modding to best pots ?

[mark54]

Hey guys
I'm in at the very beginning of modding my OLP bass i want to change the pots to start with, does anyone know which ones are best i know they 500k ones but don't know which company make is best maybe someones had some good results ?

any help appreciated

[essexbasscat]

I did have a conversation with a rather well respected luthier down south that recommended japanese pots in preference to the english ones

just my 2p

T

[mark54]

[quote name='essexbasscat' post='783445' date='Mar 23 2010, 02:02 PM']I did have a conversation with a rather well respected luthier down south that recommended japanese pots in preference to the english ones

just my 2p

T

[/quote]

do u know what make they were

[Ancient Mariner]

CTS and Alpha seem to work well. I like Alpha best because they turn smoothly and have lasted well for me. AFAIK there's no 'best' pot, but anything that's made well will be good (as long as you don't need 'mojo').

[essexbasscat]

[quote name='mark54' post='783502' date='Mar 23 2010, 02:45 PM']do u know what make they were[/quote]

sorry, no, the conversation didn't go there, as said luthier was cursing the english pots at the time and I was trying to avoid pouring fuel on the fire

I will post if I find out though

T

[mrjim]

Have a look at this video. I found it really useful when i was deciding what pots to buy when renovating an old guitar:

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df5kO9VxYcE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df5kO9VxYcE[/url]

(I think there is a part 2 to watch as well)

I ended up choosing alpha's. CTS ones appear to be built better and are a bit stiffer to turn but i dont use my pots all that much so it was not worth the extra cost for me. I dont expect you would actually hear any difference unless your old ones are scratchy.

Changing the cap would make a small difference, but again only if you use the tone pot.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

When you see 40+ year old fenders with the original pots, what make are they?

I always use CTS & put in a switchcraft jack socket at the same time.

Edited March 25, 2010 by Jean-Luc Pickguard

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

[quote name='mrjim' post='785596' date='Mar 25 2010, 10:38 AM'][/quote]

Unsoddered?

Why are 'mercans unable to pronounce a simple word like solder. Its got a pluckin' 'L' in it



Its not the sound of the pots that matters - any differences in tone should be very subtle for pots of the same spec. The differences will be in how long they last before they go scratchy or fail.

At the first sign of trouble on one of my guitars or basses, I make a new CTS/switchcraft/decent capacitor harness rather than replacing just the one pot causing trouble. I've never had to replace a CTS pot or switchcraft socket and the cheapo sockets on most budget guitars & basses always fail eventually for me.

Edited March 25, 2010 by Jean-Luc Pickguard

[umph]

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='785869' date='Mar 25 2010, 02:34 PM']When you see 40+ year old fenders with the original pots, what make are they?

I always use CTS & put in a switchcraft jack socket at the same time.[/quote]
pots shouldn't really ever fail unless you do something stupid. I always used alpha pots and i've never had a problem with one even when i've set them on fire.

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='umph' post='785994' date='Mar 25 2010, 04:22 PM']pots shouldn't really ever fail unless you do something stupid. I always used alpha pots and i've never had a problem with one even when i've set them on fire.[/quote]

You don't count being on fire as a problem?

[Mog]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='786016' date='Mar 25 2010, 04:41 PM']You don't count being on fire as a problem?[/quote]
pots will get scratchy over time. unavoidable

[KiOgon]

[quote name='umph' post='785994' date='Mar 25 2010, 04:22 PM']pots shouldn't really ever fail unless you do something stupid. I always used alpha pots and i've never had a problem with one even when i've set them on fire.[/quote]

You've set pots on fire that must take some seriously fast knob twiddling

[krispn]

I was always under the impression changing the pots wasn't to give you a brighter or darker sound but that the replacement pot's would have a more even taper in the roll off i.e. you would notice the difference between 10 (full) 7 (partial roll off) 4 (more roll off) and zero (totally off)

Thinking to some cheaper instruments I have owner or certainly with poor pot's there was no audible difference as I rolled off the tone knob until about half way where there was a sudden difference. Likewise with the volume control, especially on a guitar rolling back the volume cleaned up the amp but with some cheaper pot it was roll, roll, roll, nothing, nothing , nothing then a very limited taper making it hard to judge as only a couple of 'notches' on the volume pot were usable.

I am willing to be corrected ...and I managed to get through all that without saying knob! Doh!

[umph]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='786016' date='Mar 25 2010, 04:41 PM']You don't count being on fire as a problem?[/quote]
no that was because i was trying to run far to much current through one wasn't the pot at fault.

Normally bad runs on pots are due to them being the wrong type you want LOG for volume and LIN for tone.

[Prosebass]

Depends how fussy you are and how much you want to spend

to me these are the best pots [url="http://cpc.farnell.com/bourns/95a1d-z28-ea0-302l/pot-audio-500k-knurled-shaft/dp/RE04588"]Bournes[/url] but rather OTT some would say for bass or guitar at £10.00 each
Other good ones much less expensive that I like to use because of their diminutive size and positive action are these [url="http://cpc.farnell.com/bi-technologies-tt-electronics/p160knp-0ec15a500k/panel-pot-500k-log-16mm/dp/RE04585"]BI Technologies [/url] pots from China. Omeg are good if you prefer to buy British and have the advantage of plastic shafts so your knobs are insulated from any stray nasty electrikery [url="http://cpc.farnell.com/omeg/ow20bu470kb/potentiometer-log-470k/dp/RE04369"]Omeg[/url]

[Ancient Mariner]

A couple of years back I bought a 'First Act' guitar at greatly reduced price. It sounded tolerable - a bit nasal and muddy - and the tone pot did the all and nothing trick as described above. I replaced all 3 pots with some old full sized jobs I had left over from rewiring a Les Paul, plus a new 0.022uF cap, and it transformed the tone into something open and crisp. I suspect the old (mini) pots were a bit low in resistance and, with a 0.047uF cap, a lot of highs and upper mids were being drained off to earth. I'd always recommend full size pots over minis, but as long as they are a good make I'd expect there to be little difference.

[mrcrow]

try 250k pots

[Al Heeley]

cheap pots don't have a proper taper, generally they have 2 tracks that give you 2 ramps or gradients of resistance change. They are less well sealed and can have more chance of getting scratchy after time. Cheap pot = 75p, good pot (CTS) is £4.50. CTS is overpriced at that but in the context of a good bass you're fond of worth a few hundred splash out and treat it!

[escholl]

As far as I'm aware, Alpha, Bourns, and CTS are the three most common.

I've never had problems with either, although the concept of plastic pot shafts, and the use of conductive polymer, in a guitar does appeal to me -- I think next time I'll probably try Omeg or someone like that.

Edited June 30, 2010 by escholl

[SS73]

I have put Alps pot's in guitars before now, they are expensive ( £10-14) but they are in the top league, with direct physical contact at full on, that basically means you have an almost resistance free signal on 10, plus nice multi brushes, on the downside they are almost always dual track ( not easy to mod) and beware of fakes.

[escholl]

[quote name='SS73' post='788552' date='Mar 28 2010, 03:12 PM']I have put Alps pot's in guitars before now[/quote]

haha, I knew I'd forgotten one make!