Another blender pot convert

[BigsbyTracks]

In the past I've had push-pull switches to connect the neck and bridge pickups on a Strat, but not a full-on blender pot. This week I finally realized that the no-load 250K tone pots I learned about from a Ken Fischer article years ago, which disconnect the circuit at `10', are also ideally suited to duty as blender pots. And now that I have specifically looked, I see that people have documented this repeatedly on the Web.

Anyway, I've had my Strat set up with volume/master no-load tone/blender way for a couple of days, and it's much more ergonomic than two tone pots and a pull switch, at least for me. It was always a hassle reaching for the knob to pull up the switch, and the blender obviously gives finer-grained control of the mix. And I appreciate the bonus of having the master tone right next to the volume pot so I can do wah-like stuff on the bridge pickup now.

Nothing really new here - just yet another instance of how frequently I find that what I `know' is constantly subject to real-world correction.

[bluesjuke]

They've got me interested too.

[powergus6000]

Funny you mention this I just did this to my backup strat this weekend and I loved the outcome. I am doing it to my main axe this week as soon as the 2 new pickguards come in without the hole that I drilled for the old bridge/neck toggle :)

Also I have seen people add a push pull pot to run the bridge/middle pickups in series or parallel which on some PU combos sounds great (enough that I tried it) and gives you a welfare humbucker thing, but I use a hotter bridge pickup and it sounded like crap on my guitar.

[Erock_Germany]

Hey, I just rebuilt a Strat and had a full Callaham pickguard with Lindy Fralins made and took the blender pot option. This is the cats meow. It is so easy to use and get into the habit of introducing into your tone. It is awesome.

It is even better than the G&L setup which is Volume, trebble, bass.

All my Strats will have the blender in the future!!!!!

[Gravity Jim]

I did mine because of all the talk on this forum, and it's da bomb diggity. Strats should come from the factory wired this way.

[BigsbyTracks]

Yep, I guess sometimes those trendy mods you read about on the Interweb are worth looking into!

[BigsbyTracks]

Hmm... here's where a no-load tone pot could actually prove to be a disadvantage. Since it's out of the circuit at 10, it doesn't interact with the volume pot most of the time, no matter which lug it's connected to. So I have a resistor/cap treble bleed to retain some highs.

Open and natural sounds good though... I might give that wiring a shot with a conventional tone pot, next time I take the guitar apart. Thanks Fezz!

[Kap'n]

The no-load tone pot on current Fenders ends up being the blend knob. It works perfectly.

[NTBluesGuitar]

...No need for a cap/resistor treble bleed if wired this way, and you'll have a much more open and natural sounding guitar.

I'll have to look into this. I have the treble bleed on my blender/no-load setup now...might give it a whirl soon.

[Don]

I've done this to my Strats for along time. There's one special thing is the drawing below that really makes it worth doing: moving the wire that goes to the tone pot from the outside lug to the middle lug. No need for a cap/resistor treble bleed if wired this way, and you'll have a much more open and natural sounding guitar.

I recommend this mod to ever Strat owner I meet.

[BigsbyTracks]

The no-load tone pot on current Fenders ends up being the blend knob. It works perfectly.

To be clear, I started out with two no-load tone pots and used one for the blender and one for a master tone. I'm not familiar with the current Fender wiring scheme - is one pot a no-load and the other one is loading?

**EDIT** never mind, answered my own question - no-load `Delta Tone' for the bridge/middle tone pot is indeed ideal.

Regardless, it's hard to argue with the prospect of perfection, particularly when recommended by the likes of you heavyweights. I'm definitely going to try the Fezz-approved wiring, down to a loading 250K pot for the master tone.

... and in the spirit of what I said in the first post, once again reality has slapped what I `know' on the upside of the head.

[BigsbyTracks]

Well, the deed is done; I picked up a 250K CTS pot this afternoon, replaced the no-load master tone pot and moved the tone pot connection from the hot lug to the wiper. Thanks for the counsel, guys.

[LongT]

How and would you want to do this with an HSS Strat?

Bill

[BigsbyTracks]

How and would you want to do this with an HSS Strat?

Bill

The basic wiring approach should be the same. Mixing a humbucker and a neck single coil would sound a little different than two singles, but probably in the same sort of way that the middle+bridge combination sounds different with a humbucker already. If you have a coil tap on the bridge you would probably get a little closer to the sweet tangy neck+bridge Tele sound.

So, I'm not really saying much here... this wiring is pretty easy to try, so give it a shot and see if you like it!

[BigsbyTracks]

Speaking of wiring, with the Fezz-approved tone control wiring and no treble bleed resistor/cap, I find that most of the volume change is between 7 and 10; by 5 the guitar signal is quite low.

Do you all prefer that sort of taper? The taper with the treble bleed was somewhat smoother due to the resistor between the hot lug and the wiper. On the other hand, with a gain pedal it's kind of useful to have a fairly wide range of low volume adjustment - `whisper' between 3-7, and `roar' between 7-10.

I know that if I don't like the taper there are plenty of options, I'm just stepping back a moment to consider before I change anything. It's always something...

[Kap'n]

The taper doesn't bother me at all. I never even really thought about it. I just sort of turn until it sounds good.

[BigsbyTracks]

Interesting about the Strat vs. Tele difference. I imagine it's not a matter of the construction of the pot - for a given manufacturer and set of specs, the pots probably all use the same track assembly whether the shaft is solid or split. That doesn't leave much variance other than the differences in Strat/Tele pickup construction. Hmm...

One reason I notice the taper difference is that it proved a little harder to get a smooth steel-guitar volume swell effect, due to the volume bump. If I find I care enough, I will hunt down a volume pot that gives me a suitable taper.

[Gravity Jim]

It doesn't do that at all on my Strat... but I use EMG SVs, and the pot values are much different... 25K audio taper pots (250 and 500k pots don't work with EMGs). I don't know enough about the circuit to know if that's the difference, but my Fezz-wired Strat has a very smooth volume taper from 10 to 1.

[BigsbyTracks]

Yeah, an active circuit like the EMG's would probably work a little differently, since the impedances are a lot lower. It sounds like the 25K pot they recommend is well suited to the job!

Last night I tried a 220K taper resistor without a treble bypass cap. That smoothed the taper but at the same time made the overall tone a little darker and created some unexpected subtle tone changes as the volume pot traveled. I suppose those were always there, but overshadowed by the treble bleed before. Since a pot with a taper resistor is a more complex resistive network than a simple pot, I guess there is no free lunch here.

Today I ordered some Weber 30% taper solid shaft amp pots and also some 10% taper split knurled shaft guitar pots. My idea is to swap parts around to create a 30% taper pot with a split knurled shaft. We'll see how that works.

[G.g.]

Did some copy / pasting:



Same blendermod, but with pushpullpot to ad a dummycoil in series with the (nonRWRP pickupset) Would this work?

[jamisonst]

What cap values are you guys using with this setup?

The Fralin Diagram (Fezz's Post which noone ever gave credit to...) shows an odd 0.002? I'm assuming the std 0.047uF is still good?

Someone needs to draw up a current detailed schematic, one that's easy to understand and leaves no questions to be asked. I have Cadd is someone wants to rought it out.

[jamisonst]

Is there a significant difference? Twice the value there....

I started using 0.015uF in the neck position of my LP's and it made a significant difference in opening up that neck tone. But that's going in the opposite direction than here.

[BigsbyTracks]

Today I ordered some Weber 30% taper solid shaft amp pots and also some 10% taper split knurled shaft guitar pots. My idea is to swap parts around to create a 30% taper pot with a split knurled shaft. We'll see how that works.

My pots arrived today. The shaft is firmly attached to the wiper and bushing so you can't separate the parts and swap tracks around. So much for my brilliant idea.

Now, this is in no way a complaint about Ted's pots, since he certainly does not advertise them as having surgically alterable components.

About caps, It has been a long time since I've used anything bigger than a .022. Perhaps that's another piece of unlearning to do.