new pots + caps in guitar advice? :)

[the_bleeding]

sup guys, i just posted this at HCEG but i feel like you guys are more informed on the subject.

Im going to the hardware store tomorrow, and i'm guna grab some push pulls and caps for my gitfiddles!

So, what brands or makes should i look for? Im pretty sure the store (or stores) that im visiting all separate the caps by material, so what material is best?

thanks guys :)

[Bob Johnson]

Hi, Orange Drop caps are pretty good they seem to "shape" the tone rather than just give a flat cut with the associated nasal sound that you get from ceramic disc caps. Actually any Mylar film or polyester film cap will be better than a ceramic disc cap. If you are going to use push-pull pots you should ideally use plastic knobs or metal knobs with a plastic insert. Because the shaft has to slide as well as rotate it is not always well grounded to the pot body so you can get a bit of crackle and hiss when adjusting the pot from RFI / static from your body if you use metal knobs.

The orange drop caps are available from WD music as are a good range of very good pots from GCE and CTS. I personally use CTS pots wherever I can. They've always been reliable and smooth. Beware the amount of (expensive) BS out there regarding pots.

Cheers, Bob Johnson. Legra Guitars

[the_bleeding]

thanks so much for the info bob. Good thing i have speed knobs on all of my guitars :).

[exoslime]

i also recommend the cts pots, but please be aware that they will take some time and usage to get an easy and smooth feeling.
but on the other hand, they also feel very solid :)
I had never crackles or strange sounds while using them.

[ToneMonkey]

If you have splined shafts on your current pots, the knobs wont fit CTS pots as they have a winder shaft.

[ailean]

We recently put some Gibson pots into a guitar, and they were an improvement over what we had and do sound good, but I've not been able to compare with another brand to say if they are worth the money, or indeed as good as others.

[TomAwesome]

I recently ordered a bunch of new guitar guts. I ended up getting some Orange Drop caps, CTS pots, and Bourns push/pull pots (among several other things). I haven't installed anything since I haven't received my BKPs yet, but they all seem to be really fantastic quality.