I hadn't tapped on the slugs. There's a dramatic change in sound between 0 and 4, but from 4 to 10, it's pretty much full humbucker sound.

You can use a 500k or 1 meg pot wired backwards to get a reverse audio tapper, and that would significantly reduce load and still should work pretty well, if you don't like the 100K compromise. I'd try it, but I need three gang pot, so I'm stuck.
 
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