Pickup Loading Switch

[mhartman]

Have any of you guys implemented a "pickup loading switch"? I've seen these on the Two Rock Studio Pros. I haven't used one before and was wondering if anyone has implemented such a swich. If so, do you like it? Is it just subbing different values for the 1M to ground at the input?

Here is the description from Two Rock:

The new Pickup Loading feature control has 5 settings. In the first position (fully counterclockwise), there is no additional pickup loading, with 4 additional settings available. Fully clockwise(last position) is full loading. Loading the guitar pickup(s) to varying degrees changes the impedance relationship between the pickup and the amplifier's first gain stage. Loading reduces inductive "ringing" in the pickup coils. The effect is a more controlled high frequency response and a reduction in high frequency artifacts produced when a pickup's magnets and coils feed back with each other, usually at or near the pickup's saturation point. The damping effect will also reduce the gain, which is normal.Tonally speaking, reducing these artifacts results in a cleaner waveform and an apparent lack of harshness in the upper frequencies.

[Bob S]

I've given the "Strat Switch" from the D forum some thought.
My Liverpool loves low output single coils.
Buckers or high output singles don't sound the same, regardless the amp settings. To my old ears anyway.
Two Rock might have been looking into this.

[Structo]

I'll bet all Two Rock is doing is switching different grid leak resistors on the input.

Which is typically a 1M on a guitar amp.

[katopan]

We all know pedals with really low value (compared to 1M) input resistors suck all your top end. Just looks like this is finding the happy medium between the two extremes.

[Jana]

Rather than building it into an amp, I think I would build a pedal with a pot that changes the loading. It would be quite simple to try. The one drawback I see with building it into an amp is that if you plug a pedal or anything else between the guitar and amp, the loading switch in the amp is useless--it isn't loading the guitar pickup any more, it is loading the last pedal before the amp.

[Jana]

Out of curiosity, I cobbled together a couple of jacks and a 1 meg pot. The jacks just fed the signal straight through. The pot was from the hot to ground on the jacks. With just a quick strum to test it out, it is an interesting effect. It mellows out the sound somewhat like what a tone control would do but it isn't quite the same. It might be worth experimenting with in a pedal box but I don't think I would build it into an amp (for the reasons I stated earlier). I would also want it footswitchable--it certainly isn't something that I would want on all the time.

I'm using a strat with single coils.

[Jana]

I have been doing some play testing of the setup I described--I have found that there isn't anything that this gives me that I can't duplicate with the volume and tone controls on the guitar.

[mhartman]

I have been doing some play testing of the setup I described--I have found that there isn't anything that this gives me that I can't duplicate with the volume and tone controls on the guitar.

Very cool. If you can, do some clips with it. I would love to hear it. Thanks!