What Pot for a Volume Box?

I use backing tracks that I've recorded myself and absolute hate volume pedals. I'm wanting to built a very small volume control that I can attach to my mike stand and when I want to tweek the volume, I can just reach out and adjust a knob.. I'm running the tracks thru a Gemini DJ style CD player.

Question: What would be the best type and what value of pot to use for this?

Thanks in advance!

If the signal coming out of the cd player is line level, a 1 meg should work fine. If its a stereo signal you'd need two, a dual pot would be less fiddely though. It would have one knob to adjust 2 channels. You could use a 500K or maybe a 250K but you may have some signal loss. The taper will be the key. My concern with a hot line signal the volume may jump from zero to max quickly. Having a lower value may eliminate this at a sacrifice of some overall volume. A small line driver amp with a pot would be the best option for knob linerarity and minimal noise from a carbon pot.

Thanks, WRGKMC!

Actually, now that I read your post, the signal comes out of the CD player into a mini headphone amp as I run earbuds to my drummer. I then run a line out of the headphone amp to the volume pedal. I rig it that way so my playing around with a volume pedal doesn't blow my drummers brains out by accident. (Ain't all that much left to blow! Ha) I actually use a amp onstage and the signal also runs to FOH. I don't think any volume loss is going to be a issue?

Question: when I look at a Ernie Ball volume pedal, they would use a 25K pot for a active signal. Would the setup I have be considered a 'active' signal and then would you still recommend a 1meg pot? Or use a 25k?

Thanks Again in Advance

An active pedal can use a different value. A pedal doesnt spin the pot 360 degrees in most cases, it has to create the volume ramp within a partial turn. Same gord for analog wahs in many cases. You can use all kinds of pots in and active circuit like the 25K because the circuit is probibly designed to gate a transistor to turn on with a small amount of resistance change. A 25K pot by itself would cause a huge volume loss just being connected to the line signal. I have a passive Volume pedal that has 2 250K pots in it. One for the pedal and one on the side that lets you set the low volume level which is nice. You can set knob for the low volume level for chords instead of turning off the volume, and the pedal is used to get the volume to lead level.

I use a morely now which uses optics vs pots to give volume control. Pots wear out too fast.

Back to your situation, You could to wire that pot like you originally intended in place of the volume pedal without a problem. Its a very simple project. The center lead of say a 500k gets connected to the hot side. One side leg gets connected to the pot casing and ground wire, same way it does in a guitar.

You may want to wire it like a rickenbacker pot though to prevent the loading down of the headphone amp.

To do this you wire the hot wire coming from the headphone amp into the side connector, the wire going to your on stage amp to a center leg, and the casing and other side leg gets grounded. This type arrangement might be better because you dont short the hot wire to ground which may be bad for the headphone amp output. The function would work exactly the same. be sure to mark which leg is which.

WRGKMC,

Aha! Thanks, now I got ya..! Appreciate your help and insight~