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Post subject: Dropping in a no load tone pot?
Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 9:46 am
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So I recently picked up a used Strat (which I'm pretty sure is a MIM Classic 60s Strat), and I've already dropped in some Seymour Duncan SSL-1s, but I have been reading about the no load tone pots in the MIA Fenders and am interested in trying them out in my Strat. For reference, I almost always leave the tone wide open on my neck/middle pickups, and have my tone controls wired to the bridge p/u as well. Plus I play in the neck position probably at least 80% of the time. I might just use no-load for the neck/middle tone control only, as I can't imagine ever wanting to use the bridge wide open. Is this pretty much just a drop in replacement?

Is there a noticeable difference in the neck pickup sound when using the no-load pots? Can I still turn the pots on and get close to a "stock" sound? The pots seem pretty cheap, but the mod doesn't seem very common.. is it just not worth the effort?

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Post subject: Re: Dropping in a no load tone pot?
Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 3:25 pm
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lose311 wrote:
Is there a noticeable difference in the neck pickup sound when using the no-load pots?


No.

lose311 wrote:
.. is it just not worth the effort?


It's more snake oil. Like expensive PIO caps.

If you want to hear a difference then you will. Spending the time and $$$ installing them usually makes people want to hear that difference so badly they start insisting they really can hear it.

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Post subject: Re: Dropping in a no load tone pot?
Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 5:14 pm
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lose311 wrote:
Is there a noticeable difference in the neck pickup sound when using the no-load pots? Can I still turn the pots on and get close to a "stock" sound? The pots seem pretty cheap, but the mod doesn't seem very common.. is it just not worth the effort?


Yes, there is a difference, but it can be a small difference. With a normal pot, no matter the setting, some of your signal is going to ground(down the drain). With a no-load pot there is a position where the pot is cut out of the circuit, so all of the signal will go out to the amp. Other than that you have a "stock" sound. If you are playing with a lot of gain it will be more noticable. Is it worth the effort? I don't think so, I have a strat that came with it, and I never use it. 8)

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Post subject: Re: Dropping in a no load tone pot?
Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 6:50 pm
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Any Strat I've ever owned which came with no-load pots were promptly removed and replaced with regular pots. Don't waste your time or money.

As always, this is merely IMO where YMMV.

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Post subject: Re: Dropping in a no load tone pot?
Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 8:36 pm
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There's a very simple experiment you can do to see if you can hear the difference with an extra 250k loading the pickups. Get a 250k resistor, open up your guitar cable and hold or temporarily connect the resistor between the hot and ground terminals of the plug at the guitar end. If you think that difference is worth paying for then go give the store some money, they'll be delighted to take it from you.

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Post subject: Re: Dropping in a no load tone pot?
Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 9:29 pm
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GilgaFrank wrote:
There's a very simple experiment you can do to see if you can hear the difference with an extra 250k loading the pickups. Get a 250k resistor, open up your guitar cable and hold or temporarily connect the resistor between the hot and ground terminals of the plug at the guitar end. If you think that difference is worth paying for then go give the store some money, they'll be delighted to take it from you.


Sounds like a good idea. One question: how does adding a resistor simulate the no-load pot? I though with a no-load pot you are essentially removing the pot entirely from the signal when it is on 10. Couldn't I just remove the pot (or jumper around it) and get the no-load effect?

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Post subject: Re: Dropping in a no load tone pot?
Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 10:11 pm
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Yep you could just remove the pot from the circuit by disconnecting it from the pickup selector if you do not intend using tone for neck and mid.
It would not be something I would do since I lie the tonal options...
The mid connects to the lower tone so you may have to just ensure the bridge is fed correctly. Usually there is a jumper from the mid to the bridge selections , remove this and connect the main wire from the lower pot only to the bridge pickup selection on the 5 way.
In the long run you can restore the circuit if you want and it has not really cost you much at all. :D


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Post subject: Re: Dropping in a no load tone pot?
Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 11:06 pm
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lose311 wrote:
how does adding a resistor simulate the no-load pot?


It doesn't! Removing the resistor simulates the no-load pot. Sort of. Not electrically identical but the change in pickup load will be somewhere near.

Thinking about it again, for a closer approximation you could use the bridge pickup only (i.e. no internal tone control) with a tone capacitor in series with the 250k resistor to simulate a normal pot turned up to maximum. Disconnecting that would fairly accurately simulate a no-load tone pot. If you hear a difference then consider the no-load pots.

(Or you could calculate the capacitive reactance of the tone cap at a given frequency and see how many dB it reduces the output at that frequency. Probably easier to solder a cap to a resistor and see if you can hear it on the bridge pickup.)

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Post subject: Re: Dropping in a no load tone pot?
Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2014 12:34 am
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Ok.. looks like I've got some options. Opinions of the no-load thing in general seem pretty underwhelming. I guess I am just itching to mod my new guitar.. I don't like having things stock if I can help it. Might try wiring in a blender pot or maybe just push/pull for a 7-sound mod. That might give me more interesting tones than the no-load.

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Post subject: Re: Dropping in a no load tone pot?
Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2014 1:22 am
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Well don't take anyone's word for anything with guitar sounds and mods. Try no-load pots, try phase switches and blends and whatever you want, arrive at your own conclusions about what's good and what's not, if it works for you then it's right.

Don't spend big money on capacitors though. Really. Just don't make those people any richer. There is no difference. And if "your tone" is so elusive that it relies on a particular capacitor to achieve it then you have to ask yourself some serious questions about your inherent ability to produce a good tone on a guitar.

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