Volume+Blend+Tone Switch

[Elias Graves]

Anybody tried this scheme? It seems simple enough but I don't recall ever seeing that exact layout.

The Gretsch style master volume setup is a favorite of mine, because you can fine tune your balance and still have volume without messing it up. The third pot in there is too much for some buckers and such when you add the tone pot in to the mix.

Is this partly why Gretsch uses a tone switch on some models?

I was thinking of something more like a four or five position rotary with increasing sized caps. Basically a tone knob, but switched instead of using a pot. That still keeps you at two pots, volume and blend, with tone being switched. The concept seems logical and easy to use.

Am I missing something obvious or would this work?

EG

[drewfx]

Should work, but you could argue that "volume + blend = 3 pots", because the blend is really 2 pots in one.

[jrfrond]

The switching of different caps changes the rolloff frequency, but not the amount of cut. You can go from a very small value cap to a relatively high one and hear the difference, but your rolloff is still -6dB per octave, just at a different frequency, so it's like having a virtual tone pot turned down 100% of the time. If you go this route, then one of your positions should be NO cap. I have a Strat that I set up with selectable tone caps on a 5-pos switch, connected to the tone pot for maximum versatility.

[Elias Graves]

Finding some other info, a few points were brought out against this setup...perhaps that's why it isn't more common.
In a passive circuit, a blend pot is alwys feeding the impedance of both pickups all the time, so, in reality, you only have what would be the middle setting of a normal three way toggle switch. So, you will lose the bridge only and neck only sounds.
I've noticed in the middle position, I essentially have five sounds.
Neck
Neck+impedance of bridge added
Neck+bridge
Bridge+impedance of neck
Bridge

If I understand it, with a blend pot, you'd never have neck only or bridge only. If you want those, you still have to have a switch to eliminate the impedance of the other pickup.
Did I get all that right?

For me, that sort of kills my reason for wanting it.

In order to acheive a true, seamless blend, you'd have to take your passive, high impedance signal and convert it to active. It sounds like adding an active setup after the pickups gives a smoother control?

More study is warranted.

EG

[David Schwab]

Lots of basses use blend pots. The thing is if you are normally using 250K pots, make sure the blend and volumes are 500K. That will come out to a 125K load same as two 250K pots. If you want more highs than that, use a 1M volume.

Another trick is to disconnect the grounds on the blend pot. This allows you to get better blending. You never shut a pickup totally off, but you wont hear it either. That also removes the load from the pickups and only uses series resistance to blend them. It works real nice.

Make sure you wire the blend up right. Get a multi meter and measure the pot from the wiper to either outside terminal. The side with the resistance close to the pot's value when the wiper is at the center detent goes to ground. The other side will read close to zero, and goes to the hot. The pickup goes to the wiper. The other deck is wired in reverse.