Pull tone/push volume

[Jefus]

I'm looking for a potentiometer that I've heard exists, but i don't know the name to look for it.

I'm looking for a push/pull. When the pot is down (or pushed) it acts as a volume control. When it is pulled, it acts as a tone control, leaving the volume where it was when you pulled it. Then you can adjust your tone and push the pot back into volume mode, leaving the tone where it was when you pushed the pot back in.

Did I really hear that this exists, or was it a fever dream?

Y'all have been so helpful in my other wild requests. Thank you in advance for helping me with this one too.

 

[rojo412]

I personally don't know of such a thing, but it would be ideal for the build I'm doing if it does exist.

 

[Jefus]

That's kind of why I'm worried that it doesn't already exist. If it did, I feel like I would have come across one in the wild at some point. Or at least seen one on an instrument in the "Gallery" of <insert name of custom builder here> at some point.

I think a luthier I used to go to in Houston mentioned one one time. It was a dual wiper and the push/pull moved the shaft to turn the other wiper instead of acting as a switch for something else.

 

[Lowendchamp]

I have a push/pull on my Strat for the tone/humbucker volume for my American Performer HSS Strat.

 

[Jefus]

I have a push/pull on my Strat for the tone/humbucker volume for my American Performer HSS Strat.

Thank you for the lead! What year is your Strat? I looked up the new ones and it looks like they use the push/pull for coil splitting. But if Fender put it on one of their guitars then they should be readily available.

 

[rojo412]

I think a luthier I used to go to in Houston mentioned one one time. It was a dual wiper and the push/pull moved the shaft to turn the other wiper instead of acting as a switch for something else.

Most of the stacked dual stuff I've seen like that has been something akin to an active preamp setting where when you bypass it into passive mode, the treble knob becomes a passive tone. But that is typically achieved by the active/passive switch changing connections on wires to each half of the stack which is the treble/passive tone pot.

I could see the issue of the kind of switch you're imagining would have to be way more complex than most potentiometers tend to be. To have a single shaft controlling 2 wipers, that's easy. That is what most pan pots are.
To have it where there is a shaft controlling a wiper on the down position, then disengaged to control the up position, leaving the wiper in place would be intricate. Also, to then be able to push it back down and still be in the same position as it was in down, even though the new up position was rotated... it just seems very complex. Not impossible, but certainly more difficult.

 

[Lowendchamp]

Thank you for the lead! What year is your Strat? I looked up the new ones and it looks like they use the push/pull for coil splitting. But if Fender put it on one of their guitars then they should be readily available.

Sorry it was for coil splitting it sounded louder because of series mode. My Strat is a 2020 in satin seafoam green. I was kind of right though, it did affect the volume.

 

[sprag]

I've never heard of it. A stacked pot will perform the same function and take up the same amount of space

 

[Jefus]

I've never heard of it. A stacked pot will perform the same function and take up the same amount of space

That’s a fair point. However, this build will already have a bunch of knobs, none of them stacked. Aesthetically I wouldn’t want this one to be the only stacked pot.

My other, personal issue with stacked pots is that I haven’t found any knobs I like for them; they usually wind up too tall for my taste. Also, in this particular application I may be rolling the volume back and forth mid-song so I wouldn’t want it to be stacked where I could accidentally roll the tone.

 

[RobbieK]

You could have a push-pull wired to act as a tone pot in one setting and a vol in the other, but it wouldn't "save" its settings since the same pot and shaft will be used for both modes.

OTOH, you could certainly have a push-pull act as a tone pot cut-out. IOW, set the tone on another control (could be an internal trimmer if you like), then switch it in and out with the vol pot.

 

[Jefus]

You could have a push-pull wired to act as a tone pot in one setting and a vol in the other, but it wouldn't "save" its settings since the same pot and shaft will be used for both modes.

OTOH, you could certainly have a push-pull act as a tone pot cut-out. IOW, set the tone on another control (could be an internal trimmer if you like), then switch it in and out with the vol pot.

I've been thinking about this as a possibility too. It's kind of a crazy setup I'm working on, but everyone here has been very helpful and supportive.

The bass will have 3 pickups and two outputs. The neck and middle pickups feed a blend control, then a preamp, and go to output 1. The bridge pickup *might* also feed into the preamp when no cable is plugged into the second output jack, but using it's independent volume (and hopefully tone!) controls. But, when a second cable is plugged in, the path for the bridge pickup goes through its volume (and hopefully tone!) to the second output jack, feeding a separate amplifier or at least separate effects.

Is this necessary? No. Will it be awesome? Heck yeah! But the entire existence of this bass isn't really "necessary", so I'm going to do my best to get it functioning the way I want it to, right from the start.

 

[James Collins]

I think you would be more likely to find a stacked pot that has the same length total shaft length and find matching knobs that fit an aesthetic you find acceptable.

I cannot see how a single shaft would spin two wipers independently.

Another option if you are like me in that I really only want one or two tone settings would be to select a capacitor that is as close to an ideal tone setting and just wire it as a tone switch to a push pull.

Another option would be to use just install a tone pot and have no volume control and instead use a volume pedal.

 

[RobbieK]

Is this necessary? No. Will it be awesome? Heck yeah!

You sir, are a certified modder.

 

[Jefus]

You sir, are a certified modder.

LOL! Out of my current 11 basses, only two remain unmodified; both are Warwicks.

This build (it’s a Zon) is my attempt at getting something right from the start so I don’t feel the need to modify it later. But I already laid the groundwork; the pickups are all EMG 35 sized to keep my options open down the road. This is also to try to keep me from irreversibly modifying the Zon I already have (just a preamp and different neck pickup so far).

 

[sprag]

this build will already have a bunch of knobs.

Ok, I thought this was gonna be one of those one knob only minimalist projects.
Any reason why one more (separate volume and tone) is one too many? Not trying to persuade you down a different path, just thinking that if no one has chimed in with the answer yet maybe the requested pot doesn't exist.

 

[Jefus]

Ok, I thought this was gonna be one of those one knob only minimalist projects.
Any reason why one more (separate volume and tone) is one too many? Not trying to persuade you down a different path, just thinking that if no one has chimed in with the answer yet maybe the requested pot doesn't exist.

I’m fairly convinced now that the pot doesn’t exist. I think @James Collins had the right idea with the pull activating a "tone knob turned halfway down" capacitor.

Before adding this pickup and any knobs for it the bass was already at 5 knobs, 4 of which are p/p. I can imagine have a 6th knob and still having a clean layout, but i can't picture it looking correct with 7. So, there, i said it; its purely an aesthetic thing.