Jono Bolton Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 I had the scratchplate off one of my Squiers at the weekend and noticed that it had mini pots instead of the full sized ones. I presume it's the same on both of them and probably my CV Strat as well as I've read that a number of people replaced the pots and wiring on their CVs almost straight away. I find that they function just as well as full sized pots and haven't had any problems with any of my Squiers, so why do they have a bad rep? Are they unreliable or have a shorter lifespan? And furthermore, what's the point of them? Are they significantly cheaper to buy/manufacture? The routing on my P is standard so I guess it's not to save space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlungerModerno Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Less materials? I'm guessing the smaller amount of metal and other parts (graphite?) is why they're cheaper when bought in bulk. I don't know for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 (edited) A guitar tech once told me that Fender specify the Squiers with mini-pots so you can't just stick some full-size CTS pots in there and make the wiring loom the same as a 'proper' Fender. True on not, it appealed to my sense of conspiracy. Edited May 20, 2015 by ahpook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfretrock Posted May 24, 2015 Share Posted May 24, 2015 [quote name='ahpook' timestamp='1432128011' post='2778399'] True on not, it appealed to my sense of conspiracy. [/quote] There is a lot of it about. Guitar pots are nothing special, just standard electronic components made by dozens of manufacturers. A common size was 1 inch, but I've not seen these for years (I worked in electronics for decades). Most pots are around 20-23mm, this seems to be the standard. Mini pots are common now (16mm), everything in electronics is getting smaller. And I suspect they are cheaper. Certainly the last few I got were rather poor and noisy! The control route in my Squier is about 31mm wide and in my Telebass 27mm. So almost any pot will fit. You'd have to be careful aligning the tags with the route to prevent shorts on the screening and this may make assembly cheaper/quicker for minipots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Count Bassy Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 [quote name='pfretrock' timestamp='1432478941' post='2781830'] Guitar pots are nothing special, just standard electronic components made by dozens of manufacturers. [/quote] +1 on this. There seems to be an obsession with CTS pots, and I'm that they're fine, but then so are many others (Bourne, Vishay etc) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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