Wiring Freaks - Cutting a pot value in half?

[stubhead]

I "need" to wire a Tele with separate volume controls for each pickup, and the best available concentric pots are 500K/500K or 500K/250K. I saw this SGF string about upping values:
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=149736&highlight=potentiometer+resistor

In search of the info about lowering values, I found this:
http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/potm.htm

It appears as though you can drop 500's to about 300 with some 1/4watt 750K resistors - anyone have any experience with this? Does it affect the tone sweeps too? I am looking to use a 500/500 for volumes to a 3-way, then a master tone with a 250K linear pot and a .047uf cap. I really "need" another guitar, natch....
It's OK to answer if you don't know doodly - natch - but it's OK for me to not pay attention unless you do - hey aren't we liberals easy to get along with.... :hello2:

 

[blue313]

Haven't done that, but allparts has some 250/250

http://www.allparts.com/store/ep4485-000,Product.asp

 

[dbw]

Yes, this will work.  It will not be exactly the same taper, but it won't be too different.  You can mitigate this by connecting the resistor from wiper to ground instead of between the outside lugs.

I graphed the tapers you will end up with with the two methods... check the image below.  The straight line shows a plain (linear) taper.  You can see that the other two aren't quite a straight line from 0 to 250, but the green one is pretty close.  (Using an audio pot would have made the distortion tough to see)

 

[tfarny]

You're going from a circuit with two 250k pots, and adding two more pots - the only reason to have independent controls is to use them when both pickups are on together. So, four 250k pots is going to suck more treble than the original circuit - you'd probably be closer to the original by using all 500k pots, wouldn't you?
Personally, I doubt there's very much difference at all based on my experience swapping stuff out, but in this case I'd go with all 500k, unless there's something else I don't get.

 

[callaway]

Independent controls are also handy for setting a lower volume and tone to taste for, say, a neck pickup as rhythm. Then with the flick of a switch you can go to the bridge pickup with volume wide open and again tone to taste. In that way you have a 1-flick switch between rhythm and lead sounds. So it's not just for blending the sounds when both pickups are on...

In fact, the traditional Gibson wiring method quite sucks for blending both pickups. In fact, it doesn't really blend them at all. Any turn of either knob will affect the overall sound.

 

[stubhead]

Yeah, I grew up getting very, very used to the Gibson system, and it just works well for me. I always set my amps to have more treble than I think I'm going to need, cause in a band you end up needing it... :toothy12: Rather than turning down the tone on the bridge, I'd rather blend in some of the neck pickup. I also think you get more sensitivity to picking variations when more of the string is being sampled. All you have to do is try to learn the solos by Duane Allman on "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed", and "Stormy Monday" or listen to the good live Zeppelin and all will be revealed. Try to get the tones right on that stuff with a two-knob guitar, good luck.