VOLUME POTS

Bfeeney

Bfeeney

New member
Are all pots the same as far as wiring goes? It seems like guitars have different wiring even though it's the exact same setup. The reason I ask is I'm trying to wire a single guitar volume pot and it's acting like and on/off rather than a gradual increase/decrease. It's a brand new pot that I took out of my guitar. The pot is the first that I've seen that DOESN'T say what rating it is, it says 'B504' if that means anything (H-H guitar so prob. 500k). I first used the stock wiring figuring 'if it ain't broke...' and got a 97% off 3% on switch. So I went to the SD diagram page and got a SC 1 vol. diagram. What was on the screen was a 180 deg. flip of what I had on my hand, I said f@ck it and changed it. Same thing. The funny thing is, wired "right" it now does the exact opposite of when it was IN the guitar, instead of 97% on it's 97% off. WTF??:banghead:
 
Re: VOLUME POTS

Do you have the third lug on the vol pot grounded?

Are the solder joints smooth and shiney like water?
 
Re: VOLUME POTS

Good question .

I'm about to replace the one in my Godin LGXSA ( 500K ) and bought a :

" Gibson "

stamped vol pot @ Guitar Center .

Is it the same as my Godin's volume pot lug configuration ?

Thanks to anyone that can help :

Hurricane Ramon
 
Re: VOLUME POTS

GuitarDoc said:
Do you have the third lug on the vol pot grounded?

Are the solder joints smooth and shiney like water?
Click to expand...

I used a ~1/2" piece of wire to ground the 3rd lug so I don't have to bend the post.

All my connections are pro-grade (IMO), I've been soldering since I was 12.

I started thinking, I don't have to use a guitar pot, I just want some way of controlling volume, SMOOTHLY and without dumping a whole paycheck into it.
 
Re: VOLUME POTS

Can you get a good picture of the wiring. I'm sure myself or someone else on here can get it sorted out.

And yes, a B504 pot is a Burns 500k pot. I'm looking for the spec sheet now to see if it has a different pin layout.
 
Re: VOLUME POTS

Hurricane said:
Good question .

I'm about to replace the one in my Godin LGXSA ( 500K ) and bought a :

" Gibson "

stamped vol pot @ Guitar Center .

Is it the same as my Godin's volume pot lug configuration ?

Thanks to anyone that can help :

Hurricane Ramon
Click to expand...

Yup.
 
Re: VOLUME POTS

Update: The 500k was an on/off so I tried a 25k I had and that was promising at LOW (whisper) volumes, when I turned it up it caught fire, yes there was a flame.

To backtrack a little and the reasoning for this; I live in an apartment so I can't exactly turn an amp up to 8. A Marshall JCM 900 SL-X 2100 just fell into my lap one day ($0, no sh!t). Well obviously 100w is WAY too much, so my McGyver thinking kicked in. Tube amps need to be up to sound right (or good), that's not possible here, so put a volume control inbetween the head & cab so the head can be at 5 (or so) but the output volume is 1/2 or 1. The Marshall is blowing fuses (nothing's free!), it will be going to a pro to fix it. In the meantime, I have the Peavey Vypyr 30 head/cab so I was doing my 'prototype' experiments with it. As I said earlier 500k=bad 25k=good/fire.
 
Re: VOLUME POTS

Pots, like any resistor, have a wattage rating, and that rating is usually 1/2 or 1 watt. They're not designed to be hanging off the speaker output of amps that deliver tens of watts. Hence, overheating and fiery death for the pot, and you may consider yourself fortunate that the amp didn't go down the same track.

If it were that simple, there would be no market for power soaks such as the THD Hotplate and similar products. Unfortunately disposing of a lot of unwanted wattage is not easy or cheap. An isolation cabinet might be a better idea perhaps.
 
Re: VOLUME POTS

Amp blowing fuses, pots catching fire; It's the appocalypse!

No wonder were confused.:cool2:

707935615847fd3618c3fad522f93215.jpg
 
Re: VOLUME POTS

crusty philtrum said:
An isolation cabinet might be a better idea perhaps.
Click to expand...

What's that?

I can't believe this is an uncommon (I guess) idea. Tube amps only sounds good cranked, cranked is too loud. Kinda thought this would be a problem everyone has had at least once. HMM, I'm unique, Cool.:smack:

I found a site that sells a variety of foam in 82"x72" sheets. I can get 6- 1" thick pieces for $155, that will do 3 walls (4th is outside wall w/window). I've ALWAYS wanted a "SOUND PROOF" (reduced) room. It's a Plan B I guess.
 
Re: VOLUME POTS

So, let me get this straight. Bfeeney, to control amp volume, you tried putting a guitar volume pot between the amp and the cabinet?

...It caught fire because you put too much wattage through it, as crusty said.

If that freebie Marshall is going to be too loud going through a 4x12, just get a 1x12 speaker cab with a low sensitivity (low SPL rating) speaker that can handle close to 100 watts as its rating.
 
Re: VOLUME POTS

Yeah I wasn't thinking, I forgot there's a difference between your guitar output and your amp output.:banghead:
 
Re: VOLUME POTS

Bfeeney said:
Yeah I wasn't thinking, I forgot there's a difference between your guitar output and your amp output.:banghead:
Click to expand...

Just Don't plug your amp output into your guitar , like some idiot I knew way back.:dot: Fried a pickup on a vintage strat he'd just bought.
 
Re: VOLUME POTS

Plus, by putting that resistence (vol pot) between your amp an speaker, you are potentially going to blow your amp (thank goodness for those fuses that keep blowing and protecting your amp). Your amp has to "see" a particular output resistense.
 
Re: VOLUME POTS

So I looked at an isolation cabinet and still confused, can someone Big Bird it for me? How do they work? Do I have to buy add-on stuff to make one work?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

OceanTurquois
Strat Metal/Blues Best Set up
Replies
6
Views
197
Artie
Artie
solspirit
Best $30 I've spent. The Busker's intro.
Replies
10
Views
227
solspirit
solspirit
C
Import Style Switch Wiring
Replies
3
Views
173
Artie
Artie
alex1fly
Swap 3-way for 5-way in a Tele
Replies
2
Views
190
alex1fly
alex1fly
Rex_Rocker
Fun wiring ideas to do with push/pull pots?
Replies
10
Views
86
magillver
M
Back
Top