Fender or generic replacement tone pot?

[T-Bay]

I need to replace the tone pot on my Mexican precision as one of the know tangs has broken off. Is it worth buying a genuine Fender replacement at comparatively great expense of would a good quality generic replacement do as well? My technical sided mind says a good quality one should do just as well, but I don't want to lose the tone it has.

[gary mac]

CTS pot would be my choice.

[JapanAxe]

Get KiOgon (of this forum) to build you a new loom.

[BassBunny]

[quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1495784948' post='3306491']
CTS pot would be my choice.
[/quote]
+1 for CTS. Fender don't make pots, they buy them in and I would imaging a CTS is better than anything they use.
If it were me I'd change the Vol Pot at the same time and also the jack to a switchcraft. Or get KiOgon to make you a new loom.
You could go the whole hog and change the tone capicitor to a O.1uf to get a bit more "bass" out of it.

[rmorris]

[quote name='T-Bay' timestamp='1495780448' post='3306460']
I need to replace the tone pot on my Mexican precision as one of the know tangs has broken off. Is it worth buying a genuine Fender replacement at comparatively great expense of would a good quality generic replacement do as well? My technical sided mind says a good quality one should do just as well, but I don't want to lose the tone it has.
[/quote]

There's no advantage in getting a 'genuine' Fender part. They are just standard components with a big mark up !
There's no 'magic tone' in the pot itself. Honest :-)
Just get a good quality pot same value and taper that will fit mechanically and take the Tone knob.
If you get the chance a good conductive plastic type will last better than carbon.

[paul h]

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1495786669' post='3306509']
Get KiOgon (of this forum) to build you a new loom.
[/quote]

+1

[chris_b]

I doubt Fender are using the best parts they could source on this bass, so you could use this opportunity to replace the electrics with better components; new loom, pots (audio taper) and cap. IME this [i]will[/i] improve the sound of your bass.

As far as I read things, changing the caps won't add or subtract bass. The cap is what turns the pot into a tone control, by creating a variable low pass filter that progressively removes the top and mids. Better caps will allow better control of the filtering of the top and mids but it's the quality of the pots that will increase the volume of the whole bass, which will probably unlock bass frequencies your current pots don't let through, but caps they don't add any frequencies.

[rmorris]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1495791172' post='3306584']
I doubt Fender are using the best parts they could source on this bass, so you could use this opportunity to replace the electrics with better components; new loom, pots (audio taper) and cap. IME this [i]will[/i] improve the sound of your bass.

As far as I read things, changing the caps won't add or subtract bass. The cap is what turns the pot into a tone control, by creating a variable low pass filter that progressively removes the top and mids. Better caps will allow better control of the filtering of the top and mids but it's the quality of the pots that will increase the volume of the whole bass, which will probably unlock bass frequencies your current pots don't let through, but caps they don't add any frequencies.
[/quote]

It's never a bad idea to fit good quality components (not necessarily the most expensive).
Especially with an electromechanical component like a potentiometer. With low quality the taper can be off - making accurate adjustment difficult , the wiper contact can be intermittent - causing crackling / drop out on a volume pot or varying tone on a tone pot, and the thing may eventually just 'fall apart'.

But there are no "[i]bass frequencies your current pots don't let through[/i]". Think about it - they work at DC.
If anything they can let high frequencies avoid going "through the pot" due to stray capacitance but that's a minor effect in this application.
And a pot itself can only attenuate and not increase volume.
The response of a passive tone circuit is governed by the complete network in the bass (pickup / vol pot value and setting / Tone pot value and setting ) as well as the cable capacitance and amplifier input impedance. But all else being equal a smaller cap value will shift the filter frequency higher = less loss of lower frequencies.

Any reasonable capacitor just "sits there and does its thing".
If you want to get 'audiophile' on it use a Polypropylene type.

[Grangur]

IMHO your technical brain is correct. The choice of pot will make next to no difference the the tone. The important thing is to get a quality one so it lasts well.

[rmorris]

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1495798767' post='3306695']
... The important thing is to get a quality one so it lasts well.
[/quote]

+1

[T-Bay]

Thanks everyone, always good to get confirmation of what you thought.

[T-Bay]

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1495786669' post='3306509']
Get KiOgon (of this forum) to build you a new loom.
[/quote]
Any idea of price for one?

[gary mac]

[quote name='T-Bay' timestamp='1495817934' post='3306878']
Any idea of price for one?
[/quote]
Just pm John and he will give you a price double quick.

[Thunderbird]

[quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1495784948' post='3306491']
CTS pot would be my choice.
[/quote]good pots I also rate Alpha pots

[Grangur]

http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/CTS-EP-4385-000-250K-Log-Split-Shaft-Potentiometer/1CZC?origin=product-ads&campaign=PLA+Shop+-+GENERIC&adgroup=GENERIC&medium=vertical_search&network=google&merchant_id=1279443&product_id=63480d1&product_country=GB&product_partition_id=80835767917&gclid=Cj0KEQjwx6TJBRCWtsiXpI7bhOYBEiQA1en3F8G3G_6SNPYPod_2iPpXi_klQHJx3Q5awKwbDVvix7kaAqji8P8HAQ

These. That said, I like linear ones rather than log, if you can find them. Bit it's your choice.

Edited May 27, 2017 by Grangur

[T-Bay]

Yup, cts one ordered earlier today. Thanks everyone.