Gitfiddler Posted October 5, 2009 Posted October 5, 2009 Swapping out a guitar's vol/tone potentiometers and capacitors seems to be a hot topic on other guitar forums. There's even a few 'favorite' suppliers of upgraded pots/caps (i.e. RS Guitar Works, etc.) that offer better than originals for guitarists. Some of the controversy surrounds the smoothness of the taper or preserving the highs as tone pots are rolled back from 10 - 1. There does not seem to be much discussion about pots/caps swapping here at the HOC. Of course that leads me to my question of the week: Are you satisfied with your Heritage volume and tone controls as received from the factory? Do you change yours out? If so, why, and what are you swapping in as replacements?
tulk1 Posted October 5, 2009 Posted October 5, 2009 Happy so far with the Heritages. Changed a few on the Strats and one of the ASATs. But not the Heritages ... yet.
big bob Posted October 5, 2009 Posted October 5, 2009 I happy as is, I even went as far as to use pots and caps out of one of Brent's old heritages for my home builds
golferwave Posted October 5, 2009 Posted October 5, 2009 Unless the Heritage comes with the RS wiring upgrade I change em out to CTS 500K pots. The factory ones are ok but I've had several failures. The ones I've taken out seem to be WD but have had a few others as well.
Kuz Posted October 5, 2009 Posted October 5, 2009 Happy as is. They have upgraded lately to one that don't spin so easily (I forget the name but Vince said they are an upgrade on the newer guitars and are 500K pots). I have only had one fail me and I think that was due to me overcooking it while soldering in some different pups.
skydog Posted October 5, 2009 Posted October 5, 2009 Unless the Heritage comes with the RS wiring upgrade I change em out to CTS 500K pots. The factory ones are ok but I've had several failures. The ones I've taken out seem to be WD but have had a few others as well. Unless the Heritage comes with the RS wiring upgrade I change em out to CTS 500K pots. The factory ones are ok but I've had several failures. The ones I've taken out seem to be WD but have had a few others as well. :DThat one's in the gap and going to roll all the way to the wall; Pujols pulls into second with a double!
proxmax Posted October 5, 2009 Posted October 5, 2009 i changed to CTS measured 480k and 500kohm. NOS PIO caps and braided wires.
golferwave Posted October 5, 2009 Posted October 5, 2009 :DThat one's in the gap and going to roll all the way to the wall; Pujols pulls into second with a double! Oh no..a double? I'm holding out for a triple in the next "at bat"
tulk1 Posted October 5, 2009 Posted October 5, 2009 Happy as is. They have upgraded lately to one that don't spin so easily (I forget the name but Vince said they are an upgrade on the newer guitars and are 500K pots). I have only had one fail me and I think that was due to me overcooking it while soldering in some different pups. That is what is on the Millie NFH. I wondered about those. Very nice with just a bit of resistance. You have much better control that way, I think.
Mikenov Posted October 5, 2009 Posted October 5, 2009 The almond 150 I sold to CJ Topes had a CTS wiring/pots upgrade in it and it deffinately made a difference. It was a more open higher highs for sure. I think that was a big part of why that guitar sounded so good.
DCA Posted October 6, 2009 Posted October 6, 2009 I went through a phase in the late-90's where I started messing around with different electronic guts. Nearly lost my mind trying to find differences. Fortunately my Heritage is a 535 so even contimplating another round of soldering and pondering is out of the question.
Spectrum13 Posted October 6, 2009 Posted October 6, 2009 My 2006 150 had the stock WD's and the neck was not as sharp as I wanted it and the bridge was too bright. Switched to CTS 500's on the neck and 300's on the bridge vintage style. Perfect. My 137, 155 got RS pots and caps and I mailed an RS kit to the factory when they built the Prospect. Only electronic part that failed on me were the toggles.
iim7v7im7 Posted October 8, 2009 Posted October 8, 2009 Hi, For what it is worth, I had RS Guitarworks make up a pre-wired harness for my H535 which is being made as we speak. I had it sent to Ren, who was extremely accomodating and patient with my request. I wanted the instrument wired with the RS Tapered CTS 500k pots (volume), normal CTS 500k tone pots, .022uf paper and oil russian surplus bumblebees wired 1950s style, cloth braided wire, switchcraft switch and jack. I hope it sounds good with the Imperials. I figured that I had everything else made to my specks, why not include the electronics? :-) Bob
golferwave Posted October 8, 2009 Posted October 8, 2009 Hi, For what it is worth, I had RS Guitarworks make up a pre-wired harness for my H535 which is being made as we speak. I had it sent to Ren, who was extremely accomodating and patient with my request. I wanted the instrument wired with the RS Tapered CTS 500k pots (volume), normal CTS 500k tone pots, .022uf paper and oil russian surplus bumblebees wired 1950s style, cloth braided wire, switchcraft switch and jack. I hope it sounds good with the Imperials. I figured that I had everything else made to my specks, why not include the electronics? :-) Bob Good call. You'll be happy with the end result.
pro-fusion Posted October 8, 2009 Posted October 8, 2009 Going downward from 500k pots can make a huge difference, and I probably should do that for the bridge position in my 157 to fatten it up a bit. However, I don't think that "boutique" pots and caps are going to make a bad guitar sound good. They can probably help in some situations, though.
TruckbodyJones Posted October 9, 2009 Posted October 9, 2009 I swapped to 250's when I had Duncan P-Rails in my 535 . They seemed to work much better than the 500's . Why ...I don't know the tech aspects ...but they do sound better . Not an upgrade for the sake of quality...but because they match the new PU's better ....Lonnie
Spectrum13 Posted October 9, 2009 Posted October 9, 2009 Going downward from 500k pots can make a huge difference, and I probably should do that for the bridge position in my 157 to fatten it up a bit. However, I don't think that "boutique" pots and caps are going to make a bad guitar sound good. They can probably help in some situations, though. The RS super pots have a superior taper allowing more control...not so much better sound but more variations. Pot values will effect the range of you pups. Remember we are working with one volt or less coming off the wound magnets.
proxmax Posted October 9, 2009 Posted October 9, 2009 The RS super pots have a superior taper allowing more control...not so much better sound but more variations. Pot values will effect the range of you pups. Remember we are working with one volt or less coming off the wound magnets. do RS work better than CTS? never tried RS before.
Spectrum13 Posted October 10, 2009 Posted October 10, 2009 do RS work better than CTS?never tried RS before. RS uses CTS pots but have their own CTS "superpots" made to their specs which as I remember are only the 500K.
Spectrum13 Posted October 10, 2009 Posted October 10, 2009 do RS work better than CTS?never tried RS before. RS uses CTS pots but have their own CTS "superpots" made to their specs which as I remember are only the 500K.
peerless Posted October 10, 2009 Posted October 10, 2009 Hold on, doesn't Heritage already use CTS pots as standard in their guitars? Jason www.peerlesstone.com
proxmax Posted October 10, 2009 Posted October 10, 2009 CTS pots have a really wide range around the 500k. i measured about 30 pots to get the right ones. they were between 420k to 570k. this range sounds totally different and is hardly to accept (for me).
Jim W Posted October 11, 2009 Posted October 11, 2009 I usually leave well enough alone; but Alicia's '54 goldtop had a real mess in the control cavity when we got it. I looked at a lot of options, and wound up getting a pre-wired set of Dr. Vintage pots with '50's wiring scheme. Coupled with a nice set of paper in oil caps; the effect was obvious. Dr Vintage
Spectrum13 Posted October 12, 2009 Posted October 12, 2009 Hold on, doesn't Heritage already use CTS pots as standard in their guitars? Jason www.peerlesstone.com I was told they use them now. My 2006, 2007, and 2008 Heritage models came with WDs. After ordering my Prospect late 08 and suppying the electronics, I was informed of the change.
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