Vultite Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 (edited) This is my first post. I have been reading this forum for a bit to find answers when I needed them. Now I need some input on an idea. I want to make a slide for a volume control, not a turn pot. I don't think this would be complicated, but maybe it is. This guitar build will be using EMG pickups. I have never used them before, and want to try them. So granted that I have no experience working with them, is there anything that will change because of these active pick ups? First let me say any ideas are welcome. My goal is to have 2 sliders. One for each pickup. I'm not a huge fan of the tone knob so don't worry about that. I would love to have one of those preamps you see on acoustic guitars, but its a preamp. I dont want to preamp the guitar, and I would rather have a much more advanced EQ in the great "chain" anyways. Any advice about where to find some peices to do something like this? I have looked around at the popular online guitar part websites. I can't seem to find anything besides some acoustic mounts like I mentioned. Could these be modified into what I want? I have never even used one before. Welcome your ideas. Edited March 3, 2005 by Vultite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnewman Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 (edited) This is my first post. I have been reading this forum for a bit to find answers when I needed them. Now I need some input on an idea. I want to make a slide for a volume control, not a turn pot. I don't think this would be complicated, but maybe it is. This guitar build will be using EMG pickups. I have never used them before, and want to try them. So granted that I have no experience working with them, is there anything that will change because of these active pick ups? First let me say any ideas are welcome. My goal is to have 2 sliders. One for each pickup. I'm not a huge fan of the tone knob so don't worry about that. I would love to have one of those preamps you see on acoustic guitars, but its a preamp. I dont want to preamp the guitar, and I would rather have a much more advanced EQ in the great "chain" anyways. Any advice about where to find some peices to do something like this? I have looked around at the popular online guitar part websites. I can't seem to find anything besides some acoustic mounts like I mentioned. Could these be modified into what I want? I have never even used one before. Welcome your ideas. ← I can help you with the volume controls. Slider pots are EXACTLY the same as rotary pots. You can find them lots of places; mouser.com and digikey.com are two major US electronics supply houses that have them. You wire EMG's the same way as any other pickup except there are also some wires that go to a 9V battery. You can add a normal switch to turn them on/off or use a switched 1/4" to plug your cable into in the guitar. EMG also suggests using 25KOhm pots not the 250KOhm or 500KOhm pots that are used with passive pickups. I've heard of people using up to 100KOhm's for them, but I can't give you any advice other than the fact that EMG probably recommends 25KOhms for a reason. So what you want to do is go to digikey or mouser and look for a 25KOhm audio taper slide potentiometer. Edited March 3, 2005 by jnewman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
x189player Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 what he said. wiring is easy, they're the same as rotary pots. the hard part is finding them; the sources above are great suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vultite Posted March 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 (edited) Digi-key chat-based customer service: Tom Ext : Thanks and good luck. Evan: ok thanks for your help Tom. Tom Ext : Try Cascade Surplus Electronics. Tom Ext : I've looked on the web and there are a number of sites. Evan: ok well, unless you have some suggested sellers I guess thanks for you help. Tom Ext : Yes they do exist. Evan: Do you know if its possible to find what I need elsewhere? Does such a product exist? Tom Ext : We do carry slide potentiometers but they are all 10K. Evan: I'm not really familiar with these products, I wasnt even sure where to find them in your catalog. Evan: Hi tom, I am building a guitar. I plan on using sliders instead of the typical volume pots. I was recommended that I get a 25KOhm audio taper slide potentiometer Tom Ext : Thank you for contacting Digi-Key, how may I help you? So is this the right product? http://www.cascadesurplus.com/catalog/prod...products_id/113 Edited March 3, 2005 by Vultite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnewman Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 (edited) That's exactly what you want, although you'll have to be creative in mounting it (they don't have the threaded bit you can use to just bolt them to a panel). I actually just looked, and mouser.com has 10K, 50K, and 100K, but not 25K listed. They do say "other values available on request," so it's possible they have them just not in their catalog. I'm really impressed the Digi-Key guy helped you out like that - by all my experience, digi-key has exceptional customer service, and this really confirms that. Edited March 3, 2005 by jnewman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vultite Posted March 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 That's exactly what you want, although you'll have to be creative in mounting it (they don't have the threaded bit you can use to just bolt them to a panel). I actually just looked, and mouser.com has 10K, 50K, and 100K, but not 25K listed. They do say "other values available on request," so it's possible they have them just not in their catalog. I'm really impressed the Digi-Key guy helped you out like that - by all my experience, digi-key has exceptional customer service, and this really confirms that. ← Thanks for your help jnewman. I ordered 4 of them this afternoon. I will likely only use 2 though. I cant find myself cutting the treble off of my guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vultite Posted March 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2005 Ok I got them in the mail. I'm a little uncertain about how to wire them. When you look at the bottom of them, you see this: * 1 3 * * 2 2 * Where * is where you connect. I'm actualyl kinda confused as to how to wire these. Now what I want to do is the following: 2 volumes, 3 way selector, kill switch (doesn't have to remove power, just a quick silence thing) How would I connect these in relation to how I would connect a normal pot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedoctor Posted March 8, 2005 Report Share Posted March 8, 2005 Those are board-mount sliders. 1 is low(counter-clockwise) either 2 is wiper (center) and 3 is high (clockwise). The two 2s are hooked together for PCB mounting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vultite Posted March 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2005 Those are board-mount sliders. 1 is low(counter-clockwise) either 2 is wiper (center) and 3 is high (clockwise). The two 2s are hooked together for PCB mounting. ← so just pick one of the 2s and use either one (not both)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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