Neg ground PNP circuit

[brett]

Hi.  I'm building a neg ground PNP easyface.  My question is about isolating the "pre-gain" pot that feeds the base of the first transistor.

As I see it, I have 2 options -
1. isolate pins 1 and 3 of the pot with caps and let the whole pot sit at the bias voltage.
2. isolate pin 3 of the pot (with a cap), ground pin 1, and isolate pin 2 from the base of the transistor with a cap.

From what I see in schematics, option 2 is mostly used.  Is there an advantage to it?

Also, if I use option 2 and have the pot sitting at ground, should that be AC ground for the circuit (ie 9V DC) or DC ground (which is also AC ground, I guess).

apologies if this is as clear as mud

thanks for any advice