Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: MartinS on October 13, 2009, 04:07:11 PM
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Hi. I'm planning on having a couple of things done to my 335 in a couple of weeks. Was thinking of new pots and caps as well as a new jack. Do new pots and caps make much of a difference? And if so, in what way?
Cheers.
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Good pots will help the taper of the control, and can tame or enhance brightness if you go for higher or lower resistance values.
Caps are much more subtle, but can add a sweetening effect.
The jack socket I'm not to bothered about, as it just needs to make good contact with the cable jack.
I use top spec CTS pots with brass shafts (from WdMusic) on USA guitars and Alpha pots (from AxesRUs) on Far Eastern ones. For caps, Orange Drop is my default option but I'll dabble with anything (like paper in oil caps) as long as it's not a ceramic disc type.
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Thanks. The pots are kind of scratchy and I'd like more response.
So, lower resistance = more brightness?
"A sweetening effect" sounds good.
What value of Orange Drop cap would you use.
It's a 79 335 with BK Mules.
Just had a look at the WD Music site - quite a lot of choice!
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So, lower resistance = more brightness?
No, higher resistance = brighter. So 1meg pots will be brighter than 500k, which will be brighter than 250k.
With humbuckers the "standard" is 500k pots and 0.022 caps.
The higher the cap value, the more dramatic the treble rolloff. Some people like a 0.015 cap on the neck pickup so it doesn't get muddy with the tone rolled down.
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Thanks. The pots are kind of scratchy and I'd like more response.
So, lower resistance = more brightness?
"A sweetening effect" sounds good.
What value of Orange Drop cap would you use.
It's a 79 335 with BK Mules.
Just had a look at the WD Music site - quite a lot of choice!
no, lower resistance pots give less treble. higher resistance pots give more treble.
stick with CTS pots and you wont go far wrong.
as for cap values, stock values with humbuckers are 0.022uF, but you might like 0.015uF for the neck (quite a common 'mod' to get a more subtle rolloff).
I wouldn't worry too much about caps unless you use the tone pot alot (I do). If you do use the tone alot, then you cannot get better than some old Sprague 160P (or bumblebee) caps - the rolloff is very smooth and musical (doesn't mud out). I typcially pay no more than around £25.00 for a pair for NOS, tested caps that are the rated capacitance and are not leaky. For the improvement in tone, I'd say its well worth paying the extra. Don't bother with modern repros, they're more expensive than the real thing (unless you must have NOS bumblebees). pre-used caps work fine in the majority of cases and most ebayers specialising in caps for guitars will test them for leakage anyway.
these would be a bargain... http://cgi.ebay.com/0-022-0-02-uF-Les-Paul-bumble-bee-caps_W0QQitemZ400078490825QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVintage_Electronics_R2?hash=item5d26894cc9#ht_500wt_1182
if you must have bumblebees, these are going at a great price... http://cgi.ebay.com/2-Sprague-BumbleBee-Caps-for-Gibson-Les-Paul-022-400V_W0QQitemZ250512634681QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item3a53b77339#ht_500wt_1182
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Thanks guys. 4x CTS 500k short-shaft pots, 1x .022uf Orange Drop cap and 1x .01uf (assuming it's 0.015...) Orange Drop.
Anything else I should spend a few pence on that might make a difference?
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CTS pots (and most other brands as well) have a value tolerance of 20%, which means that when you buy a 500k pot it can be anywhere between 400k to 600k.
If you are a tweaker, I would advise you to buy something like 6 pots, measure them all for their exact resistance, write it on them with a marker and replace the volume pots in your guitar with the pots closest to 500k. then change the volume with brighter/darker pots if required. the differences are subtle but definitely there.
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WDMusic have slightly higher spec pots (10% tolerance I think) which have brass shafts. These are the ones I buy, the regular ones with the grey coloured shafts don't feel as good to me......
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WDMusic have slightly higher spec pots (10% tolerance I think) which have brass shafts. These are the ones I buy, the regular ones with the grey coloured shafts don't feel as good to me......
The only thing I don't like about some CTS pots is that they feel very stiff. I like the "vintage style" CTS pots with a dimple in the top, rather than the flat-topped ones. They're a bit looser.
http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/product/Premium_250k_Pot_10%25_Tolerance_(Vintage_Style)_CTS250V (http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/product/Premium_250k_Pot_10%25_Tolerance_(Vintage_Style)_CTS250V)
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One caveat: changing the electronics in a Gibson 335 (except the Studio models) is a righteous pain.
Unless you have to, Do Never Test.
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Unless you have to, Do Never Test.
Sorry - don't understand...
(I wasn't planning on doing it myself...!) :D
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OK, had my pots and caps replaced, just got the guitar back. The ones that were in there were 100k tone pots, 300k volume pots. They're now 500k all round. (I had the guy take a reading and they're all actually over 500k.)
First impressions at low volume: pickups are certainly more characterful. The tone pots act smoothly. I had a .015 put in the neck position which has a much more gradual effect than the .022 in the bridge.
Volume pots seem a bit odd to me. They roll off nicely from 10 to 8, then seem to go quite muffly. Didn't do that before. Maybe it'll work better at a higher volume.
Overall, though, I can get a nice clear, bright yet full sound because I don't have to make the amp very bright to get the tone I'm looking for.
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I've replaced the Gibson pots on my Voodoo Les Paul with CTS and it made a huge difference - on the lows suprisingly. Much clearer and tighter as well. I'm a bit baffled and can only guess that those old Gibson pots were not the best at all worn down from use.
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If you wanna go all the way get some Hamer pots from the US. They are the best I've ever used for the volume position.
Or you could order one of the RS guitarworks prewired sets.
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Unless you have to, Do Never Test.
Sorry - don't understand...
(I wasn't planning on doing it myself...!) :D
Never mind, just read the first part of my response.
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OK, had my pots and caps replaced, just got the guitar back. The ones that were in there were 100k tone pots, 300k volume pots. They're now 500k all round. (I had the guy take a reading and they're all actually over 500k.)
First impressions at low volume: pickups are certainly more characterful. The tone pots act smoothly. I had a .015 put in the neck position which has a much more gradual effect than the .022 in the bridge.
Volume pots seem a bit odd to me. They roll off nicely from 10 to 8, then seem to go quite muffly. Didn't do that before. Maybe it'll work better at a higher volume.
Overall, though, I can get a nice clear, bright yet full sound because I don't have to make the amp very bright to get the tone I'm looking for.
Did he take the treble bleed caps off? These keep a path open for high frequencies as the resistance of the pot loads the signal. Some people like them off so the volume can be used as a high roll off as well. I