The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
  1. #1

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    Has anyone tried one of these? I'm building a hollow 'jazz' Tele (again!!) and the original plan was for just a neck pickup but got to thinking maybe I should just go ahead and add the second one but don't want to fool with adding a switch. Thoughts??

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    I've got one twin-pickup guitar with a blend pot instead of a switch, and like it - not a good choice if you tend to switch pickups a lot mid-song, but great to dial in your tone if your two pickups don't have seperate volume pots.

    Make sure you get the RIGHT kind of blend pot, though, they do come in two different versions:

    -) the "wrong" kind: it's basically like two stacked volume pots, with one wired in reverse - what this means: when you're in the middle of the pot's travel (usually there's a center detent that you can feel when turning), both pickups are only "running" at 50% (if it's linear pots) - with all the side effects: loading down of the pickup = less treble, and reduced overall volume.
    With this type, what you get from each pickup when turning would be: 100/0 - 75/25 - 50/50 - 25/75 - 0/100.

    -) the "right" kind: with these, one of the stacked pots is always "full on" until the center detent, and after that middle position, the other pickup is always full on - so you'd get 100/0 - 100/50 - 100/100 - 50/100 - 0/100.
    What this means is that, since one pickup is always "full on" for half of the treble, you won't lose any treble, you're just gradually adding the other pickup; and at the middle position, both pickups will be "full on", just like on the middle position of a 3-way switch.

    So, make sure to carefully read the description of what you're looking at!
    Last edited by RomanS; 06-01-2020 at 06:29 PM.

  4. #3

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    IME switches are easier than pots, but I suppose either would work. Personally, I prefer having the bridge pickup completely out of the circuit, but I'm not you.

  5. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by sgosnell
    IME switches are easier than pots, but I suppose either would work. Personally, I prefer having the bridge pickup completely out of the circuit, but I'm not you.
    That's sort of my thought - I probably wouldn't even use the bridge pickup - I may just forget it and stay with my original idea of just having a neck pickup. For the time being,I'll probably use the DiMarzio 36th Anniversary that I already have.

  6. #5

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    i have an older godin radiator with 2 (single coil) pups...has 3 knobs- (2 volume and one tone)...no switch...the two volume knobs do all the blending between pups...easy and efficient...


    cheers

  7. #6

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    If you won't ever use the bridge pickup, and don't want to use a switch, here's another idea:
    Try the wiring that Fender used on their Stringmaster steel guitars: in addition to the volume and tone pots, they had a "mixer" pot. This is how it worked: The bridge pickup is always on; with the mixer pot you could gradually add the neck pickup to the bridge pickup - but in SERIES, not in parallel (as on most twin pickup guitars, except Danelectros) - now with two pickups in series you get a much fatter tone (think of them as the two coils of a humbucker) than with two in parallel (where you usually get a more mid-scooped, thinner tone). Two single coils in series works best with lower output pickups, and if you get a RWRP set, it's even hum-cancelling when you add the second pickup...

    Here's a diagram:
    https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/user...ngmaster_2.jpg

    Of course, since for you the neck pickup would be your "main" pickup, you'd swap "lead" and "rhythm" from the diagram. What you'd get: your typical Tele neck pickup tone with the mixer pot turned down - and then you could gradually dial in more fullness/fat - but with more definiton than a neck humbucker would have, since the other coil sits so much closer to the bridge...

    Admittedly, I've never tried that on an "underarm" guitar, but I love that wiring on all my homemade steel guitars...

  8. #7

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    Wouldn't a push-pull pot do the job?