Two P90s with a blend pot and a volume pot

jaymenon

I have this set up on a rather nice mongrel strat, but the only position I really use is the 50:50 blend, which is also hum-cancelling.

The idea is that you have an infinite 'sweep' of blend ratios between neck and bridge pickups with the hum gradually re-appearing until the hum is full fledged at the extremes of the blend pot (i.e. neck or bridge pickup on its own).

In practice however I find that as I turn the blend pot from the centre ident in wither direction, the hum returns long before the sound  changes...

(pickups now replaced with a nice Alnico 2 pair)

Both pickups solder into the blend pot, the output of which then goes to the volume pot. (Not sure if the blend pot 'loads' the pickups, but I suspect it does)

The volume pot is 250K. Not sure about the value of the blend pot.

So I was thinking of soldering both pickups directly in to the volume pot, and perhaps substituting a tone pot instead of the blend pot.

Expert opinions deep appreciated (pics below)
https://i.imgur.com/Wb5zN0m.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/AAQBKAP.jpg

thegummy

I think it's definitely a good idea.

I've never found any blends of 2 pickups to be useful, it either sounds like one, both or the other. I think this is to do with how passive circuits like that work but I'm no expert on the technicalities of that, just that the theory has always been true for me in practice.

Adding a tone pot will give that warming option if you want it.

Personally I'd definitely add a 3-way switch but if you definitely only ever use both together then no need.

ICBM

I would.

The both-pickups position is the one I use by far the most on any two-pickup guitar, and even more so if it’s the only hum-cancelling one.

250K volume and tone pots are actually correct for that, since that’s the effective value with a Gibson-style four-knob arrangement in the middle position - two 500Ks in parallel.

Funkfingers

Three-way selector, MV, MT. Maybe, a half-out-of-phase mode switch.

jaymenon

Thanks chaps, lots of food for thought...