Ultrasonic Pickup Users Pot Values
- Thread starter idsnowdog
- Start date
shadowfire90
New member
Re: Ultrasonic Pickup Users Pot Values
At the end of the day it's preference. I've never heard of ultrasonic pickups myself and did try googling it so this is my insight.
The good news is regardless any one chasing here is cheap. If people played a guitar for years and are ready to tone chase jump up from 500k to 1M. It adds more brightness and volume the more pots you change from 500k to 1m . Some guitars this really works well. Others where they are too bright like this guitar I had the lead guitarist of triumph owned at one time was too bright and the JB needed a 250k pot which is a usual "fix" that many suggest.
A cheaper alternative is to add what many call a blower switch. Where it bypasses all the electronics in a guitar and sends the pickup selection directly to the input jack. This can be done with a push pull or DPDT ON/ON switch. Do not go with a momentary on/on. The only place those have for guitarists is killswitches.
the easiest way to see if you're a fan of 1m pots is say you've got a 2 pot custom shop guitar. Standard volume and tone. Record some riffs before and after you do this on some quality gear. Play the exact same riffs and then disconnect the tone control hot lead wire to the volume where the guitar thinks it's a single volume. Aside from having the tone capacitor now doing nothing it simulates if you had two pots with 1M. A real life example of this is why Fender strats tend to not have tone controls for the bridge pickup. For years I thought it was just an outdated design people were too stubborn to change but no it actually does serve the same purpose. Extra volume and brightness.
Here's a simple blower switch concept in two situations, you can do this on an ON/ON switch as well. But again no momentary ON/ON DPDT switches. You'll get the same results wiring a pickup directly to an input jack but this is more professional.
View attachment 101217
At the end of the day it's preference. I've never heard of ultrasonic pickups myself and did try googling it so this is my insight.
The good news is regardless any one chasing here is cheap. If people played a guitar for years and are ready to tone chase jump up from 500k to 1M. It adds more brightness and volume the more pots you change from 500k to 1m . Some guitars this really works well. Others where they are too bright like this guitar I had the lead guitarist of triumph owned at one time was too bright and the JB needed a 250k pot which is a usual "fix" that many suggest.
A cheaper alternative is to add what many call a blower switch. Where it bypasses all the electronics in a guitar and sends the pickup selection directly to the input jack. This can be done with a push pull or DPDT ON/ON switch. Do not go with a momentary on/on. The only place those have for guitarists is killswitches.
the easiest way to see if you're a fan of 1m pots is say you've got a 2 pot custom shop guitar. Standard volume and tone. Record some riffs before and after you do this on some quality gear. Play the exact same riffs and then disconnect the tone control hot lead wire to the volume where the guitar thinks it's a single volume. Aside from having the tone capacitor now doing nothing it simulates if you had two pots with 1M. A real life example of this is why Fender strats tend to not have tone controls for the bridge pickup. For years I thought it was just an outdated design people were too stubborn to change but no it actually does serve the same purpose. Extra volume and brightness.
Here's a simple blower switch concept in two situations, you can do this on an ON/ON switch as well. But again no momentary ON/ON DPDT switches. You'll get the same results wiring a pickup directly to an input jack but this is more professional.
View attachment 101217
Chris Pile
Well-known member
Re: Ultrasonic Pickup Users Pot Values
Ultrasonics were made in Europe by the same outfit that made the OBL pickups (Original Bill Lawrence - which was a joke. He designed them, but didn't make them. They only lasted a few years).
Ultrasonics were made in Europe by the same outfit that made the OBL pickups (Original Bill Lawrence - which was a joke. He designed them, but didn't make them. They only lasted a few years).
Re: Ultrasonic Pickup Users Pot Values
I’ve got a set of Ref 6s I’ve had forever and while they are currently in a box, I always did 500k.
Side note: whether he made them or not, they still have that signature Lawrence tone. The external solder points are super convenient, too.
I’ve got a set of Ref 6s I’ve had forever and while they are currently in a box, I always did 500k.
Side note: whether he made them or not, they still have that signature Lawrence tone. The external solder points are super convenient, too.
