To ground or not to ground? VVVT

[DaveyM69]

I've read on here that when using VBT it's best not to ground either side of the blend.

Surely as the blend is effectively the same as VV in one control it would make sense not to ground the two independant volumes either in a VVVT set up and only the master volume (and the tone via the cap of course)?

Also, with a VVVT set up, would you suggest 500K or 250K?

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Seperate volumes and a master? Bit convoluted!

Never looked into a setup like this (as per above), but you need the grounds.

 

[line6man]

Why not simply try it both ways?

 

[StonewallValent]

It sounds plausible. If you only connect an in and an out, the volume pot would be adding resistance, thus making the signal quieter. I'd say try it and find out, though you'd want to go with 500k, since 250 might not be enough to drop it below audible levels. Also, if you're going with separate volumes, a master may be a bit excessive.

 

[DaveyM69]

"Seperate volumes and a master? Bit convoluted!" - not at all, I find this a very useful set up. I find it much easier to dial in the pup balance I need with individual controls rather than blend but can control the overall volume without changing that balance.

I didn't dare try this yesterday as I had a gig last night so needed some sound! I got the iron out this morning though.

No ground works but only reduces the signal from the pickup rather than eliminating it, as expected. The (hardly noticable) side effect of a little top being lost when rolling off the volume seems to disappear though. I think I prefer it with the grounds connected so I can truly solo a specific pickup.

I still can't decide on 250K vs 500K - any opinions?

 

[walterw]

try this: 250k linears for your "dimming" pots, but convert them to "no-load" by cutting the carbon track at one end. that way, they'll gradually dim one pickup or the other (as long as you don't accidentally have them both turned down ), but when they hit "0", the 250k series resistance becomes an open circuit, totally shutting off the pickup.

i just tried this with a 250k M/N blend pot, and it works like a champ! smooth, no-loss blending between two passive pickups, and when one pickup is "off", it's off.

i don't want to say that i've finally "solved" the blend pot problem, but...

 

[DaveyM69]

Hmm... interesting idea. Is the jump from low signal to no signal on the dimmed PU noticable?

I've already got A500K master, A500K on the split P, A250K on the J and A250k/0.05uF tone.
I'm not happy with the A taper on the reverse P and J anyway (I'm asuming it's taper related and not value) so I've ordered B250Ks for all the volumes.
The J is going to be a push/pull for series/parallel and the Tone is still A250K but push/pull so I can put another 0.05uF in parallel for a darker tone.
Should be pretty versatile. It'll be interesting to hear the difference from 500K to 250K. It has been pretty bright with 500s so hopefully not too dull.

It was previously active with no passive option so I have no stock passive tone to compare it to.

 

[walterw]

Hmm... interesting idea. Is the jump from low signal to no signal on the dimmed PU noticable?

there's no crackle, dramatic jumps or other weirdness, if that's what you mean.

even though it still just sounded like one pickup, not two, there was a subtle difference between 95% and 100% over on the blend pot. it got just barely a pinch brighter once the other pickup was cut completely off.