Passive Versus Active volume control

[simon111]

I want to build a volume control. Now obviously a passive device is easier. But will this not take away the highs as you roll off the volume? ( I have always understood that it does this). If so would an op-amp Active volume control be better, with a variable negative gain. This then won't have the same effect...correct?

Cheers.

[aron]

What a lot of us do is use a treble bypass cap across the one outer lug and the wiper. As the volume is turned down, more highs are passed. It's a little tricky to get the right value cap on that. Search for treble leak pot etc...

[Dragonfly]

I want to build a volume control. Now obviously a passive device is easier. But will this not take away the highs as you roll off the volume? ( I have always understood that it does this). If so would an op-amp Active volume control be better, with a variable negative gain. This then won't have the same effect...correct?

Cheers.

check out the "clean machine" diagrams for some ideas....

http://aronnelson.com/gallery/album20

[aron]

Check out the treble- bypass wiring on this strat.

http://www.kinman.com/images/inside/toneWorkshop/tone/Strat_Wirogram.PDF

[Dave Eason]

I stuck some small caps across the lugs of the volume pots in an Esprit,  I was suprised how well it worked in fact.  I believe they were around 100 pF, I can't remember off the top of my head.  My Gibson suffers from losing all its sheen when you turn down the volume, so I'll probably do the same and experiment with different values.

[R.G.]

Along these lines, the Visual Volume 10th anniversary edition is now shipping. It's a volume pedal with some tricks.

- It has two inputs, and can do stereo volume.
- When you plug into only channel 1, the mono input comes out on both outputs, so it can also act as a variable splitter.
- It has a tuner direct out that works when the volume is fully off, so you can plug in a tuner, roll the volume back and tune up. Then you just start playing.
- It is both active and passive. There are internal switches to set active versus passive.
- In active mode, there is a variable maximum gain from unity up to about 10x (20db), so it can act as a variable clean booster as well as just a variable volume
- It has LED indication of volume level. If you use a volume pedal for getting solo versus rhythm sounds, you can accurately hit one level versus another by looking at the row of ten LEDs and hitting the right setting. Full forward for solos, roll back to six for rhythm, for instance.

Give it a look for some things you can do with volume pedals.