NPD

[hunter]

New Pots Day!

I was always thinking that I want the Volume pot behaviour of my Hamer Sunburst on all my guitars.

Sooo, I ordered 10 Hamer pots from BCR in the US of A and already put one in the McCarty - winner!!!

Sounds better when turning it down. Useable tones all the way and a very nice taper, as I'm use to it from the Sunburst.

So now I got more soldering to do - they'll go in all my main guitars :O)

[hunter]

I was just playing around (not soldering as I said) and made a small clip to demonstrate how the pot reacts with the Rebel Yells.

Once Rhythm Pickup, once Bridge Pickup, and I play the same sequence, always moving the pot up a notch. This is through the Axe, so I guess through a real amp it would be even more dynamic:

http://www.thegutbusters.com/temp/dynamics_prs.mp3

[FernandoDuarte]

Sounds cool, now you GOTTA do it:

I guess through a real amp it would be even more dynamic:

:P

[_tom_]

hmm so its actually worth replacing cheap pots? I've sort of wanted to redo all the electrics in my epiphone but didnt think it would be worth it..

[Philly Q]

Typical Philly Q obsessive-compulsive-disorder question coming up:


Looking at that pic, are they still using US pots, but with shafts to fit Japanese knobs?  That's what I had on my old Vector.

And what's BCR, by the way?

[FELINEGUITARS]

And what's BCR, by the way?

http://www.bcrmusic.com/index.htm
BCR Music - keen Hamer dealer in the USA

[hunter]

Looking at that pic, are they still using US pots, but with shafts to fit Japanese knobs?  That's what I had on my old Vector.

The shafts are 0.95mm, the thing where the knob goes is 0.6mm.

Well, it fitted the PRS at least. Maybe the knob was a bit harder to push on than on the stock one.

[hunter]

hmm so its actually worth replacing cheap pots? I've sort of wanted to redo all the electrics in my epiphone but didnt think it would be worth it..

Well, if it's worth replacing a PRS pot, then it should be worth replacing Epiphone pots I would think :O)

[Twinfan]

I would only replace pots if you're trying to fix something e.g. taper isn't right for you, it crackles etc.

If it works fine, and you likethe way it rolls off, I'd leave well enough alone....

[hunter]

I would only replace pots if you're trying to fix something e.g. taper isn't right for you, it crackles etc.

If it works fine, and you likethe way it rolls off, I'd leave well enough alone....

What annoyed me on the PRS pot was that the taper was very even and the pot gave no resistance, I just couldn't get the feel for it. The Hamer has always been the reference to me in that perspective.

But what was my biggest hope was also that it let through more body and spank when turning down, and the Hamer Pot does that, at least that's what I believe to hear.

[JDC]

does changing pots and wires improve tone when you keep the guitar volume on full all the time?

I've been thinking of upgrading mine

[Twinfan]

Unless you change the resistance value of the pot (500k to 1meg for instance), there's no difference between pots on full volume.  You're just bridging across a small piece of metal.

As for wires, the current in a guitar is so low it'll make no difference unless the old stuff is broken or degraded etc.

[Lew]

Good for you, the Hamer pots are absofrigginloutly fantastic, I've used them on a coulple of parts guitars.

[JDC]

Unless you change the resistance value of the pot (500k to 1meg for instance), there's no difference between pots on full volume.  You're just bridging across a small piece of metal.

As for wires, the current in a guitar is so low it'll make no difference unless the old stuff is broken or degraded etc.

cheers dave! I'll just change the knobs to black ones then to break up the look of my big shiny pick guard

I'm rather tempted to rewire it to a single volume, add a kill switch and angle the pickup selector for easier use, I haven't done any wiring since school though

[dave_mc]

sweet! pots and caps etc. can make a pretty big difference. I'm a lazy git, so have never actually got round to replacing any, but the pots in some of my guitars are far superior to the pots in my cheaper ones.