1 pot for both pickups?

Hi all,

Can I modify the JB-4 kit to use 1 volume pot for both the bridge and neck pickups rather than 2?

Do I just solder both pickups to the same pot and remove the third?

Current design only allows for 1 vol and 1 tone knob

Bry

Short answer is yes.
However, you may end up with a muddy sound..
Probably better off to replace the pot with a blend pot, that way you can still switch easily between the pups or have a blend of both.

Wheres Weirdy? He will be able to explain this much better than me :)

A single volume pot will mean both pickups on all the time, which really limits your options. If you were willing to add a pickup selector toggle switch then you at least choose which pup you want to use. But, if you're sticking to just two pots then you can either:

1. Use 1 volume and 1 tone, but both pickups will always be on.
2. Use 2 volumes, one for each pup, but no tone.
3. A concentric volume pot (two stacked knobs, controlling individual volume for each pup) and standard tone pot.
4. Balance pot (controlling volume ratio between the pups) and master volume, but no tone.
5. Master volume and selector switch, no tone.
etc.

Thanks for the help guys.

Having never played a guitar, what would you recommend?

The pickups on this design are right next to each other too so will that have much affect on the different tones?

With the pickups so close together and their mid placement on the body there won't be a huge variation in individual tone from their different positions, but having only one or both on at once should have a big impact on your sound.

It's a plywood body, isn't it? If it is thick/deep enough I'd use two push/pull pots, one as volume and the other as tone, and wire them so when the knobs are pulled up it switches off the pickups. ie. pulling the volume up switches off the front pup, pulling the tone up switches off the back pup. That way you have only two knobs but can still select your pickups and control your tone.

Edit: Push/pulls usually need around at least 29-30mm cavity depth.

Yes it's ply. But unfortunately it's only 35mm overall thickness with a 25mm cavity so the push pulls just don't fit.

I've ordered a blend pot and might see if I can hide a sneaky slide switch on the back cover to select/disable the pickups.

Thanks for the advice :)

I do imagine marceline playing both pups fullbore :D

Hell yeah nick marceline would just blare away everything and anything :P wierdy to the rescue again! :P