HB / SC volume control options

[Beo]

So, I've hacked my strat with Seymour Duncan mini humbuckers pickups, and my humbuckers are split for positions 2 and 4. I have my pickup heights dialed in such that I get great humbucker sounds from positions 1 and 5 (plus a Neck On switch for dual HBs), and I get reasonably Strat like tones with quack from positions 2, 3 and 4. As a result of dialing in the tones I want, my volume is much higher for positions 1 and 5 than for 2, 3 and 4.

I'm looking for ideas on good options for simple on the fly volume balancing. I don't really want to hack my guitar with more switches and I don't want active electronics on board (no battery). Here are some ideas I've thought of. Any suggestions or recommendations?

This could be done automatically onboard:
5-way Superswitch onboard to wire in resistor to ground to tame humbuckers in positions 1 and 5 (but not in 2 and 4)

Manual methods:
Turn up my amp and turn down guitar volume for HBs
Volume pedal
Clean boost to drive strat tones
Passive anti-boost (stomp switch resistor to ground) to tame humbuckers

[CynicalMan]

Put resistors or trimpots in series with the coils that aren't used when split?

[ashcat_lt]

Resistors to ground won't reduce overall volume very much until they get very small.  What they will do is kill whatever little bit of treble you're getting out of those HBs.  You need a voltage divider to reduce volume.  A resistor in series with the HBs would work as the "top" of this divider, with the V pot as the "bottom".  This might kill some treble as well, so a "treble bleed" cap (parallel to your series resistor) may be desired.  Would take some tinkering or some careful simming to find suitable values.

[Beo]

Resistors to ground won't reduce overall volume very much until they get very small.  What they will do is kill whatever little bit of treble you're getting out of those HBs.  You need a voltage divider to reduce volume.  A resistor in series with the HBs would work as the "top" of this divider, with the V pot as the "bottom".  This might kill some treble as well, so a "treble bleed" cap (parallel to your series resistor) may be desired.  Would take some tinkering or some careful simming to find suitable values.

Thanks ashcat. This is simple to breadboard. That will also let me play with resistor values and see how downstream pedals are affected.