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Post subject: No Load Potentiometer
Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 5:28 pm
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Joined: Mon Jan 19, 2009 11:47 am
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This is just to follow up on my tone capacitor thread. Tone circuits using regular hardware suck away some of the high end even with the tone all the way up; this is just the nature of tone circuits. In the previous thread I talked about how you can change the frequencies sucked by the circuit by changing the capacitor, which changes the sound of the tone control completely open and completely closed.

Fender has a nifty invention called the no load potentiometer. When you turn the tone control all the way up, it completely bypasses the tone circuit so you loose NO output or high end, giving you the natural output of the pickup. For tone nuts like myself, this is a huge plus; I like to know that I can get a pure sound out of my instrument that isn't altered or colored by anything.

However, as far as I know Fender is the only company making these specialty pots. BUUUT, it is possible, and rather simple, to modify an existing pot to do this. So for those of you who love your CTS pots, you don't have to downgrade to a Fender pot to get this feature. Here is a link to show you how to do it.

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/sho ... ?t=2121793

I did it myself, and I can tell you: it's VERY easy.


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Post subject: Re: No Load Potentiometer
Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2014 9:47 pm
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Need more info on how to make my pot a "no load". Anyone? Or do they sell the no load pots now-? I guess I just always buy the same thing whenever I change pots or build a parts bass. Sorry, I should be more well informed . :D


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Post subject: Re: No Load Potentiometer
Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 7:38 am
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Professional Musician
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Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2009 4:50 pm
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Location: Denver, CO, USA
Here's a current active webpage that shows how to convert a regular pot into a no-load (and also shows how to raise the pot's resistance a bit if you get one that reads a little lower than you'd like):
http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/pots.htm

Fender does indeed sell no-load pots. I was under the impression that they're made for Fender by CTS, but the zombie post above makes me less sure about that.

Fender's no-loads have a detent at "10" -- they click into position. Some of them have a pretty firm detent, and if you like to roll the tone knob with the side of your pinky the firm ones bother some people. Others of them have weaker detents, almost unnoticeable.

One advantage to making your own is there won't be any detent. The knob rolls just as smoothly as a normal pot -- a stealth no-load.

The opening post makes it seem like the no-load is a huge difference. In my experience it's fairly subtle, and on some instruments through some amps it's negligible. It won't turn a dark sounding bass into a bright one. But if sometimes you wish you had just a hair more treble and a touch more punch, a no-load might be the ticket.


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Post subject: Re: No Load Potentiometer
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2014 11:30 am
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No-load pots are more common with guitars than basses.


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Post subject: Re: No Load Potentiometer
Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 7:32 pm
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Fender pots are made by CTS perpetually since prior to the CBS era and on and off before then when Stackpole brand pots were also used. MIM Fenders mostly use CTS but I think some export model Fender MIM's use some other brand some of the time anyway.

Fender pots are just individually packaged CTS pots. There are also CTS no-load pots.


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