What Pots do you use? 500 or 250

[602a]

Do most prefer 250 for Single coil and 500 for Humbucker and what Caps do you like?

[peteraltongreen]

Do most prefer 250 for Single coil and 500 for Humbucker and what Caps do you like?

 

Yes,on single coils,I used a 250k ( Fender style ) and on humbuckers,I used a 500k. I always try to buy American made pots,as the far eastern stuff can be very flimsy.Proof : I've got American pots on 50's & 60's stuff that still works fine.Always get the best you can afford.

Peter Alton Green

[mtpatty]

Do most prefer 250 for Single coil and 500 for Humbucker and what Caps do you like?

 

I have always used 500 in the past for humbuckers, but this intrigues me and I may give them a try...

 

http://www.wcrguitar.com/Wiring_kits.html

 

Mark

[NoNameBand]

Regarding Pots; I use 250k ohm on Fender style single coils, 300k ohm on P-90s, 500k ohm on Humbuckers except I have used and like 300k ohm for the Humbucker Volume controls as I think they roll-off faster. For Caps, I like .022uf Bumble Bees for vintage sound Humbuckers and .022uf Mallory (PIO) 150s. For single coils (Fender Style), I like (PIO) like a .047uf Vitamin T. For Lipstick pups, I like Orange Drops .o47uf. The .047uf caps give you a steeper cut off and for single coils, I believe this is an advantage. Humbuckers are less bright to begin with and therefor, .022uf to smooth out the cut-off. Another think to consider is to add a "Volume Mod", a small cap between the 1 & 2 post on the volume pot to eliminate treble roll-off when rolling back the volume control. In other words, you can more effectively use the volume control without losing tone control.

Hope this helps

[Guest HRB853370]

Do most prefer 250 for Single coil and 500 for Humbucker and what Caps do you like?

 

How am I supposed to even know what I have? Kind concealed under the knobs, wouldn't ya say?

[NoNameBand]

Regarding Pots; I use CTS Pots exclusively, 250k ohm on Fender style single coils, 300k ohm on P-90s, 500k ohm on Humbuckers except I have used and like 300k ohm for the Humbucker Volume controls as I think they roll-off faster. For Caps, I like .022uf Bumble Bees for vintage sound Humbuckers and .022uf Mallory (PIO) 150s. For single coils (Fender Style), I like (PIO) like a .047uf Vitamin T. For Lipstick pups, I like Orange Drops .o47uf. The .047uf caps give you a steeper cut off and for single coils, I believe this is an advantage. Humbuckers are less bright to begin with and therefor, .022uf to smooth out the cut-off. Another think to consider is to add a "Volume Mod", a small cap between the 1 & 2 post on the volume pot to eliminate treble roll-off when rolling back the volume control. In other words, you can more effectively use the volume control without losing tone control.

 

By the way, research shows that the tolerances in high quality pots vary as much as +/- 20%. This comes from AllParts and Stewmac. This means any given 500k ohm volume pot can really be 400-600k ohm. At MOJOtone (www.mojotone.com), they sell CTS pots that have been measured & certified to have a tolerance of +/- 1% or less.

 

 

Hope this helps

[Spectrum13]

There is a difference between volume and tone pots but for the sake of...

 

For Fender single coils 250

 

for P90 500 V & T

 

Humbuckers 500 volume for neck & bridge with 500 T neck and 300 T bridge.(with seth lovers)

 

Every guitar will differ in some way in producing the fundamental frequency. If your bridge pups are muddy and have 250s - try 500 before replacing the pickups. The bridge pups on my 150 and 155 were a little too bright so I went with 500 V and 300 T pots.

 

Pots and caps are like salt a pepper, flavor to taste AFTER it hits the taste buds.

 

Will, on a semi and hollow or slab with the pot values covered in silver, you don't really know what you got unless you operate. Might make sense to operate if something does not sound right before swapping expensive pickups.

[602a]

How am I supposed to even know what I have? Kind concealed under the knobs, wouldn't ya say?

You can look under vol and tone cover and see them

[602a]

Talked to Ren a couple of Hrs ago and was told they used 200 250 300 and 500 in the older models. He said they now use 500 all the way around in Humbuckers. Vol and Tone. He also said caps depend on sound you want. I like the Bumble Bee idea with the vintage tone. Thanks for all your help, keep it coming.

[Harpjohn]

Dear No Name Band and others: I have read your post about pots and main capacitors for a humbucker guitar. I have a 1988 H575 recently fitted with Seymour Duncan Antiquities, and it has a lovely sound. But two of the old pots are very stiff and I'm not quite happy with the tone effects of the volume and tone controls. (Maybe I'm getting more observant now, because the sound has become much more interesting than it was with the standard Schallers.) I am intrigued by your suggesting a small capacitor on the volume pots to stop the tone roll-off. What would you recommend precisely? Thanks.

[lifewithasong]

It really all depends on the guitar. As a general rule, I have come to settle on 250K for tone and 500K for volume with humbuckers. As for capacitors, trying these out can be as much fun as trying out various sets of strings--and the differences can be dramatic. In some cases, I have gone through various paper-in-oil (PIO) caps, only to come back to the stock caps. There is also a lot to be learned and discovered in just adjusting your pickups' height, pole pieces, and even the way that some humbuckers are angled toward the string (from slug to pole piece). It amazes (and irks) me when a new guitar comes with the pickup not leveled (in other words--the top of the humbucker does not run parallel to the strings).

 

Just read and research all that you can on the internet, buy a few pots and caps, and have fun experimenting.

[bolero]

I upgraded to a RS harness ( pots, caps, etc ) on my H150, and funny enough preferred the sound of the stock Heritage parts ( it's a '94 model ) so I swapped them back.

 

i do have other guitars I put some old vintage bumblebees ( pulled from a scrapped hammond organ ) into & they sound great too, but I like the caps Heritage uses: those little yellow things are good in my books & I leave them in

 

I always switch my guitars over to the vintage wiring scheme...change the way the cap connects the vol & tone pots, I think it opens up the sound & also rolls off better

[Harpjohn]

Many thanks for your comments. I shall investigate the vintage wiring scheme as I work on the pots. Is there a good reason why companies such as Heritage - and Gibson? - stopped using the vintage wiring scheme?

[NoNameBand]

250k for Fender style single coils, 300k for P-90s and 500k for humbuckers. However, I have a Blue H-150 that I put a pair of SD Pearly Gates pups, NOS 1960 300k Volume pots and 500k Tone pots w/Bumble bee caps and I love it. It's my favorite sounding guitar.