Resistor to lower neck pickup output

[korodesu]

I have a duncan quarter pounder in the neck position of a guitar (H-S, 1vol, 3way). It sounds like garbage with the volume knob on full tilt with any gain on my amp. And is too boomy and muddy fully turned up on a clean channel. If i turn the volume knob just a smidgeon (probably a 25-30° rotation) it sounds perfect! But I don't like having to touch the volume knob every time I want to switch to that pickup in any position. I've tried lowering the pickup and it doesn't help at all, it just makes it sound muddier and hollow.

Can anyone tell me how to wire up a resistor to just the neck and give me some values to try to maybe fix this? Or have any other fixes? I'd rather not have to resort to swapping it out. I really like the SSL-4, I just don't like it at its 100% full output.

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Resistor to lower neck pickup output

I have a duncan quarter pounder in the neck position of a guitar (H-S, 1vol, 3way). It sounds like garbage with the volume knob on full tilt with any gain on my amp. And is too boomy and muddy fully turned up on a clean channel. If i turn the volume knob just a smidgeon (probably a 25-30° rotation) it sounds perfect! But I don't like having to touch the volume knob every time I want to switch to that pickup in any position. I've tried lowering the pickup and it doesn't help at all, it just makes it sound muddier and hollow.

Can anyone tell me how to wire up a resistor to just the neck and give me some values to try to maybe fix this? Or have any other fixes? I'd rather not have to resort to swapping it out. I really like the SSL-4, I just don't like it at its 100% full output.

What value pots are you using now? If you have a multimeter you could measure the resistance of the pot at the sweet spot and then replace the pot with something that matches that level of resistance at 100%. You could also use a mini-trimmer pot to feed the volume control or place a resistor in series with the pot in order to get the desired amount of resistance.

 

[korodesu]

Re: Resistor to lower neck pickup output

Thanks for the input. It's a 500k. Guess I get to mess with a multimeter then. I take the reading from the center leg and the leg that goes out to the jack right?

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Resistor to lower neck pickup output

Thanks for the input. It's a 500k. Guess I get to mess with a multimeter then. I take the reading from the center leg and the leg that goes out to the jack right?

Yes that's right. With lower value pots more treble is bled to ground and the sound becomes darker and smoother. You can convert a 500k pot to a 250K by wiring a 470K resistor across the two outer lugs of the pot. However using a fixed resistor in combination with a variable resistor might screw up the taper of the pot and it may no longer respond in the same way.

Changing the value of a pot to correct one position may compromise another position if you only have one volume control. This is pretty common in multi-pickup guitars with only one volume, so what I do with a H/S/S or H/S/H guitar is wire a second volume instead of the standard strat V/T/T setup.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Resistor to lower neck pickup output

I have an INF3 pickup taken from an RG4
the pickup is wound to 12K
thats a bit hot for a neck pickup and is a bit boomy

with a bit of math and theory
I found a a 20K resistor between the pickup start and ground softened
the attack a lot
resistance and output went down in the 8K range

before

after

 

[waltschwarzkopf]

Re: Resistor to lower neck pickup output

I have an INF3 pickup taken from an RG4
the pickup is wound to 12K
thats a bit hot for a neck pickup and is a bit boomy

with a bit of math and theory
I found a a 20K resistor between the pickup start and ground softened
the attack a lot
resistance and output went down in the 8K range

This is a great idea, I was thinking about the same. I have an HSH with a 5-way switch in which I would like to lower the volume of the S t oclean up and for chords. The problem is that this will also affect positions 2 and 4, right?

 

[The JEM Ghost]

Re: Resistor to lower neck pickup output

This is a great idea, I was thinking about the same. I have an HSH with a 5-way switch in which I would like to lower the volume of the S t oclean up and for chords. The problem is that this will also affect positions 2 and 4, right?

Yes, what you describe would affect positions 2, 3 and 4. In other words it would affect all the positions the pickup is active in.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Resistor to lower neck pickup output

A typical 500k guitar pot turned down to about 7 or so measures about 250k or there abouts.

So maybe changing that 500k pot to 250k will solve your problem.

Most Strat pickups sound best with 250k pots for both volume and tone.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Resistor to lower neck pickup output

I ended up just throwing those INF pickups in a box
The bridge was OK and the the neck wanted to be
But there are so many pickups out there that don't need so much care to be useful

I just went with new pickups

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Resistor to lower neck pickup output

A typical 500k guitar pot turned down to about 7 or so measures about 250k or there abouts.

So maybe changing that 500k pot to 250k will solve your problem.

Most Strat pickups sound best with 250k pots for both volume and tone.

Don't think that would work for the OP purpose, since when the knob is turned up, neither pots are doing anything. May affect the highest treble a bit, but not the overall output level.

 

[dotsdad]

Re: Resistor to lower neck pickup output

Why not change your neck tone control from treble cut to bass cut? You need a 1 meg c taper pot and .0022 cap to make it work. Wiring diagram for bass cut is on g&l support site. You can get the pot on their online store and the cap on eBay

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

 

[metalchurch79]

Re: Resistor to lower neck pickup output

What bridge pickup are you using anyways? Seems you're not worried so much about dialing it in, as opposed to the neck pickup. Lots of great info and ideas posted that will no doubt get you on your way.

 

[Teleplayer]

Re: Resistor to lower neck pickup output

My suggestion is too obvious - sorry. Have your tried lowering the pickup height?

If the tone is lost, maybe a resister in series (Eg 68k, or 100k) and a lower pickup height combined together will contribute to a balanced tone.