Question about 250 vs. 500 Ohm pots

[jonkay1]

If I switch out the 250 Ohm pots in my American Standard Tele to 500 Ohm pots, what is the sonic difference I will hear?

[bargoedboy]

not so much difference when full on , but generally i feel guitar is brighter and especially when you start turning down .

[spankdplank]

I agree with Bargoedboy. I think 500Ks will add some sparkle to a dull neck pup, but it may make the bridge pup a bit ice pickey. On single coils, the taper of a 250 pot will be smoother or more gradual. 500Ks will give you most of the change in tone and volume in the first 1/2 turn on the pot. I have wired teles with 250/250, 500/250, 500/500 and 1 meg/1 meg. They all work fine, but the higher the value, the brighter the pickup will sound and the sharper the pot taper. Generally, I like 250/250 and a .05 cap in a standard Tele style guitar, but depending on the pickups and the guitar, the other pot values can have some advantages.

[reverberocket2]

Originally Posted by spankdplank

I agree with Bargoedboy. I think 500Ks will add some sparkle to a dull neck pup, but it may make the bridge pup a bit ice pickey. On single coils, the taper of a 250 pot will be smoother or more gradual. 500Ks will give you most of the change in tone and volume in the first 1/2 turn on the pot. I have wired teles with 250/250, 500/250, 500/500 and 1 meg/1 meg. They all work fine, but the higher the value, the brighter the pickup will sound and the sharper the pot taper. Generally, I like 250/250 and a .05 cap in a standard Tele style guitar, but depending on the pickups and the guitar, the other pot values can have some advantages.

Regarding 500/250 did you wire it (500 tone/250 volume)? How was the tone?

I'm thinking of using 500T/250V for some noiseless pups to add a bit more prescence to them

[bargoedboy]

i used 500 for tone and 250 for volume with standard tele style pickups i would allways use 250 for volume. and i just changed my tone wiring recently to use a sprague orange drop .022 and wired it like this so much better , for me anyway . http://www.singlecoil.com/docs/tele-tone2.pdf

[JasonRobert]

I suggest you make a search for "500k 250k" on the TDPRI google search (under the search button in the main menu at the top of the page). there are many threads there asking a similar question you are asking, and you will find the info you are looking for.

[spankdplank]

I used a 500K volume and 250K tone, but that was because I put a humbucker in the neck. I really don't think it makes that much difference.