Hardwiring pot values.

[Bloodshotben]

I’m wondering if my logic is right on this. So if a pedal calls for a 1m pot on gain wiring in a 1m resistor would be equivalent to the knob being turned all the way down/no gain, right? And if I wanted to wire in more specific settings I could just read the legs with a multimeter when I have the knob where I like it? Is it a better idea to just use trim pots?

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Depends on the circuit. With some circuits, like TS, max resistance is max gain. With circuits like Distortion+, max resistance is minimum gain. Still other circuits, like BMP, use the pot as a voltage divider so you would short pins 2 & 3 for max gain, leave pin 1 open. Trimpots are ok, but they only come in linear taper AFAIK and they have been know to move on their own when subjected to vibration.

 

[Bloodshotben]

Depends on the circuit. With some circuits, like TS, max resistance is max gain. With circuits like Distortion+, max resistance is minimum gain. Still other circuits, like BMP, use the pot as a voltage divider so you would short pins 2 & 3 for max gain, leave pin 1 open. Trimpots are ok, but they only come in linear taper AFAIK and they have been know to move on their own when subjected to vibration.

Cool! Thanks for the info!

 

[Robert]

they have been know to move on their own when subjected to vibration.

It's pretty common practice in consumer electronics to permanently "fix" a trimpot once it's set by touching the edge of the dial with the soldering iron so it fuses to the outer body.

Not saying it's a good practice, but I've seen it many times. I think hot glue is probably a better idea since it could be removed if needed...

 

[Betty Wont]

It's pretty common practice in consumer electronics to permanently "fix" a trimpot once it's set by touching the edge of the dial with the soldering iron so it fuses to the outer body.

Not saying it's a good practice, but I've seen it many times. I think hot glue is probably a better idea since it could be removed if needed...

I use a dot of nail polish or blue threadlock.