I've put a blend pot in my HSS Strat copy, also a coil split push/push switch. I'm loving it. Some sounds are a bit thin but by adding the full coils a beefs up the sound to a usable level. I'm finding that some of the settings with the blend pot on 5 are really good too.
Resurrecting this thread because I've just found out that blend pots come in two flavours. The one Weirdy described near the start of the thread has a 'MN' taper. This is the sort you want for your guitar pickups. The other sort has an 'AC' taper (log + anti-log). This type is more used as a pan control in mixers and the like (so one input and two outputs as opposed to two inputs and one output for standard guitar/bass use).
The AC type should in theory have a 3dB reduction on both pots at the 50% point, which would give a constant level output if both input signals were the same. But the reality is that it's more likely to be a 6dB or more drop, resulting in a drop in output level at this point. With guitar pickups, you also need to add in phase cancellation, thinning the sound and also reducing the volume a bit.
So make sure you have an MN taper pot (Bourns do one). If you think you may have an AC type, then you should be able to check it with a multimeter, as the resistance on an MN pot will only change over half it's travel (you may have to unsolder some wires to stop the other half of the pot interfering with the readings.
I'd also recommend using a 500k pot rather than a 250k pot. The pot track/resistance will be in parallel with the volume pot track resistance, so will reduce the effective volume pot resistance considerably. Regardless of whether you've got single coils or humbuckers, 500k is the minimum resistance blend pot you should be looking for if you have passive pickups. Blending active signals is different, and you'd probably use 25k or 50k pots at most.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote