Rotary Switch with Volume Trimpots?

[J Posega]

Alright, I have a weird one.

I really like rotary pickup switching like my Dingwall has. In fact, I put their switches in most of my two-pickup project basses.

But I also have a bass where I like six specific sounds:

1. Neck solo
2. Neck 100% with bridge ~80%
3. Bridge 100% with neck ~80%
4. Bridge solo
5. Both in series
6. Mute/killswitch

Could a six position rotary switch be wired with trimpots on settings 2 and 3 so I can adjust the volume of individual pickup but have it so that 1 and 4 (pickups soloed) are max volume?

My goal would be to cut down from three knobs (VVT) to two (switch, tone).

 

[Stylee Mousse]

Sounds fun. There is a cool trick I learned from my pedal making days for setting a value (fuzz transistor bias for example) with a trimpot then once you like the value (80% vol) measure the trimpot value and solder in that value resistor (to ground, wherever it goes in the circuit).

if you decide later that you want 75% vol repeat process.

 

[J Posega]

Sounds fun. There is a cool trick I learned from my pedal making days for setting a value (fuzz transistor bias for example) with a trimpot then once you like the value (80% vol) measure the trimpot value and solder in that value resistor (to ground, wherever it goes in the circuit).

if you decide later that you want 75% vol repeat process.

I suppose resistors would work, too, and I could probably figure out what value I need measuring the stock configuration, right? I'd need a multimeter, but they're cheap enough and I should have one anyway.

The wiring of the switch and whether I can actually get the settings I want are the first thing to confirm can be done, though.

 

[CheshireCatFun1]

This is absolutely genius.

You could also use a 5-way SuperSwitch. One possible way of doing it could be:

1. Neck solo
2. Neck 100% with bridge ~80%
3. Both in series
4. Bridge 100% with neck ~80%
5. Bridge solo

. . . which might be more intuitive for most people. You could put the kill switch on a push/pull pot for the tone control.

 

[J Posega]

This is absolutely genius.

You could also use a 5-way SuperSwitch. One possible way of doing it could be:

1. Neck solo
2. Neck 100% with bridge ~80%
3. Both in series
4. Bridge 100% with neck ~80%
5. Bridge solo

. . . which might be more intuitive for most people. You could put the kill switch on a push/pull pot for the tone control.

I wouldn't say it's genius, just looking for an easier way to access those tones quickly.

I'm definitely not going to try to install a blade switch in a Jazz bass. Rotary only. But if it's possible with one type of switch, it must be possible with another.

The reason I think it's possible is because Dingwall's rotary switch used to have a trimpot to adjust the volume of the series setting so you could bring it closer to unity with the other settings if you wanted to.

 

[CheshireCatFun1]

Well, I thought it was brilliant what you described with using trimpots, measuring the setting, and then hardwiring in a resistor. Very clever.

 

[J Posega]

Well, I thought it was brilliant what you described with using trimpots, measuring the setting, and then hardwiring in a resistor. Very clever.

Thanks! Just building on my own experiences, limited knowledge of circuits, and countless hours of research.

I've reached out to Mo Mina who has done a lot of custom wiring work for some fellow Dingwall owners and wires up custom rotary pickup selectors. Hopefully he comes back with some good news!

 

[CheshireCatFun1]

Excellent! Good luck with that!