Very good video,I have a DOT and SG-400 custom and far as I experimentes,the only change on a sound is changing pickups.Changing pots is effective only in a case of gigging with only a guitar and amp,playing with a pot,in that case quality of pots really matter.
You should have plug your guitar in direct line in a good soundcard. Then record your sounds, with welded pots, in good quality. And you should show how the pots respond to the movement from 1 to 10 and not only at 10. And with the bridge pickup too. And then mix the audio so we can hear the different pots for each setting.
@drien0011 - see the other parts of this video series. The towel was to protect the finish from scratches, as I had all the electronics hanging out the f-hole.
I don't know. I think you might get some extra harmonics if you went up to a 1mg pot. However, with the extra brightness it might behoove you to choose an 8 as opposed to a 10 on the treble pot while playing. Just spitballin'.
The Bourns sound chunkier but the CTS and Stock Epi sound almost the same to me. I would probably choose the Bourns if it were not for the noise while turning them.
@ChronoGXay - I should have measured the pots on camera. This was one of my earliest youtube videos and I was still evolving my process for this type of thing.
These pots all measured within 5% of 500k. My point in this video was that the mechanical/physical quality differences were more significant than any audible differences.
Hey thanks for going through the trouble to give us a nice demo. Sure helped! I think I am going to go with the CTS because everyone says they have less torque, which seems to me that it would make the knobs stay put when you're playing and be less likely to accidentally move.
@johnnymaverick92 - my EP0086 CTS pots had some of the highest torque of the ones I tried. More torque = harder to turn. The Bourns large PDB pots were very easy to turn but the 16mm Bourns were higher torque. All manufacturers produce pots of different torques- you should try them if you can, or check the datasheets.
Nice demo! The only valid argument I've ever heard for quality CTS or Bourns pots is the quality control during the manufacturing process, and also the higher tolerances under which they are produced. A CTS pot would in reality be much closer to the actual 500K value more so than a cheaper generic pot which can measure as low as 400 or 350K. That's a pretty significant difference. The "feel" of the knobs is the biggie for me. In the end though, metals are metals, they all conduct a signal well.
It did seem like the CTS were clearer, and the Bourns were clearer and fuller, with almost too much low end, causing a slight distortion in the bass frequencies. I would've picked the CTS.
@RocknLester2011 - good suggestions (but divide those numbers by 1000!) I cover this in my videos on tone caps. And you can hear some comparisons in my video: Epiphone Electronics Overhaul, Before and After Comparisons. I used a .01uF orange drop for the tone cap.
The CTS lets through more highs and has less mud in the bass, thats what I hear on film. I am a freak of nature when it comes to tone, some say its subjective but making a quiet rig with a powerful head like a Handwired Plexi 1987 can be a challenge to say the least. You have to have great speakers period, garbage will show, GREAT cab, and bust your ass to bring it up to par. Whats awesome here is the CTS pots are better at 10, I know they ARE better at lower volumes but that was great.
ANY advice on a bare knuckle Warpig not allowing enough of the upper high string sustain to come thru? Volume isnt very ballanced across the fretboard. when jamming my mids & lows can be heard,but go into a lead & I can barely hear myself. NOTE: The volume pot is a cheap piece of crap, would a 500k CTS help bring out my highs a lil better?? tyvm in advance
@97warlock - I have no experience with the warpig. But yes, higher resistance pots will load the pickups less, allowing more high frequencies through. You could even try 1 Meg pots.
As an experiment, connect your pickup directly to the jack (using alligator leads), and see how it sounds. Then work from there, adding in a volume pot, a tone pot, etc, to see what's causing the tone suck. Good luck!
@LearnTheLingo - I've never tried. The Riviera is a semi-hollowbody, which has a solid center block under the pickups to help reduce feedback. You could try cutting out some thin black foam to shape, and use double-sided tape to stick it to the inside of the guitar below the f-holes...
I hear people talking about how you have to change 'crappy' pots and what a difference it makes, like it's some 'holy grail', now I actually know that the difference is negligible.
the CTS were 'brighter' and slightly 'clearer' to me as well but it was minor and not worth it to do this on my casino, since it's such a PITA to get the the electronics
@a7x3908 - you might be surprised to not hear very much difference, unless those crappy pots were fully defective and scratchy or whatever. and the cheap pots would certainly FEEL different. but after setting to the same resistance value, they won't necessarily sound different. for an example of some truly crappy defective pots, see my video on the ktone travel guitar :)
I really appreciate your work, so far i watched this and the capacitors one, and at least for me it cleared a lot of doubts i had about how hardware changes the tone. Really, the changes are so small and subtle that unless your guitar got some part defective its not worth bother changing. Thanks a lot it really saved me i was about to do all that myself and in the end i would get really frustrated expecting a lot more to happen.
Hi John, my issue with the pots is not about tone, but about volume. When I play my MIM strat I usually gig on 7, and when I solo I pop up the volume to 9 or 10 on my guitar. The problem is that at 7 you have almost no volume, and there is a big jump in volume between 7 and 8. This does not happen in my MIA strat, do you think that changing the pots would solve the problem?,thank you for your great video
@abadmancheno - is this a master volume, or do have 2+ volumes tied together? If you're listening to a mix of multiple pickups through multiple volume pots, adjusting one volume control may make a less audible change than it would in isolation. If you're just talking about a single master volume, then yes, you may want to experiment with different taper pots to make it work better for you.
Lets say your pickup is bit too bright and you want to cut some highs, then what´s the reason for not cutting this ONLY with the toneknob + a good pio cap... instead of using both the toneknob+cap AND a pot with lower value? Of course, you could then never have the tone on 10, but maybe the result would be superior?
great vid! very helpful...i actually DID hear a difference between each set of pots. however, the differences are pretty subtle IMHO and may not be enough to enhance/detract from the overall tone. maybe then the only difference will be in the build quality of the pickups...which one will last longer with better sound consistency...etc. again thanks for the great video!
@wipers86 - No, it won't make your guitar louder. A volume pot can really only turn the level down. It doesn't add gain. Well, I suppose if the previous volume pot was defective or not allowing to fully reach 0 resistance, then a replacement pot could improve loudness, but this is an unlikely scenario.
@johnplanetz does the tone pot make much of a difference ? I've got a Seymour Duncan JB in my mustang and I haven't been satisfied with the tone and with the pickups they put in them guitars I wouldn't be surprised in the tone pot is poor
@wipers86 - the tone cap makes much more of a difference than the pot itself. unless you don't like the taper or feel of the pot. see the videos in my channel on tone capacitors.
Hi, l got a question, yesterday l played my guitar as usual and today when l wanted to play it my volume pot stoped working!! What l mean is that the knob controlling it; doesn't matter where crank it, the volume pot is not responding, it stays in half lvl volume. Do u think it's a broken/damaged potentiometer? l'm curious what could have happened that night..
great video man!!! i can tell you took alot of time to make this video..great demo of the pots..and the end part about pots just being crappy was funny:)
maybe 1meg on the bridge, and 500k on the middle and 250k on the neck would make a cool tone,alot of work..great vid
I bought and installed a 1 meg CTC Vol pot. I honestly dont hear any difference between the cts 500k and the cts 1 meg. And its engraved cts 1 meg on the back of the pot. Just dont hear hardly any difference if any at all. Which is fine with me. I was just bracing myself for a bit more highs. so...who knows.
excellent vid,very helpful.....The one thing Im dying to know is.........Soundwise,whats the difference between a 500k and a 1meg pot?? I heard its only a little brighter,less lows ........But Im wondering How MUCH brighter? On a scale of 1-10 ,10 being very trebly and 1 being hardly noticable ,anyone ever use a 1meg that used to use a 500k???
@97warlock - the 1meg pot will load the pickups less, resulting in a slightly brighter sound. the taper will also feel a bit different when turning the knob. hard to be exacting on a 1-10 scale, as it really depends on the pickups and the rest of the circuit. I'd say noticeable, but not extremely different.
@johnplanetz Im using a Kent armstrong 17k Neck & Bareknuckle 21k bridge. The BK is big & full with nice low & mid with a nice crisp edgge to the highs./My only concern is that I dont lose my lows & mids. No Tone knob,only a Vol /3 way toggle. Ty.,I appreciate the reply~
I'm thinking of putting some 500k CTS potentiometers in my Gibson Les Paul. It currently has 300k linear pots for volume and 500k non-linear pots for tone. I would be changing all to get the CTS quality. The reason I want to change them is to get a bit more output on the pickups. Do you think I might risk making the guitar too bright sounding if I do this? It's got a maple cap. 57 classics are the pickups.
@Clipster15 - it's really personal preference. I like brightness, since I can always turn down the tone a bit. Try out your new pots with alligator clip leads before soldering to make sure you like the result.
hi john i'm making a guitar from scratch, two tone pots and one volume pot, with an hss (no coil tap) configuration, for the tone pots what should i put and for the volume? i'm using seymour duncan ssl1 for neck and middle and jb for the bridge (all vintage) for a vintage sound....i was planning to put 250k for all pots
@ivncdo0809 - 250k pots will load the pickups more than 500k pots, so you'll lose a bit more high end (so you'll get a warmer sound). 500k pots will load the pickups less, so more high frequencies will be preserved. 1 Meg pots would be the brightest. It's up to you!
hi john i'm building a guitar from scrath (with hss configuration) already had a neck and the body and i have decided what pickups to drop in there two s.duncan ssl1 for neck and middle and a SH-1 for the bridge, i don't have a great knowlegde of electrics but from what i understood i decided to put a 250k for the tone pots to get a vintage sound according to the ssl-1 and for the volume should i put a 250k ?
wow takes an incredible amount of patience to even attempt this. good for you. It is people like you who help people like us make well informed decisions.
I have a question. I have a Dean Evo XM electric guitar, and it's been working good for a while, but i want to change the sound to something similar to a Les Paul, or Epiphone. I tried switching strings to see if it would work, but it only made a slight change. Is there a way to change the sound via changing the humbuckers or the wiring.
PS: I've also had a problem with my guitar in the plug in slot. I plug it in, and sometimes it makes a loud noise. Is it the wiring inside?
@orochimarui2 - yes, you can dramatically change the sound of your guitar by changing pickups, and to a lesser degree the pots and caps. For example, see my video "electronics overhaul: before and after comparison". As for your loud noise when inserting the plug- it is pretty common to get a "pop" sound as you push the plug in as it briefly shorts signal to ground. If it's worse than that, you probably have a loose wire in the jack connections.
i can hear a noticeable difference with the pots and i agree cts is a more possitive sound. but good caps specificaly 400v .22uf combined with cts is an upgrade for any import guitar thats worth while, but to make sure you get the best out of your guitar change the jack and switch at the same time. imo never solder the grounds to the pot shells as it kills them.
CTS pots totally transformed everything for the better from taper, feel, brightness and volume to my Squire Telecaster Custom II, best upgrade ever, and for reference this guitar is fitted with mini pots as standard but will accept standard size CTS pots with only a 3mm elongation of one of the tone holes. These videos really helped, many thanks!
What controls how hard it is to turn the pot? I really like the tighter ones, is there some way to adjust the feel? I've taken pots apart, but I don't see anything to change. Does it have to do with the kind of lubricant inside?
@alienspeedmetal - I haven't had much luck trying to change the feel of a pot. Several factors in the construction are involved- the lubricant, the amount of force the wiper exerts on the wafer, etc. I've tried changing out the lubricant on a pot to loosen it up and it didn't make much difference. I have noticed that the tighter pots due tend to loosen up a bit with time and use.
Oh, but for an audiophile like myself the difference is clear to hear! The CTS pots produce better separation of the frequencies; hence, more clarity. Plus the sound is more focused, tighter. Hmmm... now I gotta replace my guitar pots with CTS audio taper pots! Many thanks for taking all the trouble for this revealing test!
to test the pot why not lower the volume to test the taper & dynamic range. A good pot will help take full advantage of lowering in small increments to change the tone from ten to zero. A cheap pot cuts out around 4 and is less sensitive to changes. Wataya thank ???
I believe that the main factor in guitar clarity is scale length. A 335 or Les Paul guitar with a 24.75" scale just doesn't ring like a 25.5" strat, tele, or Gibson L-5. Regarding electronics, maybe any attenuation of signal before the preamp gives it less to work with, and reduces clarity. I like controlling volume with a pedal placed after the preamp.
I have a Peavey guitar (copy, that is), it has a double pickup, 1 volume, 1 tone... and in the past couple weeks it started to send electricity trought the pickup and on to the strings, so when i play it hits me on the picking hand, i've taken it to a guy to check it out, he had a problem on his Fender. He put everything together -btw. my tone cable was disconnected- and when i played it was ok, but the problem continued. And my volume pot. can be turned countles times, broken in other words.
@100eura - sounds like you need to replace that volume pot, and then review and resolder all the wiring. you should be able to find a wiring diagram at the guitarelectronics website that matches your circuit. good luck!
i've been very skeptical that upgrading pots is going to improve the sound of my guitars. i'm going to doing an upgrade just to see for myself. i got some CTS pots and an orange drop cap for one of my strats. i'll try to record before and after to see if there is any difference.
that epi sounds like crap - and there is no real difference in pots. CGE's are better than CTS, but they're not being made anymore. Buy a Music Man guitar and your guitar playing will sound better...
no sound diffrence at all . i think it would be great if you will make an experement with changing the resistanse . i hear that EMG uses 25Kohm for their circuits ... it would be nice to know what gonna be the difference after changing the pots to higher resistances. thank you for the video , really nice info to know :)
@yuraaa1990 - EMG pickups are active, so the circuitry is completely different (the volume pots are electrically isolated from the pickups, so they don't load the pickups).
In a typical passive guitar circuit, using such a low resistance 25k pot for volume would massively load the pickups and be devastating to the tone.
Cool demo, but some things you missed were, did you actually measure the resistance of each pot? Tolerances on pots vary widely, you don't actually get actual 500K from very many pots, you usually get anywhere from 400K-550 etc. The other big thing to check for is how do they sound when reducing the volume level with the pot. Yes, there ARE really bad pots out there, Chinese guitars with the mini-pots are notorious tone killers, I've run into those alot, changing them out always helps alot.
@SDPickups - Yes, good points. I only introduce those ideas briefly here starting around 5:40, but I talk about and demonstrate tapers (and differences between manufacturers), pot measurements, etc in more detail in the other parts of this video series, as well as in my "Potentiometers, disassembly and exploration" video.
@broeder6x6 see my other vids on guitar caps were i demonstrate the differences in taper. i prefer audio taper for both volume and tone, but you may find you prefer different taper depending how you use your knobs.
Its all about quality. Cheap pots may sound great when new but after a couple of years they will be noisy and scratchy, CTS pots will still be great after a couple of years.
I replaced the stock volume and tone pots in one of my guitars with some new CTS pots and I could tell a difference in sound quality. The main difference I noticed with the CTS pots was when the volume is turned down it maintains clarity, while the stock pots made the guitar sound muffled the more you rolled the volume down. The stock ones must have been really cheap.
Sounds like the taper of the new pots is more logarithmic, and the resistance a bit higher compared to your original pots. In any case, sounds like a good improvement!
Depends what you're trying to accomplish. Do you want to change taper (change how fast it changes as you turn the knob), change resistance (can make it brighter/duller), change feel (easier/harder to turn).
I think it is not the high end. It is the low end improvement with Bourns and slightly cleared mids I am hearing. In high response CTS is very much the same to all with a little edge. At least that is how I hear.
"B" usually means linear, and 103 might mean 10k (but it also might just be a part number). You can measure the total pot resistance value with a multimeter across the two outer lugs. For more explanation, and demonstration of identifying the pot value and taper with a multimeter, see my video "Potentiometers: How they work, disassembly and exploration"
this is a kind of a broad question. But I am making my own guitar, and I realize how big this project is. If I want to buy a separate pickup/ pickups, how do you wire the pickups to the tone, and such? Any help would be great:)
Big question, with no quick answer :) There's many ways to wire it up. I suggest you check out some books, like those by Erlewine's, Koch or Hiscock, Also, take a look at the wiring diagrams at the guitarelectronics website,
Just google it. Type in the type of guitar you want to build (Les Paul, Tele, Strat) plus "wiring". You should get a lot of useful pics and diagrams. I just replaced my pickups yesterday this way.
A pot is a pot is a pot. :) it's how you wire them up that makes the difference. A volume pot is typically wired as a voltage divider with one side to ground, and one side to the output (so as you turn the pot, the signal is variably divided between ground (silence) and the output. A tone pot is typically wired as a variable resistor through a cap to ground, in parallel with the signal. which acts as a filter to variably roll off high frequencies.
Master tone versus individual pickup tone is just where it's wired up in the circuit.
Lastly, different values of pots (e.g. 250k vs 500k) result in different loads on the circuit (lower resistance to ground makes more load). And more load on the pickups results in more inherent roll-off in your high frequencies.
wow! thank you.. i have a gibson les paul black beauty with 3 pickups and i want diffrent wiring.. i want 3 volumes and a master tone! someone told me that lear pots are only for volume and audio for both.. its all clear no.. thank you..
Sorry, I have not tried those. There are certainly noticeable differences between different types of tapers (see my video comparing tapers for some examples). But taper is a personal preference, so there's no saying that this custom taper pot will be better for everyone. You'll just have to decide whether you dislike your current pot tapers enough to go buy and try some new ones :)
Hello my CRL 3 way switch for my telecaster goes blank when switching to the neck pickup it like cuts out dead sound but the bridge cuts into the middle with no problem sounds . I strum the strings to let ring & can still hear the sound when switching from bridge to middle . ?
If this switch was working before, but now is not, I would guess you have some loose wires / bad solder joints. It is unlikely that the switch itself has problems.
Have you checked and double-checked all the wiring?
I demonstrate the differences between tapers in part 2 of this video. You're right, you can hear definite differences in tapers between the alphas compared to cts and bourns..
Very Cool Video. I happened upon it right in the middle of a guitar project of my own and have always thought that changing the pots really doesn't make that huge of a difference unless as you say they're total crap. You're test confirms it. Thanks for taking the time to do this cool vid!
Thanks for posting this. I am trying to figure out where I will get the most improvement in my Epiphone Lucille - pickup swap, pots etc? Best unbiased video I've found covering this topic.
In my opinion (based on my experiments), the biggest change in tone will come from swapping out the pickups. (Unfortunately this is the most expensive mod you can do).
Adding treble bleed is a big improvement if you use your volume knobs a lot. (and is very cheap and easy).
Changing the tone cap is more about the range of tone you'll get with your tone knob - the change in the character of the tone itself will be pretty subtle.
Changing pots is more about feel and taper than tone.
perhaps a test with some single lead lines would have been good, or a higher gain test. as used in the video i heard little difference in tone. but we still put them cts ones in like buying the gibson name!
In part 2, I demo the pickups straight through a single pot to the jack. I focus on taper in that video - and there are big differences in taper quality. But again, not much difference in tone.
I definitely find the taper in the CTS pots to be better than the Alphas (which turn out to be more linear than logarithmic). And the CTS build construction is really nice too.
Thanks for bothering to do this test..I'm lokking at changing stock Gibson pots in a Les Paul Custom to CTS 500k..I definetly found your test useful. The Epi pots sound muddy . The CTS pots have a discernible clarity in the sound and are brighter
I think I agree with you that the pots don't sound different from one set to the next on the selections you were playing. Actually surprised to hear that....
Very good video,I have a DOT and SG-400 custom and far as I experimentes,the only change on a sound is changing pickups.Changing pots is effective only in a case of gigging with only a guitar and amp,playing with a pot,in that case quality of pots really matter.
njarnjas 2 days ago
That's not scientific at all.
You should have plug your guitar in direct line in a good soundcard. Then record your sounds, with welded pots, in good quality. And you should show how the pots respond to the movement from 1 to 10 and not only at 10. And with the bridge pickup too. And then mix the audio so we can hear the different pots for each setting.
And the white tissue seems weird.
drien0011 2 weeks ago
@drien0011 - see the other parts of this video series. The towel was to protect the finish from scratches, as I had all the electronics hanging out the f-hole.
johnplanetz 2 weeks ago
I don't know. I think you might get some extra harmonics if you went up to a 1mg pot. However, with the extra brightness it might behoove you to choose an 8 as opposed to a 10 on the treble pot while playing. Just spitballin'.
MikeFranks23 3 weeks ago
The Bourns sound chunkier but the CTS and Stock Epi sound almost the same to me. I would probably choose the Bourns if it were not for the noise while turning them.
MikeFranks23 3 weeks ago
2:47 stock epiphone pots
3:50 cts pots
4:18 bourns pots
4:55 side by side comparison
5:10 -->conclusion
panpipesjohn 1 month ago
There is a difference in Treble on all three the stock
set is the brightest but not clear the second set has
more mid range to treble and clearer the third set
has much more mid range and bass than both. I am
viewing on a Apple Mac Book Pro and I am able
to distinguish however a blind test would be very
hard to distinguish difference it is a very slight
change in clarity and treble. Dwight L.
dlscadlsca 1 month ago
@ChronoGXay - I should have measured the pots on camera. This was one of my earliest youtube videos and I was still evolving my process for this type of thing.
These pots all measured within 5% of 500k. My point in this video was that the mechanical/physical quality differences were more significant than any audible differences.
johnplanetz 1 month ago
Hey thanks for going through the trouble to give us a nice demo. Sure helped! I think I am going to go with the CTS because everyone says they have less torque, which seems to me that it would make the knobs stay put when you're playing and be less likely to accidentally move.
johnnymaverick92 2 months ago
@johnnymaverick92 - my EP0086 CTS pots had some of the highest torque of the ones I tried. More torque = harder to turn. The Bourns large PDB pots were very easy to turn but the 16mm Bourns were higher torque. All manufacturers produce pots of different torques- you should try them if you can, or check the datasheets.
johnplanetz 2 months ago
Nice demo! The only valid argument I've ever heard for quality CTS or Bourns pots is the quality control during the manufacturing process, and also the higher tolerances under which they are produced. A CTS pot would in reality be much closer to the actual 500K value more so than a cheaper generic pot which can measure as low as 400 or 350K. That's a pretty significant difference. The "feel" of the knobs is the biggie for me. In the end though, metals are metals, they all conduct a signal well.
SixStringHarmonies 3 months ago
It did seem like the CTS were clearer, and the Bourns were clearer and fuller, with almost too much low end, causing a slight distortion in the bass frequencies. I would've picked the CTS.
wseeback 3 months ago
If you want a little bit more high, try changing the small capacitor to a lower value..from a 47uf to a 22uf to a 15uf''
RocknLester2011 3 months ago
@RocknLester2011 - good suggestions (but divide those numbers by 1000!) I cover this in my videos on tone caps. And you can hear some comparisons in my video: Epiphone Electronics Overhaul, Before and After Comparisons. I used a .01uF orange drop for the tone cap.
johnplanetz 3 months ago
a little bit more chime or high end on both cts and bourns. the stock were not bad though! in my opinion
RocknLester2011 3 months ago
That was honest. Thanks for that.
bedofrazorsqwerty 3 months ago
The CTS lets through more highs and has less mud in the bass, thats what I hear on film. I am a freak of nature when it comes to tone, some say its subjective but making a quiet rig with a powerful head like a Handwired Plexi 1987 can be a challenge to say the least. You have to have great speakers period, garbage will show, GREAT cab, and bust your ass to bring it up to par. Whats awesome here is the CTS pots are better at 10, I know they ARE better at lower volumes but that was great.
willeng84 3 months ago
ANY advice on a bare knuckle Warpig not allowing enough of the upper high string sustain to come thru? Volume isnt very ballanced across the fretboard. when jamming my mids & lows can be heard,but go into a lead & I can barely hear myself. NOTE: The volume pot is a cheap piece of crap, would a 500k CTS help bring out my highs a lil better?? tyvm in advance
97warlock 3 months ago
@97warlock - I have no experience with the warpig. But yes, higher resistance pots will load the pickups less, allowing more high frequencies through. You could even try 1 Meg pots.
As an experiment, connect your pickup directly to the jack (using alligator leads), and see how it sounds. Then work from there, adding in a volume pot, a tone pot, etc, to see what's causing the tone suck. Good luck!
johnplanetz 3 months ago
Awesome video and very useful to those of us who contemplate changes like this all the time in our guitars. Thanks for quality work!!!
dtaylor247 3 months ago
This is really great, very informative, very clear and i am now convinced that new pots are pointless!
wizardwithguns1 4 months ago 2
any tips on stuffing the f holes to reduce feedback? i have a casino
LearnTheLingo 4 months ago
@LearnTheLingo - I've never tried. The Riviera is a semi-hollowbody, which has a solid center block under the pickups to help reduce feedback. You could try cutting out some thin black foam to shape, and use double-sided tape to stick it to the inside of the guitar below the f-holes...
johnplanetz 3 months ago
Comment removed
Jazzboful 3 months ago
@LearnTheLingo An inflated black balloon will work well in reducing feedback
Jazzboful 3 months ago
man, you are very helpful, thank you very much
yptat2 4 months ago
awesome job, Im going to upgrade pots and pups on my guitar, this has been so useful. Subscribed!
aronchas 5 months ago
"i might be hearing so more brightness out of the CTS pots" - might be coincidence, but me too :)
great guitar by the way!
good video
VoiDukkha 5 months ago
Thanks! good work, nice through comparison.
I hear people talking about how you have to change 'crappy' pots and what a difference it makes, like it's some 'holy grail', now I actually know that the difference is negligible.
the CTS were 'brighter' and slightly 'clearer' to me as well but it was minor and not worth it to do this on my casino, since it's such a PITA to get the the electronics
s1d3track3D 5 months ago
Like I said before, your brilliant.
You should go into some kind of business teaching this kinda stuff.
Harrysound 6 months ago
You are the pot master
Prelude1383 6 months ago 2
I like your systematic approach to things. Kee up the interesting work!
thielees 7 months ago
Comment removed
thielees 7 months ago
Wow great review!!! Thank very much!!!
RRsTiNkYfEeTs 7 months ago
id like to hear the difference between really crappy pots off like an $80 guitar compared to nice replacement pots
a7x3908 7 months ago
@a7x3908 - you might be surprised to not hear very much difference, unless those crappy pots were fully defective and scratchy or whatever. and the cheap pots would certainly FEEL different. but after setting to the same resistance value, they won't necessarily sound different. for an example of some truly crappy defective pots, see my video on the ktone travel guitar :)
johnplanetz 7 months ago
I really appreciate your work, so far i watched this and the capacitors one, and at least for me it cleared a lot of doubts i had about how hardware changes the tone. Really, the changes are so small and subtle that unless your guitar got some part defective its not worth bother changing. Thanks a lot it really saved me i was about to do all that myself and in the end i would get really frustrated expecting a lot more to happen.
bolivarmena 8 months ago
Hi John, my issue with the pots is not about tone, but about volume. When I play my MIM strat I usually gig on 7, and when I solo I pop up the volume to 9 or 10 on my guitar. The problem is that at 7 you have almost no volume, and there is a big jump in volume between 7 and 8. This does not happen in my MIA strat, do you think that changing the pots would solve the problem?,thank you for your great video
abadmancheno 8 months ago
@abadmancheno - is this a master volume, or do have 2+ volumes tied together? If you're listening to a mix of multiple pickups through multiple volume pots, adjusting one volume control may make a less audible change than it would in isolation. If you're just talking about a single master volume, then yes, you may want to experiment with different taper pots to make it work better for you.
johnplanetz 7 months ago
Lets say your pickup is bit too bright and you want to cut some highs, then what´s the reason for not cutting this ONLY with the toneknob + a good pio cap... instead of using both the toneknob+cap AND a pot with lower value? Of course, you could then never have the tone on 10, but maybe the result would be superior?
baskethilt 8 months ago
thank you! this video was extremely helpful!
MCyppah 9 months ago
great vid! very helpful...i actually DID hear a difference between each set of pots. however, the differences are pretty subtle IMHO and may not be enough to enhance/detract from the overall tone. maybe then the only difference will be in the build quality of the pickups...which one will last longer with better sound consistency...etc. again thanks for the great video!
CScout671 9 months ago
@johnplanetz does changing the pots make the volume louder on the guitar as well as making the tone better ?
wipers86 10 months ago
@wipers86 - No, it won't make your guitar louder. A volume pot can really only turn the level down. It doesn't add gain. Well, I suppose if the previous volume pot was defective or not allowing to fully reach 0 resistance, then a replacement pot could improve loudness, but this is an unlikely scenario.
johnplanetz 10 months ago
@johnplanetz does the tone pot make much of a difference ? I've got a Seymour Duncan JB in my mustang and I haven't been satisfied with the tone and with the pickups they put in them guitars I wouldn't be surprised in the tone pot is poor
wipers86 10 months ago
@wipers86 - the tone cap makes much more of a difference than the pot itself. unless you don't like the taper or feel of the pot. see the videos in my channel on tone capacitors.
johnplanetz 10 months ago
@johnplanetz thanks for the feed back man you've been very helpful
wipers86 10 months ago
Hi, l got a question, yesterday l played my guitar as usual and today when l wanted to play it my volume pot stoped working!! What l mean is that the knob controlling it; doesn't matter where crank it, the volume pot is not responding, it stays in half lvl volume. Do u think it's a broken/damaged potentiometer? l'm curious what could have happened that night..
-Thnx!!
7525727 10 months ago
@7525727 - it's probably a loose or broken wire. a bad pot is possible, but very unlikely. open it up and check those wires!
johnplanetz 10 months ago
Good to see you had the same conclusion as I did after hearing your demo. Thnx btw
Sufferd666 10 months ago
Why not try intonating that guitar before the video?
wilddutch 11 months ago
great video man!!! i can tell you took alot of time to make this video..great demo of the pots..and the end part about pots just being crappy was funny:)
maybe 1meg on the bridge, and 500k on the middle and 250k on the neck would make a cool tone,alot of work..great vid
shibilski 11 months ago
tune up pleeeeeee ase
peterm3964 11 months ago
I bought and installed a 1 meg CTC Vol pot. I honestly dont hear any difference between the cts 500k and the cts 1 meg. And its engraved cts 1 meg on the back of the pot. Just dont hear hardly any difference if any at all. Which is fine with me. I was just bracing myself for a bit more highs. so...who knows.
97warlock 1 year ago
Maybe no difference in sound but maybe build quality would make them last longer?
journeyquest1 1 year ago
excellent vid,very helpful.....The one thing Im dying to know is.........Soundwise,whats the difference between a 500k and a 1meg pot?? I heard its only a little brighter,less lows ........But Im wondering How MUCH brighter? On a scale of 1-10 ,10 being very trebly and 1 being hardly noticable ,anyone ever use a 1meg that used to use a 500k???
97warlock 1 year ago
@97warlock - the 1meg pot will load the pickups less, resulting in a slightly brighter sound. the taper will also feel a bit different when turning the knob. hard to be exacting on a 1-10 scale, as it really depends on the pickups and the rest of the circuit. I'd say noticeable, but not extremely different.
johnplanetz 1 year ago
@johnplanetz Im using a Kent armstrong 17k Neck & Bareknuckle 21k bridge. The BK is big & full with nice low & mid with a nice crisp edgge to the highs./My only concern is that I dont lose my lows & mids. No Tone knob,only a Vol /3 way toggle. Ty.,I appreciate the reply~
97warlock 1 year ago
@97warlock - i don't think you'll lose your lows/mids. you may just hear a bit more highs.
johnplanetz 1 year ago
@97warlock
monoforone 11 months ago
Thanks for the video! :)
ShreddyEddy8D 1 year ago
I'm thinking of putting some 500k CTS potentiometers in my Gibson Les Paul. It currently has 300k linear pots for volume and 500k non-linear pots for tone. I would be changing all to get the CTS quality. The reason I want to change them is to get a bit more output on the pickups. Do you think I might risk making the guitar too bright sounding if I do this? It's got a maple cap. 57 classics are the pickups.
Clipster15 1 year ago
@Clipster15 - it's really personal preference. I like brightness, since I can always turn down the tone a bit. Try out your new pots with alligator clip leads before soldering to make sure you like the result.
johnplanetz 1 year ago
hi john i'm making a guitar from scratch, two tone pots and one volume pot, with an hss (no coil tap) configuration, for the tone pots what should i put and for the volume? i'm using seymour duncan ssl1 for neck and middle and jb for the bridge (all vintage) for a vintage sound....i was planning to put 250k for all pots
ivncdo0809 1 year ago
@ivncdo0809 - 250k pots will load the pickups more than 500k pots, so you'll lose a bit more high end (so you'll get a warmer sound). 500k pots will load the pickups less, so more high frequencies will be preserved. 1 Meg pots would be the brightest. It's up to you!
johnplanetz 1 year ago
hi john i'm building a guitar from scrath (with hss configuration) already had a neck and the body and i have decided what pickups to drop in there two s.duncan ssl1 for neck and middle and a SH-1 for the bridge, i don't have a great knowlegde of electrics but from what i understood i decided to put a 250k for the tone pots to get a vintage sound according to the ssl-1 and for the volume should i put a 250k ?
ivncdo0809 1 year ago
wow takes an incredible amount of patience to even attempt this. good for you. It is people like you who help people like us make well informed decisions.
milkeatscereal 1 year ago
CTS gave a clearer sound. I liked the Bournes the best.
Muziekschuur01 1 year ago
You must have to play to really notice a difference. On my laptop speakers I can't hear much of a difference.
Barcslay 1 year ago
Which pot brand do you suggest for coiltaping?
JakeHoyle92 1 year ago
I have a question. I have a Dean Evo XM electric guitar, and it's been working good for a while, but i want to change the sound to something similar to a Les Paul, or Epiphone. I tried switching strings to see if it would work, but it only made a slight change. Is there a way to change the sound via changing the humbuckers or the wiring.
PS: I've also had a problem with my guitar in the plug in slot. I plug it in, and sometimes it makes a loud noise. Is it the wiring inside?
orochimarui2 1 year ago
@orochimarui2 - yes, you can dramatically change the sound of your guitar by changing pickups, and to a lesser degree the pots and caps. For example, see my video "electronics overhaul: before and after comparison". As for your loud noise when inserting the plug- it is pretty common to get a "pop" sound as you push the plug in as it briefly shorts signal to ground. If it's worse than that, you probably have a loose wire in the jack connections.
johnplanetz 1 year ago
i can hear a noticeable difference with the pots and i agree cts is a more possitive sound. but good caps specificaly 400v .22uf combined with cts is an upgrade for any import guitar thats worth while, but to make sure you get the best out of your guitar change the jack and switch at the same time. imo never solder the grounds to the pot shells as it kills them.
80smetalgod1989 1 year ago
CTS pots totally transformed everything for the better from taper, feel, brightness and volume to my Squire Telecaster Custom II, best upgrade ever, and for reference this guitar is fitted with mini pots as standard but will accept standard size CTS pots with only a 3mm elongation of one of the tone holes. These videos really helped, many thanks!
Cadw 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Amazing Video. Thank you for putting so much time into this :)
TylerWilliamRoss 1 year ago
Amazing Video. Thank you for putting so much tie into this :)
TylerWilliamRoss 1 year ago
there isn't much of a different, nothing that I would care...
radomu1 1 year ago
What controls how hard it is to turn the pot? I really like the tighter ones, is there some way to adjust the feel? I've taken pots apart, but I don't see anything to change. Does it have to do with the kind of lubricant inside?
alienspeedmetal 1 year ago
@alienspeedmetal - I haven't had much luck trying to change the feel of a pot. Several factors in the construction are involved- the lubricant, the amount of force the wiper exerts on the wafer, etc. I've tried changing out the lubricant on a pot to loosen it up and it didn't make much difference. I have noticed that the tighter pots due tend to loosen up a bit with time and use.
johnplanetz 1 year ago
Oh, but for an audiophile like myself the difference is clear to hear! The CTS pots produce better separation of the frequencies; hence, more clarity. Plus the sound is more focused, tighter. Hmmm... now I gotta replace my guitar pots with CTS audio taper pots! Many thanks for taking all the trouble for this revealing test!
IAmExperienced 1 year ago
@IAmExperienced I agree. I could totally hear a positive difference with the CTS pots.
ElevenBravo 1 year ago
thanks! Very useful
keaue 1 year ago
to test the pot why not lower the volume to test the taper & dynamic range. A good pot will help take full advantage of lowering in small increments to change the tone from ten to zero. A cheap pot cuts out around 4 and is less sensitive to changes. Wataya thank ???
jem7772 1 year ago
I thought the cts was a bit brighter at one point also ;-)
paraglidermx 1 year ago
i should think its down to the pots tolerance i guess...
100roberthenry 1 year ago
Great videos, I learned quite a bit.
FallenPrey33 1 year ago
I believe that the main factor in guitar clarity is scale length. A 335 or Les Paul guitar with a 24.75" scale just doesn't ring like a 25.5" strat, tele, or Gibson L-5. Regarding electronics, maybe any attenuation of signal before the preamp gives it less to work with, and reduces clarity. I like controlling volume with a pedal placed after the preamp.
diz52nd 1 year ago
Hi,thank you for taking the time for this demo! A LOT OF WORK...Thank you
kt2531 1 year ago
I have a Peavey guitar (copy, that is), it has a double pickup, 1 volume, 1 tone... and in the past couple weeks it started to send electricity trought the pickup and on to the strings, so when i play it hits me on the picking hand, i've taken it to a guy to check it out, he had a problem on his Fender. He put everything together -btw. my tone cable was disconnected- and when i played it was ok, but the problem continued. And my volume pot. can be turned countles times, broken in other words.
100eura 1 year ago
@100eura - sounds like you need to replace that volume pot, and then review and resolder all the wiring. you should be able to find a wiring diagram at the guitarelectronics website that matches your circuit. good luck!
johnplanetz 1 year ago
i've been very skeptical that upgrading pots is going to improve the sound of my guitars. i'm going to doing an upgrade just to see for myself. i got some CTS pots and an orange drop cap for one of my strats. i'll try to record before and after to see if there is any difference.
peskypesky 1 year ago
epi sounds like crap
gengster247 1 year ago
that epi sounds like crap - and there is no real difference in pots. CGE's are better than CTS, but they're not being made anymore. Buy a Music Man guitar and your guitar playing will sound better...
gengster247 1 year ago
no sound diffrence at all . i think it would be great if you will make an experement with changing the resistanse . i hear that EMG uses 25Kohm for their circuits ... it would be nice to know what gonna be the difference after changing the pots to higher resistances. thank you for the video , really nice info to know :)
yuraaa1990 1 year ago
@yuraaa1990 - EMG pickups are active, so the circuitry is completely different (the volume pots are electrically isolated from the pickups, so they don't load the pickups).
In a typical passive guitar circuit, using such a low resistance 25k pot for volume would massively load the pickups and be devastating to the tone.
johnplanetz 1 year ago
Cool demo, but some things you missed were, did you actually measure the resistance of each pot? Tolerances on pots vary widely, you don't actually get actual 500K from very many pots, you usually get anywhere from 400K-550 etc. The other big thing to check for is how do they sound when reducing the volume level with the pot. Yes, there ARE really bad pots out there, Chinese guitars with the mini-pots are notorious tone killers, I've run into those alot, changing them out always helps alot.
SDPickups 1 year ago
@SDPickups - Yes, good points. I only introduce those ideas briefly here starting around 5:40, but I talk about and demonstrate tapers (and differences between manufacturers), pot measurements, etc in more detail in the other parts of this video series, as well as in my "Potentiometers, disassembly and exploration" video.
johnplanetz 1 year ago
i've read that for volume u must use audio tapper and for the tone liniar.
is that right??
broeder6x6 1 year ago
@broeder6x6 see my other vids on guitar caps were i demonstrate the differences in taper. i prefer audio taper for both volume and tone, but you may find you prefer different taper depending how you use your knobs.
johnplanetz 1 year ago
Its all about quality. Cheap pots may sound great when new but after a couple of years they will be noisy and scratchy, CTS pots will still be great after a couple of years.
adamshakermaker 1 year ago
I replaced the stock volume and tone pots in one of my guitars with some new CTS pots and I could tell a difference in sound quality. The main difference I noticed with the CTS pots was when the volume is turned down it maintains clarity, while the stock pots made the guitar sound muffled the more you rolled the volume down. The stock ones must have been really cheap.
teviswest 1 year ago
Sounds like the taper of the new pots is more logarithmic, and the resistance a bit higher compared to your original pots. In any case, sounds like a good improvement!
johnplanetz 1 year ago
If I am going to change my volume and tone pot, is their a certain pot i need for those 2?
MVLINEMAN 1 year ago
Depends what you're trying to accomplish. Do you want to change taper (change how fast it changes as you turn the knob), change resistance (can make it brighter/duller), change feel (easier/harder to turn).
johnplanetz 1 year ago
So what exactly is the difference between the Audio and Linear?
MVLINEMAN 1 year ago
check my channel for my other videos on potentiometers like "disassembly and exploration" and the vid comparing tapers for tone.
johnplanetz 1 year ago
I think it is not the high end. It is the low end improvement with Bourns and slightly cleared mids I am hearing. In high response CTS is very much the same to all with a little edge. At least that is how I hear.
cloudydandy 1 year ago
The "Bourns" defo sound fuller to my ears. \m/_
bleedingfly 2 years ago
finally a scientific answer instead of the usual "I wouldn't trust any thing but CTS!!" answer. Thanks for testing this!
mrcheapyasui 2 years ago
the gain pot on my crate flexwave 120 amp head broke. the only marking on it is B103. any idea what kind of pot i need to buy to replace it?
jokersmile32 2 years ago
"B" usually means linear, and 103 might mean 10k (but it also might just be a part number). You can measure the total pot resistance value with a multimeter across the two outer lugs. For more explanation, and demonstration of identifying the pot value and taper with a multimeter, see my video "Potentiometers: How they work, disassembly and exploration"
johnplanetz 2 years ago
wow thank you very much that helps me out a lot :)
jokersmile32 2 years ago
Thanks a lot! By the way I love your videos, and your guitar. Keep making more!:)
theinfinityand1 2 years ago
this is a kind of a broad question. But I am making my own guitar, and I realize how big this project is. If I want to buy a separate pickup/ pickups, how do you wire the pickups to the tone, and such? Any help would be great:)
theinfinityand1 2 years ago
Big question, with no quick answer :) There's many ways to wire it up. I suggest you check out some books, like those by Erlewine's, Koch or Hiscock, Also, take a look at the wiring diagrams at the guitarelectronics website,
Good luck with the project!
johnplanetz 2 years ago
Just google it. Type in the type of guitar you want to build (Les Paul, Tele, Strat) plus "wiring". You should get a lot of useful pics and diagrams. I just replaced my pickups yesterday this way.
MadddSkillzzz 2 years ago
This was like a myth buster GREAT!!!
omegavalderrama 2 years ago 2
tone pot, volume pot,master tone... what is the diffrence?
SaNTaSiMoS 2 years ago
A pot is a pot is a pot. :) it's how you wire them up that makes the difference. A volume pot is typically wired as a voltage divider with one side to ground, and one side to the output (so as you turn the pot, the signal is variably divided between ground (silence) and the output. A tone pot is typically wired as a variable resistor through a cap to ground, in parallel with the signal. which acts as a filter to variably roll off high frequencies.
johnplanetz 2 years ago
Master tone versus individual pickup tone is just where it's wired up in the circuit.
Lastly, different values of pots (e.g. 250k vs 500k) result in different loads on the circuit (lower resistance to ground makes more load). And more load on the pickups results in more inherent roll-off in your high frequencies.
Hope this helps.
johnplanetz 2 years ago
wow! thank you.. i have a gibson les paul black beauty with 3 pickups and i want diffrent wiring.. i want 3 volumes and a master tone! someone told me that lear pots are only for volume and audio for both.. its all clear no.. thank you..
SaNTaSiMoS 2 years ago
oh and something more.. does a buble bee or something like that doing any diffrence?
SaNTaSiMoS 2 years ago
See my videos on tone cap evaluation. I didn't try a bumble bee, but did include a russian k-409 PIO, tropical fish, and some others.
johnplanetz 2 years ago
Have you tried the Dimarzio custom taper pots (CTS makes them for them)? I'm wondering if there's any difference.
stratthead 2 years ago
Sorry, I have not tried those. There are certainly noticeable differences between different types of tapers (see my video comparing tapers for some examples). But taper is a personal preference, so there's no saying that this custom taper pot will be better for everyone. You'll just have to decide whether you dislike your current pot tapers enough to go buy and try some new ones :)
johnplanetz 2 years ago
Hello my CRL 3 way switch for my telecaster goes blank when switching to the neck pickup it like cuts out dead sound but the bridge cuts into the middle with no problem sounds . I strum the strings to let ring & can still hear the sound when switching from bridge to middle . ?
poaeypark 2 years ago
If this switch was working before, but now is not, I would guess you have some loose wires / bad solder joints. It is unlikely that the switch itself has problems.
Have you checked and double-checked all the wiring?
johnplanetz 2 years ago
can you make a video with the comparison to different cap values and types?
jaiknkayla 2 years ago
Yes, I'm planning a video on tone capacitors, types and values. Stay tuned.
I've done another video on cap selection for treble bleed which covers some of the topic - take a look at that if you're interested.
johnplanetz 2 years ago
5:45 Amen. Objective. Awesome.
ogunhe 2 years ago
I thought the Bourns pots sounded a bit more dull than the other 2. In the first round of video I thought the CTS sounded a tad nicer.
damrak1969 2 years ago
I use the volume and tone knobs as swells, that's where you hear the biggest difference...
jamimbi 2 years ago
I demonstrate the differences between tapers in part 2 of this video. You're right, you can hear definite differences in tapers between the alphas compared to cts and bourns..
johnplanetz 2 years ago
Very Cool Video. I happened upon it right in the middle of a guitar project of my own and have always thought that changing the pots really doesn't make that huge of a difference unless as you say they're total crap. You're test confirms it. Thanks for taking the time to do this cool vid!
Ven9512 2 years ago
Thanks for posting this. I am trying to figure out where I will get the most improvement in my Epiphone Lucille - pickup swap, pots etc? Best unbiased video I've found covering this topic.
itsonlyrcknroll 2 years ago
In my opinion (based on my experiments), the biggest change in tone will come from swapping out the pickups. (Unfortunately this is the most expensive mod you can do).
Adding treble bleed is a big improvement if you use your volume knobs a lot. (and is very cheap and easy).
Changing the tone cap is more about the range of tone you'll get with your tone knob - the change in the character of the tone itself will be pretty subtle.
Changing pots is more about feel and taper than tone.
Good luck!
johnplanetz 2 years ago
Nice video and great guitar. Is that gold hardware on there?
ant7629 2 years ago
Yeah, the Epiphone Riviera P93 has gold hardware.
johnplanetz 2 years ago
perhaps a test with some single lead lines would have been good, or a higher gain test. as used in the video i heard little difference in tone. but we still put them cts ones in like buying the gibson name!
a good concept here though. well done!
mustdefend 2 years ago
Thanks!
In part 2, I demo the pickups straight through a single pot to the jack. I focus on taper in that video - and there are big differences in taper quality. But again, not much difference in tone.
I definitely find the taper in the CTS pots to be better than the Alphas (which turn out to be more linear than logarithmic). And the CTS build construction is really nice too.
johnplanetz 2 years ago
Thanks for bothering to do this test..I'm lokking at changing stock Gibson pots in a Les Paul Custom to CTS 500k..I definetly found your test useful. The Epi pots sound muddy . The CTS pots have a discernible clarity in the sound and are brighter
lewisderek 2 years ago
I think I agree with you that the pots don't sound different from one set to the next on the selections you were playing. Actually surprised to hear that....
fenderstratguy 2 years ago
CTS pots sound the best.
SoCaldiamond89 2 years ago
Good Lord, I don't have the time (and patience) to do what you're doing.
Thank you so much for this. Very helpful!
mattcallao 2 years ago