Guitar Potentiometers: Why change them?

http://www.planetz.com/?p=250 .
I've read stories of people saying how their guitar sound miraculously better after just changing to a different brand f pots. Are they just imagining it?
Here, I compare new CTS and Bourns pots with the original Epiphone pots (Alphas and JS). I also talk about pots in general and the reasons why you might want to change them.

Audio examples recorded through my Vox VT30 amp and a high quality Rode NT1 mic.

See part 2, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdfIZEB2rdM where I evaluate the tapers, and talk about the other factors to consider when buying new pots.

In an upcoming video, I'll cover how to actually replace the pots, wire them up, and re-drill the holes in a semi-hollow body.

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Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• potentiometer
• Bourns
• PDB241-GTR01
• CTS
• EP086
• Alpha
• JS
• electronics
• P-90
• pickups
• Epiphone
• Riviera
• P93
• capacitor
• DIY
• howto
• Vox
• VT30
• Rode
• NT1
• Microsoft
• Cinema
• Lifecam
• Sony
• Vegas

[drien0011]

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.

[johnplanetz]

@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.

[johnnymaverick92]

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.

[johnplanetz]

@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.

[RocknLester2011]

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''

[johnplanetz]

@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.

[njarnjas]

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.

[MikeFranks23]

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]

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.

[panpipesjohn]

2:47 stock epiphone pots

3:50 cts pots

4:18 bourns pots

4:55 side by side comparison

5:10 -->conclusion

[dlscadlsca]

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.

[johnplanetz]

@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.