ShortScale.org

Ive recently started to change all vol and tones to 500 ohm from 250. now the question is whats
the right potentiometer to put in so i dont have to drill all the times in the control plate?

Thanks!

Alpha do, CTS don't...

Thomann.de buying options?

weeping_moon wrote:Ive recently started to change all vol and tones to 500 ohm from 250. now the question is whats
the right potentiometer to put in so i dont have to drill all the times in the control plate?

Thanks!

500 Ohm, or 500k Ohm. Big difference.

"mini" alpha

250k is usually used for single coils. if its got humbuckers, i'd use 500k so it doesnt sound like cardboard poop

I just made the holes bigger for CTS pots to fit on mine. One Mustang I have has a newer control plate on it that had the holes the right size for CTS.

James J wrote:I just made the holes bigger for CTS pots to fit on mine.

I did the same on my jazzmaster. I had some Alpha pots once and didn't like the taper so wanted to use CTS pots.

You need to make sure you get the right taper, log or linear.

johnnyseven wrote:I had some Alpha pots once and didn't like the taper so wanted to use CTS pots.

Yo, you can get Alpha pots in all tapers. Use 'B' - linear for tone, and 'A' - logarithmic (or just log or audio) for volume.

Best place to buy Alpha pots in small quantities? Probably eBay. Get the ones with short shafts and check if the ones in your guitar have knurled shafts (push-on knobs) or solid shafts (set-screw knobs).

timhulio wrote:

johnnyseven wrote:I had some Alpha pots once and didn't like the taper so wanted to use CTS pots.

Yo, you can get Alpha pots in all tapers. Use 'B' - linear for tone, and 'A' - logarithmic (or just log or audio) for volume.

I know this. I think I bought some with a linear taper and there wasn't a smooth transition when turning the pot, it was like switching between off and on. I could have got some bad ones but it put me off using them again so I went for CTS and they were much better.

You're not listening.

Your taper choice was completely wrong, not the brand. You probably just ended up with Audio ones when you got the CTS ones. They're not a better brand or anything.

LOG or AUDIO is what you want for Volume and Tone pots. Otherwise the transition is going to be far to fast for you hear audibly.

There seems to be a difference of opinion here.

Either way I wouldn't expect a pot (whatever the taper) to go from bright straight to dark within a couple of millimetres of movement. All I know is that I bought (what I thought was) a linear Alpha pot and (i'm pretty ceratin) a linear CTS pot, the taper on the Alpha pot was unusable for me and the CTS was fine.

johnnyseven wrote:There seems to be a difference of opinion here.

Either way I wouldn't expect a pot (whatever the taper) to go from bright straight to dark within a couple of millimetres of movement. All I know is that I bought (what I thought was) a linear Alpha pot and (i'm pretty ceratin) a linear CTS pot, the taper on the Alpha pot was unusable for me and the CTS was fine.

Yes, it would do that if it were the wrong taper.

Hearing is logarithmic. The way we perceive sound/loudness is not a straight line, it's a curve.

Like this:


So, if you are using the wrong taper pot, you can see from this image how your results would be skewed.

An easy way to test what kind of pot you have it is to use a multimeter. Set it in the correct ohm range for the pot and turn the pot counterclockwise. Measure the resistance by placing your probes on the 1 and 2 pins of the pot. note the resistance. Do the same with the pot in the middle, and clock wise. If the pot is linear, it should read roughly half the value of the clockwise value in the middle.

This thread is relevant to my interests.

If Alpha pots are the correct choice for a Japanese Mustang, who in the UK stocks the solid-shaft version? Axesrus have the medium shaft and mini shaft pots in most tapers, however they're split-shaft.

Watford Valves have medium solid-shaft Alpha pots, but I've been unable to locate a mini solid-shaft Alpha pot anywhere. Could a medium Alpha pot be used instead of a mini Alpha pot?

Also, the consensus seems to be that a rails pickup should be treated as a humbucker, so the volume pot should be 500k log (A). Would it be OK to use a 250k linear (B) pot for tone?

Fuck it, im drilling.

johnnyseven wrote:There seems to be a difference of opinion here.

yes, I'm speaking from a position of SCIENCE

I was referring to your and Tim's opinion on which type of pot should be used for volume/tone.

Always been lead to believe it's audio for vol, linear for tone. There doesn't seem to be much consensus. That said, I could well be wrong and NEVER use the volume or tone controls on a guitar.

I have linear for tone in my jazzmaster, they seem to work better for me than audio.