Hi all,

I'm new here and so far I've gotten some great tips.  I have another newbie question.

I'm starting to venture away from the "paint-by-numbers" projects and moving toward reading from just a schematic or a layout that leaves a little to the imagination.  My question is, are there any guidelines to help with deciding which pots I should order for my boxes?  For example, is there a certain value which is generally used for gain, or for rate, depth, etc?

Also, while I'm at it, is there a set way to wire pots for certain functions?  Like if my pot is a volume pot, which lugs do I connect?  Or if it has some other function, are there any rules for how they get hooked up?  I'm sure I could figure it out myself if I think hard enough, but my brain is pretty torqued from a project I'm working on.  I figure this info is probably out there somewhere, but I haven't found a link.

thanks!!

There is a few common sizes - 10K, 50K, 100K, 500K and 1M, sometimes 250K. I have seen all of these values in effects schematics. You could use either audio or linear pots, but I pretty much use audio pots all the time. You definitely want to use audio pots for volume controls, it gives you much better control.

There is certain ways to wire pots for different functions. Volume pots bleed off some of the signal to ground. Gain pots are very often wired as a variable resistor. Look at a few schematics, and you will see the various ways that they can be wired.

Most of your pot questions can be answered here:
http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/potsecrets/potscret.htm

There are certain ways to wire pots for certain applications, but merely taking that at face value without understanding WHY the pot is wired that way will lead to a lot of confusion later on. I'm running into that now, as a matter of fact. :lol:

Thanks for the tips folks.  I should be alright now.