Should I upgrade Pots and Caps on H150?

[Bonefish]

As I mentioned in a prior post, I've started playing my H150 (1996) again, and I'm loving it! This time around I'm paying much more attention to the tone and quality of sound and am wanting to get the most out of this guitar that I can. A few people mentioned upgrading the caps (Sprague Vitamin Q) and pots. This seems to be a relatively low budget upgrade that I could make and am very interested in moving forward.

 

I am an engineer by training, but am not sure where to begin on this one. How do I know which specific Pots and Caps to get and are there wiring schematics out there I could use to help make this happen (or should it just be that obvious). Any guidance or direction I could get with regards to the 'what' and the 'how' would be very much appreciated!

[barrymclark]

I have two sets of feelings on this:

 

1. If you are happy, why change it?

 

2. Pots and caps and switches and jacks are, as you say, the most economical way to get 'the most' out of your guitar. Next most, I'd say are possibly the hardware (depending on the hardware) and next is the pickups as these can get WAY expensive but will have a fundamental effect on your guitar.

 

Careful here, though. Sometimes, getting 'the most' out of your set up isn't quite what you were looking for. Sometimes, the old POS pots and caps and so forth are part of what makes your guitar sound awesome.

 

Cool thing is, it is reversible.

 

Just ask me. I did it to my 140 and I am back now to original set up.

[brentrocks]

I have done a simple 500k cts pot and Russian pio .022 cap upgrade and it was well worth it. Espesially if you can do it yourself.

[Kuz]

YES!!!

 

"RS Guitar works"

 

Do it, thank me later!!!

[shook494]

YES!!!

 

"RS Guitar works"

 

Do it, thank me later!!!

 

On that note Kuz. Do you use the short shaft or long shaft pots for our 150's? I cant' figure out which ones would fit on the site? P.S> Sorry that sounds a little dirty:)

[barrymclark]

On that note Kuz. Do you use the short shaft or long shaft pots for our 150's? I cant' figure out which ones would fit on the site? P.S> Sorry that sounds a little dirty:)

I believe it is long shaft. I'd get a second opinion on this first, though.

[Patrick]

I believe it is long shaft. I'd get a second opinion on this first, though.

 

Call RS Guitar Works . . . ask for Charlie. Tell him what you have, he'll tell you what you need. You'll get a pre wired set ready to drop in. I did my R9 Gibson. The difference is tremendous, the tone is awsome.

[Spectrum13]

They are short shafts.

[barrymclark]

They are short shafts.

There you have it.

[eljay]

mine is a very naive question: aren't Hs built with top-quality components to begin with? what is the objective of changing pots and caps?

 

thank you, eljay

[pegleg32]

On that note Kuz. Do you use the short shaft or long shaft pots for our 150's? I cant' figure out which ones would fit on the site? P.S> Sorry that sounds a little dirty:)

 

RSGuitar works "Pre-Wired Vintage Electronics Upgrade Kit w/Luxe Bees- Short [PWVINTLUXSHO]" short shaft.

 

Be sure to check what you have installed in your guitar first. Some of the newer ones have good quality stuff already in them.

[Jim W]

I have had pretty good results with the Russian PIO caps, and there were scads of them available on ebay, though I have not looked lately. Search for "Russian submarine caps".

 

This type:

 

for example

 

Pots, a good 500K CTS pot works fine, IMHO.

[tulk1]

mine is a very naive question: aren't Hs built with top-quality components to begin with? what is the objective of changing pots and caps?

 

thank you, eljay

 

Yes they are.

 

Because we can.

 

[FredZepp]

mine is a very naive question: aren't Hs built with top-quality components to begin with? what is the objective of changing pots and caps?

 

thank you, eljay

I would think that you would expect to perhaps "open up" the sound a bit with the replacements.

The upgrade may make it seem more open, airy and transparent.

 

Some of my Heritages have been changed, some others not... and I like the sound of both ways.

One of my 150's is stock and I have no desire to change it.. but I like the upgraded sound in the others a lot also.

[Bonefish]

RSGuitar works "Pre-Wired Vintage Electronics Upgrade Kit w/Luxe Bees- Short [PWVINTLUXSHO]" short shaft.

 

pegleg32 - Please - I'm trying to keep this a family friendly post!

 

Based on the feedback I've received, I think this is definitely something I want to do. It looks like if I buy the components myself I can get 500K POTS from CTS for around $5/each (http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/electrical_ctspots.htm) and the CAPS for $5-$10(e.g. http://www.machmat.com/sales/capavitq.htm). That comes out to around $35 parts plus labor.

 

I'd really like to save the money, am I missing something? Looks like I can get more for less if I don't go with the kit. If I decide to go it alone (no kit) does anyone have specific recommendations on components?

 

Also, we need to talk with RSGuitar, they've got a video featuring Heritage on their main page, but then they don't mention Heritage on their selection chart.

[Spectrum13]

I'd really like to save the money, am I missing something? Looks like I can get more for less if I don't go with the kit. If I decide to go it alone (no kit) does anyone have specific recommendations on components?

 

96,

 

The RS kit can include upgrade shielded wiring and the better switchcraft switches. Two of the toggles switches (137 & 150) I had needed to be replaced, they were not the best quality. Look at the values on the pots you now have before you order replacements. If you have a 500 bridge tone pot and it's too bright, you could use a 300. RS calls that a treble tamer. On my 150 the neck pup was too dark after so I replaced the 250 with a 500 and it works great, cheeper and smarter than replacing pickups where the controls were not optomized. Last but not least, figure out if you have modern or vintage wiring and how you want your contrrols to operate when you turn down the volume or tone.

[the jayce]

mine is a very naive question: aren't Hs built with top-quality components to begin with? what is the objective of changing pots and caps?

 

thank you, eljay

 

Perfectly stated! There isnt any reason two change them. Alot of us (including myself) have travled this road only to end up where we started, bringing the guitar back to it's original componets. Even if you did aquire some micro difference in the sound of tone you like, I can just about gaurantee you will lose something in the guitars sound in return.

 

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that the boys at heritage know alittle more about building guitars and what componets is going to make them sound the best than the rest of us. So why mess with what the pro's that build these guitars put in em' ?

[chico]

Perfectly stated! There isnt any reason two change them. Alot of us (including myself) have travled this road only to end up where we started, bringing the guitar back to it's original componets. Even if you did aquire some micro difference in the sound of tone you like, I can just about gaurantee you will lose something in the guitars sound in return.

 

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that the boys at heritage know alittle more about building guitars and what componets is going to make them sound the best than the rest of us. So why mess with what the pro's that build these guitars put in em' ?

 

my thoughts exactly. but, that said, there are componets that Heritage has used over the years, Schaller products for example, that some might question. I also wonder why they don't install bone nuts at that factory. so in the end, custom mods are always in the eye and ear of the beholder.

[Mpcoluv]

My H-150P seems to already have premium pots and caps.

I think the difference will be subtle if everything already works fine.

[Bonefish]

Thanks for all the feedback. Tomorrow I'm going to a friends house and we're going to take it apart, clean it up and then decide if any new hardware is needed. He's got a number of fun amps to play through as well which will be fun. He's also got a great deal of experience building amps and restoring guitars so he should be able to provide some good input.

[Bonefish]

Update: Once we opened up the guitar we found that the '96 H150 includes quality CTS POTs standard. The cap is of mediocre quality and I may decide to replace at some point. That said, I was very surprised that the guitar wasn't nearly as bright as I expected running through those amps. However, a quick clean of the POTs made a night and day difference. It really opened up the guitar and I was very pleased with the results. Thanks again everyone!

[FredZepp]

However, a quick clean of the POTs made a night and day difference. It really opened up the guitar and I was very pleased with the results.

 

It doesn't get much easier than that. It's so cool when a simple thing makes a difference.

 

I noticed that a cleaning helped one of my older guitars the other day.

[Blunote]

So how does one clean a pot?

 

Use a can of air, as some do for computer devices?

[FredZepp]

So how does one clean a pot?

 

Use a can of air, as some do for computer devices?

Use electrical contact cleaner ... (it leaves no residue ) and spray it in the pot, then turn the pot back and forth before it evaporates. You have be careful to wipe any that gets on the finish off immediately.

[Bonefish]

We used the radio shack brand cleaner which worked great. You want to open up the guitar and spray it such that it will work it's way into the pot. Does that help?