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Post by Auf Kiltre on Jun 18, 2021 10:53:12 GMT -5
Is the almost uselessness of the 2 volume knobs when both pickups are selected inherent to its design? On my Gibsons there is some degree of functionality when trying to blend different levels of both pickups, but I find on the Gretsch there virtually is none. Specifically, when the pickup selector is in the middle position and both volume knobs are full, you get the expected 2 pickup sound. Decreasing either volume knob a minuscule amount seems to result in shutting off the other pickup. There may be a tiny threshold where "something different" is happening, but it's a hairline of a turn.
On any 2 humbucker guitar I have or ever had I rarely look for some magic in blending the 2 pickups. I'm generally satisfied with the 3 options. But I'm just curious if this is a design thing or maybe some wiring issue.
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Post by jhawkr on Jun 18, 2021 12:18:16 GMT -5
I have a 5422T which has the same pups and wiring I believe. I notice the same. The rear volume control seems to do a decent job adjusting volume on the bridge but the neck pickup volume is pretty much on or off. I wonder if it is because the bridge will almost always overpower the neck so if you are trying to blend both pups backing off the bridge volume would be the way to do it. At least that is my convoluted thinking.
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on Jun 19, 2021 9:04:34 GMT -5
A lot of those control schemes were designed with the idea of presets in mind - you could set your lead and rhythm volumes separately and use the switch to go between them. This isn't how guitarists turned out to use them, and ultimately doesn't work that well, anyway, since volume controls are tone controls in a sense and guitarists are more likely to manipulate them for tonal changes than anything else. I just consider it an artifact of a prior time and tend not to think about it.
Maybe if the guitar was wired with linear taper pots and there was less loss of high frequencies through capacitance of the roughly 4' of cheap wire inside there and overly thick pickup covers there'd be some more nuance, but I don't think we're missing out on much. I forget which model my Gretsch is, but it always feels like the tone control is on 8. If I played more I'd rewire the sucker, but I'm just not that motivated.
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