StratMatt wrote:I’ve got a set of 36th annis in my LP which is my go-to for everything. I know the PAF Pro in my Jem covers a lot of ground too.
If it’s a 250k pot in there now then I might want to go to a 500k - I use the vol pot all the time and could do with more sweep than what I have currently.
But with 500k pots it will be brighter still
Will it not be darker with a humbucker as opposed to stacked single coil/rail pickup?
250k suits singles, 500k humbuckers
250k with humbuckers gets way too dark, 500k with singles are too bright
GrantB wrote:Tony, your taste is, as always, very refined. Or as HG would say, "bloody awful".
StratMatt wrote:I’ve got a set of 36th annis in my LP which is my go-to for everything. I know the PAF Pro in my Jem covers a lot of ground too.
If it’s a 250k pot in there now then I might want to go to a 500k - I use the vol pot all the time and could do with more sweep than what I have currently.
But with 500k pots it will be brighter still
Will it not be darker with a humbucker as opposed to stacked single coil/rail pickup?
Not sure, could be, depends how they are wired. You are going to be running both single coils and humbuckers through the same wiring, so you might need to do some experimentation to find the best compromise. Here's a wild thought...If you have the room inside of the control cavity, you could go for stacked pots (using 250k and 500k values for both the volume and the tone controls) You can buy such things. When you select the humbucker, you also select the 500k pots. So you build two complete wiring circuits with different impedances and use the pickup switch to move between them.
If you need to run a single and a humbucker off one vol, use a 500k pot, and take a 470k resistor, solder one end to where the single coil hot wire is connected and the other to ground.
This way, the humbucker see 500k, and the single sees 250kish
GrantB wrote:Tony, your taste is, as always, very refined. Or as HG would say, "bloody awful".
StratMatt wrote:Thanks appreciate the input. Am I wanting linear or audio taper pots?
Hmm, could be at a road block right now anyway. As Matt says the rout isn't quite right for a humbucker
The route is not right for a humbucker, but if you built up the sides you could add a pickup ring. Ash used to use those chrome Ibanez ones which would look cool, but they are hard to get.
StratMatt wrote:Thanks appreciate the input. Am I wanting linear or audio taper pots?
Hmm, could be at a road block right now anyway. As Matt says the rout isn't quite right for a humbucker
What's the model of Dimarzio already in there? when you say not thick enough, do you mean lack of bass and low mids? or not enough output?
It’s a single sized Air Norton. Mostly lack of bass and low mids, though a touch more output wouldn’t hurt. They make gruntier ones, though not sure if it would quite get there still.
I don’t wanna start chiselling away at the guitar so pickup rings are an option.
Brightness can be tamed easily with capacitors. If you have 22nF in there now then go up to 33nF. If the latter is installed then go to 47nF. If you want to experiment with smaller steps of say 5nF, then make (solder/twist) a few pairs of 10nF caps in series. (Two 10nF caps in series = 5nF). So if you have 3 5nF pairs created then you can play with you standard installed cap as follows (assume 22nF is installed):
Put first pair in parallel with main cap - this gives you 27nF
Add second pair in parallel with the above - this gives 32nF
Add 3rd pair in parallel with the above - this gives 37nF, etc, etc
Use crocodile clips for quick changes to hear sound differences.
When faced with quality, I recognise it every time.
StratMatt wrote:Thanks appreciate the input. Am I wanting linear or audio taper pots?
Hmm, could be at a road block right now anyway. As Matt says the rout isn't quite right for a humbucker
What's the model of Dimarzio already in there? when you say not thick enough, do you mean lack of bass and low mids? or not enough output?
It’s a single sized Air Norton. Mostly lack of bass and low mids, though a touch more output wouldn’t hurt. They make gruntier ones, though not sure if it would quite get there still.
I don’t wanna start chiselling away at the guitar so pickup rings are an option.
You will have to route a tiny bit out so that you can screw in a full sized humbucker. Please get those rounded chrome rings if you go for that option...
Zaulkin wrote:
You will have to route a tiny bit out so that you can screw in a full sized humbucker. Please get those rounded chrome rings if you go for that option...
I feel ya haha. I’m certainly hesitant to do anything I can’t reverse.
250k / 500k pots have the same sweep.
A no load pot would cut the sound completely, they go open circuit at "10" effectively removing a tone control circuit which is their normal use.
I would try a humbucker as-is and see what its like first, Alnico V would likely be a better choice, I find them thicker than II and IV. 36th Annies are a good bet. Overwound PAF ranges often knock a bit of the top out of the sound. Then I would change the tone cap making it slightly larger if required.
Don't forget to actually use the tone control, it doesn't have to sound "right" with the tone (or volume for that matter) on 10.
Tube amp and guitar tones straight from 1958… amazing how believable the sounds were back then, even without the modellers...