Old 08-22-2022, 09:40 AM   #1
pipelineaudio
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Default Lowering Pickup volume

Due to the chip shortage, I'm having trouble finding wireless units that can handle louder pickups without distorting. Is there a simple way to add a resistor or something between the pickup and output selector, or maybe pad at the guitar output to lower the volume? It would be too fiddly to try and turn the volume pot exactly right every time.

How about some sort of attenuator in the cable between the guitar and the wireless transmitter? Is there such a beast? Could I solder some resistors into the cable or something?
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Old 08-22-2022, 10:45 AM   #2
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Everywhere else I have asked this, even though I specifically mentioned it in the OP, some asshole dunning kruger will say "turn the volume down" durrrr
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Old 08-22-2022, 11:33 AM   #3
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With passive pickups, anything you try to do is going to affect tone, but in this one instance where you’re probably using a very short cable between the guitar and a nice high impedance, you might get away with adding some series resistance going into the V pot. If that does end up killing too much treble, you might try a capacitor parallel to that series resistor which is basically a “treble bleed” arrangement but is honestly just a bass shelf.

OTOH, have you tried literally just lowering the pickups themselves. Yes, that will change your tone a bit also, but level tends to drop off fast as you get further from the strings, and you might be able to take them down without sucking too bad.
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Old 08-22-2022, 12:00 PM   #4
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I found an Attenuator pedal but most of the links I found are for used ones.


It's probably just a potentiometer in a box (plus a switch) so if you know how to solder you could build one (and you don't need a switch). Use a pot of 1M Ohm or more and get an "audio taper" pot.

Or you can make a fixed attenuator (voltage divider) with two resistors. You'd probably have to experiment with a variety of resistor values but resistors are super-cheap. Again the resistors should sum-up to around 1M or more.

And if you built something build it into a metal box to minimize hum pick-up.


...If you have an active pickup (maybe the source of the problem?) you should be able to get-by with lower resistance values. Maybe 10K. Lower resistance/impedance helps with hum pick-up.
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Old 08-22-2022, 05:40 PM   #5
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See my reply on gearspace
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Old 08-22-2022, 06:02 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DVDdoug View Post
It's probably just a potentiometer in a box (plus a switch) so if you know how to solder you could build one (and you don't need a switch). Use a pot of 1M Ohm or more and get an "audio taper" pot.
This will frankly probably work well enough, but I have to repeat that any passive solution is going to affect tone. One could add a buffer into the guitar with a fixed attenuation after it, but then you have to worry about power, and I have a strong aversion to batteries inside guitars.


If this IS an active guitar we're talking about, then it's just easy.
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Old 08-22-2022, 08:58 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ashcat_lt View Post
This will frankly probably work well enough, but I have to repeat that any passive solution is going to affect tone. One could add a buffer into the guitar with a fixed attenuation after it, but then you have to worry about power, and I have a strong aversion to batteries inside guitars.


If this IS an active guitar we're talking about, then it's just easy.
Although I'm primarily a drummer, I've played and owned electric guitars since the mid 70s, and only recently have I discovered that less than wide open on volume and tone can be really cool tone wise.

My main guitar for years has been a Gibson L6S Midnight Special, which sounds warm and crunchy with the single volume and tone wide open.

But, I recently bought a mid level Epiphone SG with independent push/pull volume pots and noticeably hotter pickups than the Bill Lawrence designed pickups on the 1972 L6S. The mid level volume knob starting point, with the hotter SG pickups seems to be more like the warm spot that is full up on the Bill Lawrence designed Gibson pickups from the 70s.

Anyway, what Ashcat said about reducing volume through passive potentiometers also resulting in a duller sounding tone is true. My Epi SG is passive, but with the push/pull single coil option can be bright enough to offset any dullness from lowering a passive volume control.
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Old 08-22-2022, 11:06 PM   #8
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Aside from philbo's response, EMG's tech staff showed how to do it nicely with a trimpot and how to find the correct values if I didnt want to use a trimpot. Worked perfect!!!
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Old 08-22-2022, 11:25 PM   #9
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I love how Philbo's link lets you actually target the values
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Old 08-24-2022, 09:49 AM   #10
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On a related note, Why have a ground in the guitar volume pot rather than just a rheostat setup?

I don't mean "why have a ground" in the guitar, I mean, why not just operate the pot as a resistor rather than the normal practice of it as a blend between signal and ground?
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Old 08-24-2022, 10:03 AM   #11
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The guitar V pot is a voltage divider (kind of) on its own. If you use it as just a variable resistor, the other leg of the divider is somewhere else. If the rheostat is the “top resistor”, then it’ll never go to silence. If it’s the “bottom resistor”, then with passive pickups it will act mostly like a T pot, and with active pickups it’ll probably act a little like a bass cut but will also end up shorting the active output which is probably not dangerous but could also cause distortion when turned way down.
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Old 08-24-2022, 10:53 AM   #12
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Thanks!
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Old 08-24-2022, 08:07 PM   #13
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Quote:
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I love how Philbo's link lets you actually target the values
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