converting pot to no-load: :help:

[Louisa M.]

Teleologist, maybe you can help me out some more. I opened my CTS 500k pot, took a good long look at the wiper and resistor strip and terminals and how they all interact, and I can`t seem to understand how putting nail polish over the end or cutting the strip near the end would make it a no load pot. It seems like nail polish would turn it OFF, since the wiper would not be connected to the strip or the terminal, and cutting just before the end of the strip would turn it OFF anywhere below the cut line, as the `+IN` terminal would be disconnected from the strip below the cut.

Can you assure me that it WILL work the way you described, or explain to me how it works?

[Teleologist]

No-load pots are used to take the tone-control out of the circuit. Tone control pots are wired as variable resistors(only 2 terminals are used) and are in series with the tone cap. By insulating the wiper at the end of its travel, the resistance and tone cap are disconnected from the signal path. Fender's earlier TBX tone controls used a stacked 1meg/250K pot to electricaly isolate the tone cap(for all practical purposes 1.2meg takes it out). The Delta tone pot does it mechanically.

You can't make a no-load volume control this way if that's what you're trying to do. A push/pull pot or mini-toggle could do that by lifting the volume & tone pot ground connections. I suppose you could try wiring the volume pot as a variable resistor(with no ground connection there's no-load at the guitar when it's full up), but loading the PUPs thru a variable resistor plus 20' of guitar cable can result in a lot of signal loss and noise. If you don't also disconnect the tone control, some frequencies will load thru that, others at the amp. That can cause some weird phase distortion and possibly hum.

Remember that PUPs are signal generators and have to be loaded someplace to generate voltage.

[Louisa M.]

Oh, thanks again Teleologist. Yes I was trying to use a no-load for the volume, and also for the tones. well 2/3s of my problems are solved then!