The Watering Hole

I had the idea for this a couple of weeks ago but have spent that time checking that the same thing is not already out there and copywriting it so I'm kind of protected from idea theft.

I figure that if I can get a hard-arsed cynical bunch of mofo's like you lot interested, then it'll be marketable.

The reason for thinking about this came from playing around with the OD's I have built and seeing how the guitars volume control effects the sound/gain. I found that the "sweetspot" on the Levinson was different to the Fender when rolling the volume off to clean up the sound.

I also found that hitting that sweetspot every time was not so much difficult but harder than I expected. So, how to ensure that you hit the same point every time you roll the volume back?

Simple really, Drill a small hole in the underside of the volume knob and load it with an appropriate diameter/length spring and ball baering. take a suitable sized thin washer and put a detent in it at the same radius from center as the sprung ball. You can then put the washer under the lock-nut of the volume pot and by lining up the detent to corispond with where you want the volume control to stop, you have a reference point that you can hit every time without having to look at the knob.

Workable? I'd like to hear what you guy's think before I take it any further.

Makes perfect sense to me.  Really good idea, in fact.  Sounds like something that would be worth doing.

Marketable?  That's a whole different ballgame.  Who can say if it'll sell?  Looks like wet feet are needed! ;D

I'll just use my ears.  They are free.

I don't think I would have a use for it as I just use my ears and back off the volume to the point where it sounds ok to me.  I also go by feel of how much I have turned the knob, an automatic unconscious thing really. Having said that, might be useful to somebody.

I think it has already been done.... not for the same purpose, but still...
On my 96' Strat, the middle PU had the TBX control ( change of the middle freq response with a flat one in the middle of the Tone knob position). So, that tone knob had that feature( sensitive "hard point" in pos 5), but i think it was built in the potentiometer, not in the knob.

And therefore NOT adjustable TB which is the whole point. Center detented pots have been around for years. The active EQ pots on my Ibanez Artist Steve Miller sig had center detents in the track and that was a 1979 guitar.

OK, I get it... ;)

I think it's a cool idea. Maybe not marketable like Dean said but worth a try.
Most people use their ears , including me but it would be kinda nice not having to roll back and forth .
It would be kinda annoying for people who actually use their volume knob as a volume pedal , as they would have to roll over the hot spot setting.

I wouldn't mind having something like that on a TS808 type pedal to make the drive go from 0 to 100.  I tend to use it with the volume maxed and the drive zeroed, but wouldn't mind being able to throttle up the drive occassionally without having to reach down.