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

[Sascha Franck]

If you want linear volume control, are you willing to put an onboard buffer?

No way.

Really, all I want is a "set" lowered volume that you could as well get from a typical volume pot with possibly a small treble bleed cap soldered in.

 

[HomespunEffects]

I also have a favorite guitar that has a great sounding set of pickups except for the fact that the neck pickup was too strong and boomy. I tried lowering it to no avail. I also switched it to a master volume.

What worked for me was installing a .047 capacitor in series with the neck pickup. Now the pickups balance. It shaved off a tiny bit of that annoying woof. While you’re in there give it a try.

 

[Sascha Franck]

What worked for me was installing a .047 capacitor in series with the neck pickup.

Yeah, those are the typical treble bleed caps, so I will order some of them anyway. Should as well work in parallel with the resistor.

 

[Jarick]

For that guitar, here's what I'd do:

500k Master volume where neck volume is now
1M Master tone where neck tone is now
1M Bridge volume where bridge volume is now
1M Neck volume where neck volume is now with a treble bleed cap on it

You can balance the neck and bridge volumes to taste and then use the master volume to control overall volume.

1M + 1M + 500k pots in parallel should be the same 250k resistance as 500k + 500k

 

[HomespunEffects]

Yeah, those are the typical treble bleed caps, so I will order some of them anyway. Should as well work in parallel with the resistor.

If you’re going to do a Treble bleed the one that I’ve found to be less intrusive is the Parrish version. It has a resistor in parallel and series plus a capacitor.

The bleed that is just a resistor and cap in parallel gets super crispy at lower volumes. Like ice pick in the ear.

 

[Sascha Franck]

For that guitar, here's what I'd do:

500k Master volume where neck volume is now
1M Master tone where neck tone is now
1M Bridge volume where bridge volume is now
1M Neck volume where neck volume is now with a treble bleed cap on it

You can balance the neck and bridge volumes to taste and then use the master volume to control overall volume.

1M + 1M + 500k pots in parallel should be the same 250k resistance as 500k + 500k

That's all fine and dandy, but seriously, I only want one single master volume and I want an option to alter either pickup's sound through some rotary switches (replacing the bridge pickup's controls).

 

[Sascha Franck]

If you’re going to do a Treble bleed the one that I’ve found to be less intrusive is the Parrish version. It has a resistor in parallel and series plus a capacitor.

I have a nice combo for treble bleeds (really typical 500k quality pot and a 220pf cap) on pots, but in this case a higher value might be required. As said, I don't want a pot to tame the neck pickup's output.

 

[Eagle]

Go with the trimpot you won’t get a negative result, you can fine tune it real time by ear without second guessing anything and once it’s set and in situ you won’t know it’s there. Other then that you could get a bunch of resistors and wire a couple of crock clips in to test on the fly . Find the results yourself and then hard wire it.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Other then that you could get a bunch of resistors and wire a couple of crock clips in to test on the fly . Find the results yourself and then hard wire it.

This is what I'll do. While the trimpot is a viable option, I rather have everything as nice and tidy as it gets.