Lowering a pickup's output linearly, any starting points?

[Sascha Franck]

So, I happen to have a guitar where I'd like to lower the output of the neck pickup (see this thread, in case you're interested). Pretty much the way a well chosen/configured volume pot with a treble bleed might do. Just that I want this to be a fixed (or maybe switchable) thing.
In other words: I'd like to find a decent combination of a resistor and a capacitor that I would just soider to the output of said pickup.

As I know that pretty much no single combination of these will work all the time, I'm happily willing to experiment with some combinations (maybe even a lot), but I could really do with a starting point, so I could buy some batches of resistors and capacitors to fool around with. Anything in the ballpark would be fine for a start, I'll then do the trial and error thing.

I would say that 2-3dB of volume reduction would be a nice starting point and the resistance of the humbucker in question seems to be around the 8k marks.

Please note: I don't want to exchange this pickup but keep it at pretty much all costs as it simply sounds fantastic (which is also why I think of making the circuit switchable so I can bypass any degration of the signal whenever I feel like).

Any takers?
Thanks!

 

[Eagle]

Te usual way to do this is add a trim pot inside the cavity . Slight pita on a 335 but it works well and you can fine tune it. I would drill a hole in the backplate and mount it there but you can’t do that here. Maybe mount it just inside the F hole with a Velcro strip so you can get to it easily to adjust. Or glue it to the side of a pot ( set and forget style ) .

 

[Sascha Franck]

Will that trim pot work linearly without any help of a treble bleed? I mean, most volume pots don't.
And if yes, which one could you recommend?

 

[Eagle]

You can add a treble bleed if you think it needs it.
You can use a mini pot Velcro mounted inside then the wiring is easy for a treble bleed. CTS makes a great one.

Guitar Pot, 500k (550k) Mini Split Shaft Audio Taper Pot with 9% Tolerance | eBay UK

Finally, a top quality mini pot that's as good as the large ones. bushing height, shaft. 238 in. shaft length, requires 3/8 in. mounting hole. Tolerance = ±9%. Split Shaft (24 Tooth). Can Size = 5/8 in.

ebay.us

550k to help the high end and 9% tolerance.
You could easily fit that in line Velcro mounted near the F hole . Use heat shrink over the connections to make it robust because you may need to take it in and out multiple times.

 

[Sascha Franck]

You can add a treble bleed if you think it needs it.
You can use a mini pot Velcro mounted inside then the wiring is easy for a treble bleed. CTS makes a great one.

Guitar Pot, 500k (550k) Mini Split Shaft Audio Taper Pot with 9% Tolerance | eBay UK

Finally, a top quality mini pot that's as good as the large ones. bushing height, shaft. 238 in. shaft length, requires 3/8 in. mounting hole. Tolerance = ±9%. Split Shaft (24 Tooth). Can Size = 5/8 in.

ebay.us

550k to help the high end and 9% tolerance.
You could easily fit that in line Velcro mounted near the F hole . Use heat shrink over the connections to make it robust because you may need to take it in and out multiple times.

Hm, that's a bit large. I'd rather like something I could mount straight onto the back (or side) of the 3-position rotary switch I plan to slap in. And as I would carefully test the entire circuit mounted on some piece of cardboard (using extended pickup cables), I wouldn't have to re-adjust it, once it's in. I mean, there's still some height adjustement options for finetuning.

 

[Eagle]

Hm, that's a bit large. I'd rather like something I could mount straight onto the back (or side) of the 3-position rotary switch I plan to slap in. And as I would carefully test the entire circuit mounted on some piece of cardboard (using extended pickup cables), I wouldn't have to re-adjust it, once it's in. I mean, there's still some height adjustement options for finetuning.

The reason I suggest that is it works and can be incorporated in any guitar but I get your point. Any quality trim pot would work but if you need to add a treble bleed wiring it gets a little more delicate.
This option is easier to do definitely works and easily mounted in the way I suggest. Pickup hight is the old school option but you can’t sometimes lower the output enough before you move too far from the pickups sweet spot.

 

[Eagle]

One surprising guitar to have a hidden pot was ;

It had been removed by this time though.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Pickup hight is the old school option but you can’t sometimes lower the output enough before you move too far from the pickups sweet spot.

That's exactly why I want to lower the output. I could still lower the pickup quite a bit (and maybe even install a lower profile frame), but it's already lowered so much it doesn't sound as good as it potentially can.

Anyhow, if trimpots can do it, there must be some sort of resistors (or res/cap combos) doing the same, which would still be my preferred choice.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Chat GPT recommends starting with a serial resistor of around 1-2kOhm and/or possibly/alternatively adding another one running in parallel after the first one, R1 being around 4.7kOhm, R2 at 10kOhm.
Does that make any sense to anyone in the knows?

 

[newholland]

is there any reason just backing off the volume pot wont work? not being snarky, honestly- just asking, i run my lester with the neck at 7 pretty much always cause of the same phenomenon.

 

[Sascha Franck]

is there any reason just backing off the volume pot wont work?

Yes. I only want one master volume and don't want to fool around with it all the time when switching pickups. That's just not a great solution for live.

 

[newholland]

Yes. I only want one master volume and don't want to fool around with it all the time when switching pickups. That's just not a great solution for live.

i hear ya.. thats why i went to telecasters. true story.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Fwiw, I actually thought to add a second volume pot just for the neck pickup instead of the 3 position rotary switch, but I might accidentally touch it and lose balance again.

What I want to end up with is a master volume, master tone and two 3 position rotary switches (one for level reduction of the neck plus perhaps a special version of that with some bass cut, the other one activating two c-switch options for the bridge). Knowing myself (and even hoping so), I may end up with the rotary switches being a set-and-forget thing "per situation", as I really don't like fooling around with these kinda things too much live, while still having an option to bypass whatever additional level/tone circuits.

Anyhow, still interested in further takes than what Eagle or ChatGPT recommended.

 

[newholland]

the other less intrusive option is always a volume pedal.. the out front, bypassable and no-mod necessary option!

 

[Sascha Franck]

the other less intrusive option is always a volume pedal.. the out front, bypassable and no-mod necessary option!

Nah, needs to be done on guitar level. Also, a volume pedal would cause the same issues as adjusting a master volume pot as well.

 

[Eagle]

Chat GPT recommends starting with a serial resistor of around 1-2kOhm and/or possibly/alternatively adding another one running in parallel after the first one, R1 being around 4.7kOhm, R2 at 10kOhm.
Does that make any sense to anyone in the knows?

Try it, it doesn’t cost much. Also things that work on paper don’t necessarily deliver the tone you had with just a slight change of the volume knob.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Try it, it doesn’t cost much. Also things that work on paper don’t necessarily deliver the tone you had with just a slight change of the volume knob.

I know. That's why I will go for the cardboard-outside-first approach. I already know it'll suck balls, though.

 

[newholland]

Try it, it doesn’t cost much. Also things that work on paper don’t necessarily deliver the tone you had with just a slight change of the volume knob.

yeah- i was gonna say, resistance is resistance and altered impedance is kinda equal anywhere in front of an amp.. at least you could buffer a volume pedal.

i know its a pain though... i think the bridge pickup is yer best course of action, and hell if i know an easy way to get to findinf the right one!

 

[Sascha Franck]

i think the bridge pickup is yer best course of action

Likely, but I'd also like the guitar to be more in balance with my others. And none of them has a neck pickup even remotely as loud.

 

[Chocol8]

If you want linear volume control, are you willing to put an onboard buffer? You could use a buffer with a built in trim pot, or run the buffered signal into a trim pot or resistor on a switch or pretty much whatever you want at that point.