Push/push pots

[LushTone]

Is there any particular reason why people use Push/pull pots versus push/push? Aside from ergonomics...

Just curious why I've never felt a push/push pot in person..

 

[line6man]

Because push/push pots typically feel flimsy and cheap.

 

[Cagey]

Pretty short service lives, too. If you install one, buy spares.

 

[LushTone]

Hmm, these are good deterrents....Thanks!

 

[AndyG]

Decades ago I had an Ibanez RS530 that used push-push pots for coil splitting.  They worked just fine.

The only reason I can see that you would want to use push-push pots if the guitar's knobs are push on, rather than held with the set screw.  That's probably why the Ibanez had them.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

If you're a bedroom player, you can probably get by with them for a long time without replacing.

If you gig out frequently, either adapt to push/pull or replace the push/push occasionally.

I had to replace mine every year or so under heavy use.  The detent in them wears out with continued use.

 

[fdesalvo]

Pretty short service lives, too. If you install one, buy spares.

 

[frown]

I use push / pull pots as I can see the current position clearer than on push / push as the up / down height is noticeably different.

 

[Pharos]

I'm not a huge fan of push/pull pots. If I need a pot and a switch, I'll wire them separately. I had a bad encounter with one once. I was playing a show and I heard the pre-amp battery starting to die and had the A/P switch on a push/pull volume pot. I reached down to 'pull' the pot to passive, and found a volume knob in my hand that was now not connected to anything. Meanwhile, the action of the knob pulling off had raised the volume of the bass guitar so the sounds of pre-amp death were now blaring over the PA. A beautiful disaster it was. All my basses now have a separate A/P switch, and on the bass I'm building now, it will be illuminated.

 

[Jesse]

As mentioned above Ibanez used push/push pots regularly. I have one on an '87 540P. The knob sits a bit higher. Fender has a fancy push/push pot for Strats where the center of the top hat knob pushes in.

 

[bagman67]

I'm on the side of not using a pot as a switch - use a separate switch.  I get the aesthetic of a real clean guitar control setup, without too much crap messing with the visual, and I even see how it can be convenient.  But for reliability and simplicity of installation and replacement, I gotta go with a separate component.  I also had a '87 540P, and one of the things I disliked about it was the push/push switch.  That, and the skinny little neck.

 

[stratamania]

As mentioned above Ibanez used push/push pots regularly. I have one on an '87 540P. The knob sits a bit higher. Fender has a fancy push/push pot for Strats where the center of the top hat knob pushes in.

The Fender pot mentioned is called an S1 switch, also available in Tele styles. It's actually a 4PDT switch so has a lot of potential wiring possibilities. 

 

[Jumble Jumble]

Yeah, the S-1 is the best switching pot I've used, as long as you don't mind using a Strat  or Tele knob.

 

[stratamania]

I have an S1 that I'm going to use in a Tele along with a Superswitch for a Nashville pickup set up. I'm going to probably go for in one position of the S1 being able to get Bridge and Neck in the middle position of the 5 way and in the other position of the S1 the same position of the 5 way giving just the middle Strat pickup.