Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Craig Mayhem on May 17, 2013 at 6:06pm

I run my Flatpups straight to jack. 250 probably matches more closely to the Ohm reading of a Flatpup... but that doesn't mean it's the best choice. get some alligator clips and test!

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on May 17, 2013 at 10:52pm

There is no 'right' component to use, but most guitar makers would use a 250a (250k ohm resistance and a logarithmic taper) type pot for volume control and a 250b type (250k ohm resistance and a linear taper) pot for a tone control because its a passive single coil pickup

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Permalink Reply by jabes on May 17, 2013 at 11:53pm

why not ask the man that makes them ?

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Permalink Reply by Elmar Zeilhofer on May 18, 2013 at 2:11am

hi there, when I used pots, I preferred the 500k - for no profound reason at all. The only no profound suspect I have is that a 250k pot dumps the harmonics more easily to ground. And as a consequence, I omitted them at all.

I wished I had the answer which one to use, but hopefully you have a better input after having tried it out. Good luck :-)

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Permalink Reply by 3 String Blues on May 18, 2013 at 5:30am

Elmar Pickups are magical, they need no pots!..infact, they dont even need guitars....music just flows from them as soon as you open the package!

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Permalink Reply by John Davidson on May 18, 2013 at 4:35am

stewmac sez

250K = warmer
The usual choice for single coil pickups.

500K = brighter
The usual choice for humbuckers.

1Meg-ohm = brightest
If you want to hear your guitar "wide open" with all the highs, try 1 Meg pots.

1-meg pots are also ideal for piezo pickups, as the ultra high impedance piezo element is more adversely effected by conventional, lower-value pots than magnetic pickups.

25K pots are used with active systems with battery-powered preamps.

These "K" numbers are the resistance ratings (kOhms). K is the abbreviation for Kilo, or 1,000. 1Meg-ohm is 1,000K, or 1-million ohms.

You can experiment with different pots on your guitar: higher values produce a slightly brighter tone. Lower values produce a slightly warmer tone (they remove little more of the highs). 
 
 

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Permalink Reply by Diglydog on May 18, 2013 at 7:06am

You could always use a DPDT switch and give yourself the choice, direct to the jack or via a volume pot.

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on May 18, 2013 at 9:46am

Yup, even a single throw basic toggle will do that job.. Gives you a preset rhythm sound..

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Permalink Reply by ron carlson on May 18, 2013 at 4:38pm

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I may just wire up a switch and give it a go. I have a mini or two left over from some passive preamps I built that would work well I would imagine. I may have something interesting switches I could pull from some old tube Tek scopes also.

Hey Elmar! As you can see, I'm finally getting around to building around the pup I got from you some time ago now.  I think it's going to be a good fit for this build.

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on May 18, 2013 at 10:07pm

You need to shield your circuit, seems you are in a noisy environment (electromagnetically speaking) even just wrapping the wires and the volume pot in alum foil (which connects to ground, ie the sleeve of the jack) should help a great deal

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Permalink Reply by Elmar Zeilhofer on May 18, 2013 at 8:25pm

Hmm.. that hum is the real voodoo for me. Does changing the two connection wires help?

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Permalink Reply by John Davidson on May 18, 2013 at 11:43pm

I don't think a switched volume pot (on/off) will do the trick here.
You would be switching from a set volume level to full volume.
Now, a switched tone control on the other hand...

Phrygian Kid is on the right track to eliminating the hum.
Be careful not to short out the circut by touching any + post or connection with your shielding.

Some other things to try:
Loosely twist lead pairs (+/-), those from the pup and those to the output jack.

Make sure all solder joints are bright and shiny.

Ron
You might want to experiment with a high-pass filter.
I'm betting that a 3db drop in the 80hz to 90hz range would be enough.

John

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