SSS wiring question - am I planning anything stupid?

[AlexR]

Re: SSS wiring question - am I planning anything stupid?

A no load pot provides infinite resistance at the top of the range. If the tone pot doesn't load the pickups when it's running at full value, why do no load pots exist?

There's a clear difference in the response of a pickup between having a 250k, 500k, and no tone pot.

I've put my point across clearly a couple of times now.....and you've still not managed to understand the finer details. As I'm losing confidence that you'll ever get my point I'm going to file it under the 'hopeless' folder and move on.

Good luck

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: SSS wiring question - am I planning anything stupid?

Maybe Frank Falbo's words in this article will better express what I've been trying to say in this thread:
https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/23145-cap-and-pot-trade?page=2

Vintage Stratocasters use 250k pots, but the vintage wiring scheme leaves the bridge pickup without a tone control. Other things being equal, the bridge-position pickup is even peakier than the neck and middle pickups. Many modern players wire a tone control to the bridge pickup, but this mellows the bridge pickup simply by being in the circuit—even if the tone control is all the way up!

Pot resistance stacks up. When you have a 500k volume pot and a 500k tone pot, the pickup sees the equivalent of one 250k pot. Some players deliberately choose a 250k for volume and a no-load for tone. That way, the pickup only sees a 250k load, but the player still gets their desired taper. You could choose a 500k volume and 250k tone (or vice versa) in order to get the sound between those two values when both knobs are all the way up.

He also showed a similar graph of how loading (by both the tone and volume pot) lowers the frequency peak of the pickups:

This information is also echoed here: https://guitar.com/guides/essential-guide/potentiometers/

Maximum resonance will be achieved with a one meg volume pot and a no-load tone pot. A pair of 100k pots will produce the flattest frequency response up to the cutoff frequency. Mix and match values to find your ideal tone and feel free to deviate from the usual. Also check the value of the pots in your guitar before changing pickups because countless Les Pauls have been buried in mud by Gibson’s decision to use 300k pots.

And here: https://guitarelectronics.com/guitar-wiring-faqs/

What is a Fender No Load tone control and how does it work?
The Fender No Load Pot is used on some USA Strats, Teles and Fender basses and is wired like a standard tone control. From settings 1-9 it works like a standard tone then clicks in at 10 (full clockwise/ bright setting) and removes the pot and capacitor from the circuit. This eliminates the path to ground that exists with standard pots even in the full treble position. By eliminating the path to ground thru the pot, the only load on the pickup is the volume pot. So if 250K pots are used, the load is reduced from 125K to 250K and if 500K pots are used, the load is reduced from 250K to 500K (high resistance = low load) The reduced load allows more power output from he pickup and reduces the amount of high frequencies that bleed off to ground. This gives a noticeable increase in brightness and output in the full treble setting. The no load pot can be used in place of any standard tone control on any guitar or bass.

And here: https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/The_Fender_Delta_Tone_System_Part_1

Because when it’s connected to the Strat’s electronics, the pickup is colored by the tone capacitor, the load of the pots, the wiring, and, to a small degree, even the 5-way switch.

And here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_wiring

No-load pots – also used by Fender, these pots have the clockwise lug disconnected from the resistive strip within, resulting in infinite resistance between the wiper and the other outer lug when turned fully clockwise. These are sometimes used as tone controls, to remove the load on the pickup(s) presented by the pot and the tone capacitor when turned to 10.

The tone pot loads the pickups, this produces a darker sound. Removing the tone pot will brighten the sound of the guitar because it reduces loading on the pickups. Wiring two tone pots to a pickup will increase loading on that pickup, therefore darkening the sound more.