soldering a pickup directly to the output jack!?
- Thread starter FIXXXER
- Start date
Of course it will work. Take all the BS that you don't need out of the signal chain. Probably a pretty good idea.
Lately, as in the past 8 months or so, I have been running just a bridge pickup to volume to jack setup on both my Strat and my Explorer with EMGs, I never use tone knobs anyway. I dunno if I could go without a volume though, I like being able to turn the guitar "off" when I'm not playing on it while plugged in. The output should be the about the same as if you had it wired to a volume pot and turned all the way up, maybe slightly hotter if anything I would imagine but not a drastic change.
thanks for the fast reply! 
did you notice any change in sound by leaving out the tone pots!?
i am not the guy who is hearing stuff like that, just wondering if the pot affects the sound in any way.
haha, having no volume knob...must be strange but as i planed to use this guitar for recording only it think it will be ok.
cheers
S.
did you notice any change in sound by leaving out the tone pots!?
i am not the guy who is hearing stuff like that, just wondering if the pot affects the sound in any way.
haha, having no volume knob...must be strange but as i planed to use this guitar for recording only it think it will be ok.
cheers
S.
Yeah I use my guitars for recording only too. I dunno, I've always been told taking the tone pot out of the signal path will give a better sound, I never A/B'ed either of my guitars when I switched to just having a volume, but I do know they both sound awesome
C-Martin
Member
Yeah I use my guitars for recording only too. I dunno, I've always been told taking the tone pot out of the signal path will give a better sound, I never A/B'ed either of my guitars when I switched to just having a volume, but I do know they both sound awesome
"Better" is pretty subjective. It'll be brighter sounding and thus giving the illusion that its hotter output, which can be a good thing depending on what your looking for and the type of axe your using. The thing that happens when removing the tone pot is that you are removing the capacitor which is essentially bleeding off highs. Like you probably already know, turning the tone knob from 10 to 0 you'll get a darker tone. Removing the pot just bypasses all that. A 250k or 500k pot on 10 isn't the same as not having a pot even though the difference is slight. There are also some "no load" pots that essentially do the same when set to 10, 9 being the "real" 10 and 10 being the bypassed signal.
Mutant
I hate that supercow !
You can also go for optionality... just get a switch that would change the signal path for you - one way straight to the output and the other way to volume and tone pots, then to output.
Trevoire520
Member
you could try adding a killswitch instead of a volume pot. theoretically it should be sonically transparent, but you still get the option to mute the guitar when you're not playing. plus you're no longer dealing with accidentally turning down the volume pot while playing...happens to me all the time on my charvel.
Good call.
Everyone is correct, the tone will be slightly brighter by not having the volume and tone controls loading down the pickup. With active pickups the difference will not be as noticeable, but should still be audible.
OneDaySky
Clint
thanks for the numerous answers guys!
first of all, i am not a tone junkie, the main reason i want no pots, switches etc. is for the optics of the guitar!
i want an isntrument that's a s simple as possible, no pots, no switches, no bindings, no dots, no paint etc.
if i can gain an improvement in sound, why not!
i have a few more questions (noob alert):
is there a non-soldering solution for my plan!?
thinking about placing the jack and the pickup into
the body and just connect them using a clip or something like that,
so i could save money, otherwise i have to bring it to a guitar tech
as i know a shit about soldering and even if i did, i do not have a soldering iron.
what does cause noise?
the pickup itself or the built in pots, or both parts tigether?
if i leave the pots and the switch out will i need any kind of shielding?
thanks in advance!
cheers
S.
first of all, i am not a tone junkie, the main reason i want no pots, switches etc. is for the optics of the guitar!
i want an isntrument that's a s simple as possible, no pots, no switches, no bindings, no dots, no paint etc.
if i can gain an improvement in sound, why not!
i have a few more questions (noob alert):
is there a non-soldering solution for my plan!?
thinking about placing the jack and the pickup into
the body and just connect them using a clip or something like that,
so i could save money, otherwise i have to bring it to a guitar tech
as i know a shit about soldering and even if i did, i do not have a soldering iron.
what does cause noise?
the pickup itself or the built in pots, or both parts tigether?
if i leave the pots and the switch out will i need any kind of shielding?
thanks in advance!
cheers
S.
Sloan
Sounds like shit!
You can scrape carbon off of your volume or tone pots so when they are all the way up, it's like they're not in the circuit at all.
You could also add a switch to bypass the controls as well.
You could also add a switch to bypass the controls as well.
thanks for the numerous answers guys!
first of all, i am not a tone junkie, the main reason i want no pots, switches etc. is for the optics of the guitar!
i want an isntrument that's a s simple as possible, no pots, no switches, no bindings, no dots, no paint etc.
if i can gain an improvement in sound, why not!
i have a few more questions (noob alert):
is there a non-soldering solution for my plan!?
thinking about placing the jack and the pickup into
the body and just connect them using a clip or something like that,
so i could save money, otherwise i have to bring it to a guitar tech
as i know a shit about soldering and even if i did, i do not have a soldering iron.
what does cause noise?
the pickup itself or the built in pots, or both parts tigether?
if i leave the pots and the switch out will i need any kind of shielding?
thanks in advance!
cheers
S.
No, there is no 'non soldering' solution, forget it. Get yourself a soldering iron, pliers, decent wire cutters, some solder and wire. Cheap soldering stations go for around 40 euros here. Learn to do it yourself. Tools needed cost roughly the same amount you'd pay the tech.
These are basic skills every studio engineer should have.
I would put a push-pull volume pot in the guitar. Volume pot would be removed from the circuit when the knob is pulled.
Shielding is still needed. Noise is picked up by wires and of course the pickup.
By removing pots from the circuit you're raising the input impedance seen by the pickup quite a bit, thus raising the low pass frequency caused by cable capacitance together with resistance to ground. So I guess it will sound quite a bit brighter, but I've actually never tried myself...
SimonTaddio_Qc
Headbanger
If every spare wire is treated correctly, it'll work for sure.
I own a Jackson that has only 1 pick up and 1 volume pot, that's all. Works like a charm for metal.
I own a Jackson that has only 1 pick up and 1 volume pot, that's all. Works like a charm for metal.
JeffTD
Senhor Testiculo
This was going to be my suggestion.
Suhr has this awesome circuit they call a "Blower" circuit which is activated by a push-push button just behind the volume knob on some of their axes; what it does is override whatever the pickup switch/tone control positions are set to and give you the signal of the bridge humbucker hard-wired to the output jack.
You can go from rolled back volume + neck pickup, to full-blown bridge bucker and back with the push of a single button.
C-Martin
Member
That's a pretty fucking good idea. I may have to try that one. I tend to play with my volume knob allot so this would give me more options.
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