Ever try Bourns potentiometers?

[TheGoodTexan]

I've have four new Bourns Model 95 Premium pots in my parts drawer for a couple of years. I actually sent an email to the company once, and they sent me some free samples.



I never had a need to use them. Until today.

The volume pot in one of my Strats has been getting noisier and noisier over the past few months, and cleaning it did no good. So I replaced the volume and the tone pot today (master vol / master tone) with the Bourns 95.

I expected to not like them. Not sure why. I thought maybe the feel would be off somehow, or the taper would be horrible.

I've experienced the exact opposite.

Folks, I'm not a snake oil guy. I use whatever wire I have around. I use whatever cable I have laying around. I'm not picky about much at all. But I gotta tell you - I heard an immediately difference in the way that guitar sounds - much, much clearer. More snap and pop. And this is a guitar that I've been playing since 1995, and had the same pickups in it since 1999.

The taper is really nice and gradual.

And the feel is smooth - almost like its turning on sealed bearings or something.

I would never claim to be able to hear the difference between various pots of the same value. The only reason I would ever buy something more expensive would be because the turn felt better, or because it had a reputation for durability. But these particular Bourns pots made this particular guitar sound better.

I have no idea what they cost. Maybe worth a try if you're inclined. Just thought I'd pass it along.

[sonofthesouth]

Im gona replace some tele pots and ill keep this in mind.

Love the pic of your dog.

[Brian J.]

i have used them they work great, quality parts, just as good as cts.

[csadams5]

I think the EVH Wolfgang uses these pots.

Sent from my Galaxy 500 using TDPRI

[donh]

Lovely pots, but a bit of a bear to get solder to stick on their backplate.

I like them a lot.

[Narcoleptigon]

It can't really make any difference in tone. Resistance is just resistance. Perhaps you had some shielding or contact issues you cleared up when installing them?

I could see maybe using sealed bearing pots for tone controls. It depends how fast you generally sweep the knobs. Might be better to have a little resistance for fine tuning, so you don't accidentally change the settings when you touch them.

[surfoverb]

ive got a pair of the Bourns EVH Low Friction pots and I like them a lot. They are pretty much the same as CTS but they turn really easily.

is this the basset hound forum?

[PhatBoy]

So, where do you get/order them?

[TheGoodTexan]

Originally Posted by sonofthesouth

Love the pic of your dog.

Originally Posted by surfoverb

is this the basset hound forum?

That's Roscoe in my pic. RIP 2008

[JKjr]

I had completely forgotten this, but as a youngster in the 70's I had a strat rewired and the guy used Bournes pots. They were much more clear and crisp sounding. Being a teenager I hated them, but life wasn't so bad once you hit the LPB-1. I bet I'd appreciate them now. Maybe some 500k's would help with humbuckers?

[surfoverb]

Originally Posted by PhatBoy

So, where do you get/order them?

Mouser has the ones in the OP. mine I got from Angelas.

[Big John Studd]

I've used their through-hole parts before. Never had a problem with them.

[Tele-phone man]

Originally Posted by TheGoodTexan

I've have four new Bourns Model 95 Premium pots in my parts drawer for a couple of years. I actually sent an email to the company once, and they sent me some free samples.



I never had a need to use them. Until today.

The volume pot in one of my Strats has been getting noisier and noisier over the past few months, and cleaning it did no good. So I replaced the volume and the tone pot today (master vol / master tone) with the Bourns 95.

I expected to not like them. Not sure why. I thought maybe the feel would be off somehow, or the taper would be horrible.

I've experienced the exact opposite.

Folks, I'm not a snake oil guy. I use whatever wire I have around. I use whatever cable I have laying around. I'm not picky about much at all. But I gotta tell you - I heard an immediately difference in the way that guitar sounds - much, much clearer. More snap and pop. And this is a guitar that I've been playing since 1995, and had the same pickups in it since 1999.

The taper is really nice and gradual.

And the feel is smooth - almost like its turning on sealed bearings or something.

I would never claim to be able to hear the difference between various pots of the same value. The only reason I would ever buy something more expensive would be because the turn felt better, or because it had a reputation for durability. But these particular Bourns pots made this particular guitar sound better.

I have no idea what they cost. Maybe worth a try if you're inclined. Just thought I'd pass it along.

So, these are 250kA pots just like your stock ones?

[TheGoodTexan]

Originally Posted by Tele-phone man

So, these are 250kA pots just like your stock ones?

Yes, they are 250k - but I did not replace stock pots. They were CTS pots that I installed in this particular Strat, when I put the Duncan Antiquities in, circa 1999.

[originalritz]

I recently wired up a Bourns mini pot as a new tone pot when I changed pups (the existing one had solder all over it and I couldn't be bothered wicking it all off of there).
Not sure sound-wise, yet, as it is a tone pot, after all, but since I ordered mini pots I expected the trade-off would be space savings but a cheaper feeling pot. The opposite is true. They have a much smoother action and the taper is really good compared to the CTS pot that used to be there.
Also RE: sticking solder to it, I didn't use an abrasive on it, I just used the B in the middle of the back of the pot, and the stuff stuck to that sucker no problem

edit: by B on the back of the pot I mean the engraved B logo dealie. Not sure if that was clear