Adding another volume pot

Updated
njrusmc
I brought this up once before, but now I am concerned about the wiring. I want to replace my single volume pot with a dual concentric so I can control each pickup volume separately. I looked at the wiring diagram for it and was confused at one point. Because I will only have one tone, I noticed that the .1uf cap is tied to the tone pot chassis instead of to the volume pot (as it is normally done). Is this correct? If so, why? I would think that I would just need 2 caps .... two from the tone pot, one into each volume pot. Likewise, the diagram was for the gibson-style selector switch (from the EMG technical data sheet). Can someone more electrically inclined please supply me with a diagram and explanation? Thanks in advance.
MikeAmottV2006

Ditch the tone pot and wire up 2 volumes like the Ninja's have?

njrusmc

You missed my point bro. I am going to have THREE pots (three knobs, two holes in the guitar). The volume will be a dual concentric, essentially 2 knobs controlling 2 different pots on 1 shaft. Plus the tone pot.

MikeAmottV2006

Oh ok....I guess I read it too fast.

njrusmc

No problem. My original idea was to have 4 knobs, 2 vols and 2 tones, but I dont use my tone knob enough to justify it. Plus, I have another 9V in my electronics cavity and I dont want it to get too crowded.

DeathrollJM

all you need on your guitar is 1 volume knob and if you have EMG's and afterburner

DeathrollJM

i personally don't get the idea of having a tone knob or two volume knobs, just a chance for something to go wrong, either by the knobs being tweaked where they aren't supposed to be or wiring issues.

The simpler you keep it, the better the "electronic" tone is going to be, all that wiring diminishes tone.

Bridge The Void

i personally don't get the idea of having a tone knob or two volume knobs, just a chance for something to go wrong, either by the knobs being tweaked where they aren't supposed to be or wiring issues.

The simpler you keep it, the better the "electronic" tone is going to be, all that wiring diminishes tone.

You'd be surprised how versatile a guitar with Les Paul style electronics can be. Ever imagine blending a combination of volume and tone levels on the two pickups at the same time? Makes for some interesting tones. Just like on Strats, really.

I find tone knobs essential for single coil pickups, especially in my setup where I have a single channel amp and roll down the volume for cleans - since my distortion is dialed up pretty bright, a tad roll off on the tone tames it down when things go clean so they're not too sharp sounding.

Then again, the majority of people here play metal and thus can disregard this post :p

njrusmc

The simpler you keep it, the better the "electronic" tone is going to be, all that wiring diminishes tone.

I don't know if I agree with that. Compared to the 25,000 ohm pots, I doubt the micro-ohm resistance of a wire has any effect on signal strength. Can anyone else add some feedback to this comment?

The reason I want two volume knobs is because I often prefer to use my neck pickups for certain lead work. As such, I would keep the volume at max and my bridge pickup at maybe 70%. This has worked well for me in the past ... but normally I would just turn up my volume really fast when I hit my pickup selector, then switch back to bridge and decrease the volume again.

EDIT: Jet, thanks for that diagram!

njrusmc

OK, ordered the pot from guitar parts depot. When it comes, I will try to knock out the installation ASAP ... I promise to include pictures and a post mortem analysis of how difficult it was for those who may be wondering.

riku

if you wire up 2 volume controls in series then make sure that you get the right resistance pots. The general rule is that you should have 500k Ohm pots for humbuckers and 250k Ohm for single coils. So if you've got humbuckers the both volume pots should be 250k Ohm (giving a total of 500k Ohm).

njrusmc

Correct, Jet66. The pots will not be in series, they will control individual pickups and are rated at 25K. Its the name-brand EMG pot so I know any compatibility issues are nil.

njrusmc

Update: Epic failure.

The hole for the pot was not big enough. Desoldering everything and realized this. Was a bitch to re-solder. Additionally, Jet66's diagram was totally different than the diagram I devised, which was totally different than what the previous wiring was. The 3-way switch had some crazy wiring to it as well, and the tip of the jack went straight to the volume (not tone) pot. What a pain in the ass and waste of 2 hours of quality practice time.

In the future, I may drill out the hole with the help of my father who will be able to assist in the re-wiring. Until then, failure.

njrusmc

Update: Not such an epic failure.

I took the new pot and soldering it up in a cool way. Instead of letting "white" mean "signal" or "hot", I decided to solder the white leads from the EMG quick connect to two different colors, one for bridge (gray) and one for neck (orange). Those colors match the logos on the pickups so its kind of common sense.

Additionally, the color of those wires will persist through the whole circuit. I also took a piece of metallic vector board and I plan on supergluing it to the bottom of my cavity as a grounding pad. Much easier to use than the back of a pot.

I put shrink wrap around all the leads on the pot and it looks pretty squared away. I hope to drill out the hole sometime soon so I can finish the job correctly.

njrusmc

Update:

Melted the pot. If you apply too much heat the plastic will warp. Had to buy another, waiting for it to arrive before I continue. Only 5 more quick solder connections and 4 shrink wraps until completion.

Successfully drilled out the hole for the new pot. When the new pot comes, just need to reconnect the wires. I also shortened the other wires to minimize resistance and congestion in the cavity and used shrink wrap where I could. Pics to come (this is by far one of the nicest soldering jobs I have ever done).

njrusmc

Oh, also a tip for anyone doing wiring work. Dont use freaking MASKING TAPE to cover up your bare leads .. spend the 25 cents a foot for some shrink wrap and use a blowdryer if you dont have a heatgun. The tape will come off and your sound could get shorted, as my H207 just did. Had to give it a quick fix.

njrusmc

SUCCESS!

Got the new part today, pics coming soon. Only problem is that the knob were not well designed so they kind of catch on one another. Gotta sand the top one down a little bit.

Post to Thread