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What value resistor should I get to simulate a 500K audio pot?


do art

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It would be so I could get the same loading effect of a 500K audio pot without one actually being in the guitar. I'm thinking of wiring up a guitar without a pot. I'd be using a mini DPDT switch as a pickup on/off. What value resistor would work best for this? How many volts etc. should I use? Would it be correct to wire the resistor in series with the pickup's output?

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Would it be correct to wire the resistor in series with the pickup's output?

 

 

No, not series in the Hot. This is resistance to Ground, so you want to wire it from the hot to a Ground somewhere between the PU and the jack, you can even solder the resistor directly from the Hot lug to the Ground lug of the jack.

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typically, guitar volume controls are wired as voltage dividers -- the pot is in parallel with the pickup (so you have the full voltage drop across the pot) and th wiper position "selects" how much voltage the wiper "sees" as sort of a variable tap (conceptually you can think about it like Lug A to wiper as one resistor, Wiper to lug B as a second resistor...when you move the wiper, the two resistors may vary, but always add up to the total...500K )

 

so if you wanted to simulate the voicing of a 500Kohm pot, you'd put a 500K ohm resistor in parallel with the pickup

 

Edit : oopies - cross post (ie what wyatt said)

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typically, guitar volume controls are wired as voltage dividers -- the pot is in parallel with the pickup (so you have the full voltage drop across the pot) and th wiper position "selects" how much voltage the wiper "sees" as sort of a variable tap (conceptually you can think about it like Lug A to wiper as one resistor, Wiper to lug B as a second resistor...when you move the wiper, the two resistors may vary, but always add up to the total...500K )


so if you wanted to simulate the voicing of a 500Kohm pot, you'd put a 500K ohm resistor in parallel with the pickup


Edit : oopies - cross post (ie what wyatt said)

 

Must have been adding my last couple of comments as you were typing.

 

But :thu:, "parallel" sums it up best. The OP just wants that 500K resistor running from the PU's Hot to the PU's Ground somewhere before both leave the guitar

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hey do art, one fun way you could do it is instead of using a fixed resistor is to use a trimmer instead to make sort of a "variable voicing" system, so you could tune it to your liking

eh maybe overkill but if you are still playing with how this effects your sound, might be worth it

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Off hand, I don't think you can buy a 500k resistor, you'll have to choose between a 480K? and a 540K? ... get the 540K? IMHO.

 

 

Sure, you can buy 498K, 499K, 500K, 510K, 511K. But I doubt you'll find them at Radio Shack, they would have to be bought from a electronics wholesaler like mouser.

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