Are pots necessary?

[CraigJohnsJr]

Hey all,
I have an odd question here today.

I'm building a custom guitar (well, having one built for me) and I was interested in having just a kill switch and no knobs. (I'll only have a bridge pickup.)
Is that doable? Would there be a problem not having any pots? I'm assuming you'd need at least one, though I don't know why.
Again, I don't know much about this, so any info would be greatly appreciated. It's going to be my live guitar, so the less knobs I can turn off by accident, the better! Just want to keep things simple.

Thanks again!

[BigB]

You dont need any pot - technically at least. I for one *do* need a volume pot (so I can go from clean to crunch to massive OD), and a tone pot at least on bridge pickups, but that's because I learned to use them.

[Dave Sloven]

You can have no knobs at all, and simply add in a capacitor or resistor if you find it has too much brightness and high end.  For volume control you could simply use a volume pedal, which is easier than turning the knob in a lot of cases.  Actually with the volume pedai you wouldn't even need a kill switch.  I saw someone using one like a kill switch on Sunday night

[CraigJohnsJr]

Alright, awesome. Thanks guys! I'm placing the order in a few weeks and I'll be sure to post some pictures when it comes in!

[darkbluemurder]

I'm building a custom guitar (well, having one built for me) and I was interested in having just a kill switch and no knobs. (I'll only have a bridge pickup.)
Is that doable?

Yes.

Would there be a problem not having any pots? I'm assuming you'd need at least one, though I don't know why.

No. It's all personal preference. For myself I would want one but there is no reason you have to have one.

Cheers Stephan

[Alex]

It's like others have said, but I would like to add that pots can be of tonal benefit.
Many players think that pots "suck out tone and treble", but the truth is that they thicken the treble end. Without the treble end can sound harsh and thin. Especially the thin part is something I'd worry about. Most pickups are quite simply designed to be used with two pots behind them.

Finally, there's also the George Lynch style wiring, which is just a single push-pull-pot for two pickups. It works quite well for a clean look, while still being able to adjust the volume.