volume pot problem I think?

[g4m3fre4k]

so recently my wife pickup either a music man or a music man axis guitar for me, for $20 NICE rite
the problem i have noticed is that when i turn the volume down it looses all volume around 3. or when i try to roll the volume it seems to have little effect on the actual volume. i mean to say thatmy volume is useless there is max volume and mid volume then silence.
not sure what type of pickups it has will post picks asap
it has a 3 way switch and a 500k pot volume knob
no bleed off cap or network just wires
any help would be awesome thnx m8s

 

[littlephil]

Do you mean that the volume pot has almost all of its range in about half its rotation, and then after that it doesn't do much?
If so, its probably been changed to a pot with the wrong taper. Volume pots should be audio/logarithmic taper.
If its something else, it could just be worn out.

 

[g4m3fre4k]

yes littlephil that is exactly what i mean. dont know much about the taper of a pot, (would love to know more) but i can tell u exactly what it says on it. B 500k is what it says on it i know what 500k ohms means but what does the b that is before the number mean. Im thinking it mite b best to replace b4 i go any further. but im also wondering if a bleed off network would be helpful. if it helps i prefer a more metal or heavy rock distortion. but i also love the classics.
I have built a few circuits and had good luck thus far.

 

[littlephil]

The B means it is a linear taper pot, which is why its causing your problem. The way we hear volume changes isn't linear, meaning to hear double the volume, we need more than double the power. If you were to graph it, it would be a curve like the green line here, and the pot you have follows the red curve, so it sounds uneven as a volume pot. Tone pots should be linear or B curve, volume pots should be audio/log or A curves.

 

[g4m3fre4k]

now thats the kindof help im talkin about. ur awesome m8 thnx.
ne ideas about the bleed off network?

 

[TNT]

wait a second - I'm still thinking about the cost of the guitar. Did you say $20?!!

 

[littlephil]

I'm not quite sure what you're asking when you say bleed off network. Do you want to add a high pass filter to stop treble loss as you roll off the volume?

 

[Jack FFR1846]

At $20, my first thoughts are that it's an OLP. If that's the case, yah, cheap pots. Just change it out. Heck....get a push-pull for the same money and coil split the 2 humbuckers.

 

[g4m3fre4k]

yeppers TNT 20 bucks lol
littlephil yes m8 high pass filter
Jack m8 not sure exactly what u mean about splitting the coils please elaborate very interested thnx m8s

 

[dhalif]

20?! ahaha wow