Pot question

[freeman]

Folks, I was wondering what the audio pot and the linear pot are. Which one fit my Silhouette better? Thanks! I am going to swap the stock 250K pot with the 500K pot.

 

[beej]

Audio taper and linear taper refer to the sensitivity of the pot. As the name implies, linear taper gives you a linear curve- each turn of the pot results in the same amount of resistance added. Audio taper is logarithmic- it's not so sensitive when you first turn it, but is very sensitive at the end of it's sweep. FYI, most guitars use audio taper pots- it's more natural to our ears.

> Thanks! I am going to swap the stock 250K pot with the 500K pot.

Out of curiostity, why? Is there something wrong with the pots?

The pots add a constant load to the pickup circuit. When you change this resistance, you're going to change the resonant frequency of the pickups, and the result will be a brighter or darker sound that what you had before.

Going to bigger pot values will make your sound brigher. This might be ok for the humbuckers, but I think it's going to throw your single coil sounds right out of whack.

 

[kbaim]

Used to smoke a lot of it.

Now I don't though.



KEITH

PS Beej has some great answers to these kinds of questions. Really knows his stuff.

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

Audio taper and linear taper refer to the sensitivity of the pot. As the name implies, linear taper gives you a linear curve- each turn of the pot results in the same amount of resistance added. Audio taper is logarithmic- it's not so sensitive when you first turn it, but is very sensitive at the end of it's sweep. FYI, most guitars use audio taper pots- it's more natural to our ears.

> Thanks! I am going to swap the stock 250K pot with the 500K pot.

Out of curiostity, why? Is there something wrong with the pots?

The pots add a constant load to the pickup circuit. When you change this resistance, you're going to change the resonant frequency of the pickups, and the result will be a brighter or darker sound that what you had before.

Going to bigger pot values will make your sound brigher. This might be ok for the humbuckers, but I think it's going to throw your single coil sounds right out of whack.

Righto! I just read up on this since I am swapping a push/pull for the tone knob on my 7 string. Typically a 250k pot is used with single coils and a 500k pot is used and recommended for humbuckers. I will be using a 500k pot since my guitar is strictly 'bucker equipped.

 

[francric]

Used to smoke a lot of it.

Now I don't though.



KEITH

PS Beej has some great answers to these kinds of questions. Really knows his stuff.

1st thing that crossed my mind when I read the title.