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Wired and test today, couple questions...

I wired up the pot, jack and piezo today, plugged them in to a guitar amp, held them under the string of another guitar and plucked, it worked like a charm except for one thing. Apparently I wired the pot backwards or something. When you turn it toward off, it gets louder and then when you click it off, it doesn't shut off. Turning the other way makes it quieter. I wired it per directions I found in the Radio Shack reviews which also matched pictures I found of other people's pots.

Blue wire on left #3 goes to red wire on piezo. Blue wire in center #2 goes to positive on jack.

Brown wire goes to negative on jack and black on piezo.

Do I just need to switch the blue wires?

I know my soldering is messy, I have a crappy 35 year old, 30W iron.

Here is the pot I used:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062298&f...

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Permalink Reply by Rouxdy Blues on May 15, 2012 at 12:20pm

I've got no idea, but I'd try it. What have you got to lose except time?

And besides, it'll only improve the soldering skills. :)

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Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on May 15, 2012 at 12:26pm

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Permalink Reply by wormil on May 15, 2012 at 1:02pm

Yep, that's how I wired it.

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Permalink Reply by Ted Crocker on May 15, 2012 at 3:04pm

Looks correct, follows the diagram I made that Dan posted. I'd try swapping the wires on the 2 outside lugs of the pot.

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Permalink Reply by wormil on May 15, 2012 at 4:45pm

I'm slowly figuring this out. Apparently to use the on/off switch I need to move the wire from the #2 lug (middle) to the lower right lug on the backside. Might still have to swap the ground, will test afterward and see.

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on May 16, 2012 at 2:34am

Switch the outer two. Swapping the blue ones won't change anything :)

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on May 16, 2012 at 2:37am

And get a $5 multimeter and work out which way to make your circuits as you make em. Because of its internal workings a potentiometer works backwards from how you might expect, as do lever type switches.

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Permalink Reply by wormil on May 16, 2012 at 6:29am

You're right, I need to buy a new multimeter and work this out. I got caught up in all the other stuff and got lazy with the electronics.

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Permalink Reply by Maddog on May 16, 2012 at 10:12am

Do you really need an on/off pot?

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Permalink Reply by wormil on May 16, 2012 at 11:30am

No, I suppose not. It was just there and seemed a shame not to use it.

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Permalink Reply by Maddog on May 16, 2012 at 3:46pm

I was just curious if this is what is causing the problem, probably not but I have never used a pot with an on/off and am wondering if it's the root of the problem?

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Permalink Reply by wormil on May 17, 2012 at 6:48am

Well in a sense, yeah. I used an audio pot with an spst (on/off) switch which apparently most people don't use and I wasn't familiar with how to wire it. It does control volume as wired, it just isn't wired correctly for the type of switch it is. I may just leave it alone as I don't really need an on/off.