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Author Topic: Push Push pots?
smgear

Posts: 170
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Post Push Push pots?
on: August 30, 2012, 17:45
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I was just watching Joe's Pagey vid for reference in another thread and it reminded me of a nagging question I've had for awhile. Does anyone make Push-push pots - like those old big dining room dimmer switches? They might need to be a 'tad' bigger to accommodate the spring, but they would sure make switching on the fly easier. It's a no brainer if it's possible. You could even get fancy and put a led in there if you can't keep track or feel it out.

Someone needs to do this if they don't already exist.

Just saying....

mwseniff

Posts: 149
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Post Re: Push Push pots?
on: August 31, 2012, 09:22
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My Gibson WRC-5 proto-type super strat had one as the tone control to split coils on the bridge humbucker. It is single pole with a 500 K pot. Never seen another like it tho' I'd love to find more somewhere.
Schrodinge-
rsgoldfish

Posts: 105
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Post Re: Push Push pots?
on: August 31, 2012, 10:37
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I love the thought of the ease of use of a push-push pot to control something, but there would be at least one possible downside. When you plug your guitar in, there's no concrete way of knowing which state the pot is in other than listening. You'll have to be very careful not to bump it our you could turn it on in the wrong configuration.
smgear

Posts: 170
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Post Re: Push Push pots?
on: August 31, 2012, 10:43
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Just did some checking. Warmoth and All parts have some. They look similar, but I'm not sure if they are exactly the same supplier.

https://www.warmoth.com/Push-Push-Pot-250k-with-DPDT-Switch-On-On-P731.aspx
https://www.allparts.com/500K-Push-Push-Audio-Pot-p/EP-0296-000.htm

Supposedly both of those use plastic switches though which makes me wary.

Apparently Bourns used to make some and the old Yamahas were considered to the be the best. I read somewhere that the yamahas are alphas, but I'm not positive.

So here is the only place I could find the alphas:
https://hoaglandbrothers.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=364
They're linear though. I didn't see any audio.

I'd probably give preference to the alphas, but I'd like to find some with audio tapers too. If anyone knows of some Bourns available, I'd be very interested.

smgear

Posts: 170
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Post Re: Push Push pots?
on: August 31, 2012, 11:08
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Quote from Schrodingersgoldfish on August 31, 2012, 10:37
there's no concrete way of knowing which state the pot is in other than listening.

Apparently they sit at a different height in each setting. So if you use your fingers to gauge space, you should be able to tell where they're set.
Oinkus

Posts: 236
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Post Re: Push Push pots?
on: August 31, 2012, 11:55
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I just drill holes and install min switches myself and would do that in a mint 59 Goldtop if it got the sound I wanted.
joe
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Posts: 224
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Post Re: Push Push pots?
on: August 31, 2012, 15:45
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Wow — thanks for starting this thread. That idea wasn't even on my radar.
mwseniff

Posts: 149
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Post Re: Push Push pots?
on: September 1, 2012, 10:00
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Quote from Schrodingersgoldfish on August 31, 2012, 10:37
I love the thought of the ease of use of a push-push pot to control something, but there would be at least one possible downside. When you plug your guitar in, there's no concrete way of knowing which state the pot is in other than listening. You'll have to be very careful not to bump it our you could turn it on in the wrong configuration.

Bingo! That is definitely the drawback. But at least the one in my WRC-5 takes a bit of effort to switch and I never had a problem with bumping it accidentally, tho' I've had that problem with the push-pull types.
Schrodinge-
rsgoldfish

Posts: 105
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Post Re: Push Push pots?
on: September 1, 2012, 16:49
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Quote from mwseniff on September 1, 2012, 10:00
Bingo! That is definitely the drawback. But at least the one in my WRC-5 takes a bit of effort to switch and I never had a problem with bumping it accidentally, tho' I've had that problem with the push-pull types.

I figured it wouldn't be a huge deal, but it might still cause trouble. If you're just using it to control your pickup wiring, there are worse things than playing a guitar with your coils split accidentally, but if you had it wired up to something like an ugly fuzz, well, you would probably have a post for the funny gig stories thread.

If you were good enough to avoid making these mistakes, I can see how it would be incredibly convenient for quick switching on stage.

joe
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Posts: 224
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Post Re: Push Push pots?
on: October 12, 2012, 08:45
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I've been buying my push/pulls from http://www.stewmac.com, and I've had no complaints. 🙂
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