How much for a new set of pots

[mattisfrommars]

As i'm going to get my pickups (when i can finally afford them) professionally fitted- I thought i may as well get a load of other stuff i've been hankerin for fitted too.

The volume pots on my guitar aren't brilliant at 0 the guitar is very slightly audible and at 0.1 the guitar is basically at full volume. So i'm guessing better pots will solve this.

Also i want to replace my tone controls with something more useful than a simple treble cut. I'm sure that these knobs could be doing a whole lot more than that- does anyone have any ideas what could go here?

4 pots, if they're too expensive (more than £30 in total probably) then it's not worth it. Just wondering how much this will cost me

[Fourth Feline]

Hiya Matt,

I refitted my guitars with 500K CTS brand pots from axes'r'us (based in Hull) and they were about £5 per pair.

Whilst you are on you might want to upgrade the capacitors to those nice Sprague 'orange drop' types. I upgraded my caps from Gibson's standard ceramic discs to 'orange drops' before I upgraded the pots and pickups and they did make a difference in clarity and warmth.

When I then changed the pots from 300k Gibsons to 500K CTS, the pickups developed much more 'headroom' - then finally when I fitted BKPs ...

WOW !  -  I had opened up the soundstage to really optimise the quality of Tim's little marvels.

The only warning I would give (to save some cash) is that I found my Gibson guitars needed linear pots for the volume and Log/audio taper pots for the tones, NOT log/audio taper pots all round as is generally assumed.

I first fitted all Log type pots and the guitar was almost full on with the volume controls at 3 - then little change after that. When I then bought and fitted the linear volume pots, order was restored. I later read that the apparent problem lies in the difference in what degree of taper a modern log pot has (about 80:20) - whereas the old types were about 60:40. A linear pot is of course 50:50 about the centre, so whilst it is not perfect, it's close enough.

Axes'r'us also sell some interesting tone control replacements such as built in pre-amps and overdrives/tone shapers built onto the pots. At least a look at their website will show you what is available - and they are generally cheaper than allparts, but deliver good quality goods.

Happy hunting / modding  !

Regards,

Derek.

[Twinfan]

Interesting about the pots.  I fitted all log CTS pots to my Epi SG (both volume and tone) and it works great...

[Fourth Feline]

Interesting about the pots.  I fitted all log CTS pots to my Epi SG (both volume and tone) and it works great...

Yes I agree, it continues to intrigue me also. I once saw a Gibson schematic for an old Les Paul melody maker that had linear volume / log tones - and it certainly  worked for me in my S.G. and LP; -  but I completely concede that  human hearing is usually logarithmic in it's perception of volume increases.  

I can only speculate that whilst human hearing remains logarithmic, perhaps the effect of impedance loading and de-loading of the pickup does not directly 'track' our ears.

Two honest men with different results  !  

I would love to know the definitive answer though  :roll:

Perhaps "Feline Guitars" can comment ?

(Edit) I have just sent a PM to Feline Guitars, so here's hoping ...

Regards,

Derek.

[FELINEGUITARS]

We use a custom taper pot made by CGE specially for WD Music

These seem to be neither log or linear but somewhere in between , but they do seem to be even right through their range

I agree that the logarithmic concept should be ideal butwas alwys frustrated to get the all at the beginning or all at the end volume change.
I have been happy with what we have been using.
Seem to work left handed too!

We fit the same for volume as for tone and the results seem great and please me a lot

We keep these in stock at £4 each for normal length and £8 each for the long shft ones that Lps seem to need

We also keep some of the CTS ones too

The sprague caps seem nice too - and in one guitar (LP) I fitted the Hovland Musicaps which has taken on a very vintage tone as a result (fitted with Mules)

[Fourth Feline]

We use a custom taper pot made by CGE specially for WD Music

These seem to be neither log or linear but somewhere in between , but they do seem to be even right through their range

I agree that the logarithmic concept should be ideal butwas alwys frustrated to get the all at the beginning or all at the end volume change.
I have been happy with what we have been using.
Seem to work left handed too!

We fit the same for volume as for tone and the results seem great and please me a lot

We keep these in stock at £4 each for normal length and £8 each for the long shft ones that Lps seem to need

We also keep some of the CTS ones too

The sprague caps seem nice too - and in one guitar (LP) I fitted the Hovland Musicaps which has taken on a very vintage tone as a result (fitted with Mules)

Thanks for that knowledgable input, - much appreciated  :D

Regards,

Derek.

[JJretroTONEGOD]

mmmh

this has got me thinking!

would it actually make my guitar even better if I change the pots?

It's already a great guitar and the Volume and tone controls seem very responsive, so is it worth it?

[ToneMonkey]

Being an engineer I normally follow the rule: If it ain't broke, c--k around with it until it is  :lol:

But I doubt if this would be worth it.  You could try changing the value of the capacitors on the tone control, this will (I think) it bleeds off the treble response at a different rate, but I have just got up and I've not even finished my first cup of tea yet, so it could be the bass  :roll: