Pots and testing pcbs

[Jay.lingelbach]

Possibly silly question.
Do you need to have the potentiometers soldered in to test a pedal?

Part of me thinks yes, because not having them leaves a gap in the circuit.

Part of me says no, it just will play as if all the controls are maxed out.

School me please!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[mjg]

It totally depends on the circuit, and which pot you are talking about.  Usually leaving it out will leave a gap in the circuit, so you'll get nothing.  But sometimes it will have limited effect, and other times you'll end up with a deafening amount of volume. 

Did you have an example schematic that we can look at?

In terms of testing a circuit without soldering in the pots, I use push-in pcb pins to a breadboard, and connect the pots temporarily that way.  It can be a bit fiddly, but no solder required. 

[Jay.lingelbach]

Nothing in mind. Just musing. Thank you for your answer. I'll try the breadboard. That's a good idea.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro