the deal with cts pots

jivetrain · September 22nd, 2008, 12:08 AM

i have always read about CTS pots and never known what they were. from what i've gathered cts is a brand name and not a designation for a specific type of pot... that's all i've gathered. are these the pot equivalent of switchcraft's jacks, in that they're the industry standard everyone relies on? also, i've read that fender uses these in their guitars, so is cts synonymous with fender when it comes to pots? where's the emoticon for utter cluelessness about something everyone else regards as common knowledge...

tazzboy · September 22nd, 2008, 12:43 AM

They are pretty much the industry standard yes.

Guitar_Ninja · September 22nd, 2008, 12:48 AM

CTS is a brand of pots. I would say they're regarded to be the highest quality pots out there, though IMHO Alpha pots are pretty close if not the same quality at a fraction of the cost. CTS pots have been used by Fender for decades. The CTS pots Fender uses now come from their Taiwanese factory.

hockey_head · September 22nd, 2008, 01:06 AM

cts are really rather everyday brand. they work great and aren't expensive. the main spec to look at is dc resistance in ohms. the next important spec is the taper, that is how quickly the resistance changes as you sweep the pot. audio or log taper pots are the most commonplace for volume controls and some tone controls. sometimes linear taper pots are used for tone.
other brands of note are allen bradley, bourns and for guitars i really prefer the dimarzio special taper pots . the taper is extra slow so as you turn the volume down the change is hardly noticable, that is it kind of works as a signal "clean up" control for the first 1/2 rotation.

KevinB · September 22nd, 2008, 09:05 AM

CTS (Chicago Telephone Supply) Corp has been a major manufacturer of electronic components for many years. Their manufacturing is all "off-shored" these days, but they make good stuff. Be aware that they make parts to many different specs. For example, here is what RS Guitarworks say about the pots CTS make for them...

These pots are manufactured by CTS specifically for RS Guitarworks. We designed the potentiometers to our specs, which exceed those of the CTS pots that are and have been the industry standard for over 40 years with Gibson®, Fender® etc. The RS Guitarworks "Super-Pot" is made with tolerances that are twice as tight as the normal CTS pots used in even the most expensive Strats® etc. We also had the cheap aluminum shaft replaced with brass for better durability, the target resistance was designated so that our pots will never fall below 250k and never exceed 300k resistance! We chose CTS’s old-school heavy carbon resistance path instead of the inferior silk-screening currently used by many other makers and more important, we custom designed the taper specifically for electric guitar volume controls. Our custom taper gives smooth even response throughout the range of motion. You will not experience any steep drop-offs or uneven taper. Together these features represent what is without doubt the ultimate potentiometer for electric guitar applications. These new pots are available in both split and solid shaft to cover most any guitar application where a 250k pot is suitable.

September 22nd, 2008, 12:08 AM	#1 (permalink)
jivetrain Tele-Meister Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: iowa Posts: 450 4 Photos	the deal with cts pots i have always read about CTS pots and never known what they were. from what i've gathered cts is a brand name and not a designation for a specific type of pot... that's all i've gathered. are these the pot equivalent of switchcraft's jacks, in that they're the industry standard everyone relies on? also, i've read that fender uses these in their guitars, so is cts synonymous with fender when it comes to pots? where's the emoticon for utter cluelessness about something everyone else regards as common knowledge...

September 22nd, 2008, 12:43 AM	#2 (permalink)
tazzboy Friend of Leo's Join Date: May 2005 Location: Eugene, Oregon Age: 31 Posts: 3,141	They are pretty much the industry standard yes. __________________ tazzboy Guitar: 1982 Gibson Les Paul Standard AMP: 59 Bassman Reissue. EFFECTS: 2 Boss TR-2 Tremolo, Boss CE-2 Chorus, and Boss DM-3 Echo Delay.

September 22nd, 2008, 12:48 AM	#3 (permalink)
Guitar_Ninja Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Kingston, Ontario Posts: 1,448 6 Photos	CTS is a brand of pots. I would say they're regarded to be the highest quality pots out there, though IMHO Alpha pots are pretty close if not the same quality at a fraction of the cost. CTS pots have been used by Fender for decades. The CTS pots Fender uses now come from their Taiwanese factory. __________________ Wicket KNOWS.

September 22nd, 2008, 01:06 AM	#4 (permalink)
hockey_head Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: shortsville, ny Age: 51 Posts: 379	cts are really rather everyday brand. they work great and aren't expensive. the main spec to look at is dc resistance in ohms. the next important spec is the taper, that is how quickly the resistance changes as you sweep the pot. audio or log taper pots are the most commonplace for volume controls and some tone controls. sometimes linear taper pots are used for tone. other brands of note are allen bradley, bourns and for guitars i really prefer the dimarzio special taper pots . the taper is extra slow so as you turn the volume down the change is hardly noticable, that is it kind of works as a signal "clean up" control for the first 1/2 rotation.

September 22nd, 2008, 09:05 AM	#5 (permalink)
KevinB Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: New Jersey Posts: 675 4 Photos	CTS (Chicago Telephone Supply) Corp has been a major manufacturer of electronic components for many years. Their manufacturing is all "off-shored" these days, but they make good stuff. Be aware that they make parts to many different specs. For example, here is what RS Guitarworks say about the pots CTS make for them... These pots are manufactured by CTS specifically for RS Guitarworks. We designed the potentiometers to our specs, which exceed those of the CTS pots that are and have been the industry standard for over 40 years with Gibson®, Fender® etc. The RS Guitarworks "Super-Pot" is made with tolerances that are twice as tight as the normal CTS pots used in even the most expensive Strats® etc. We also had the cheap aluminum shaft replaced with brass for better durability, the target resistance was designated so that our pots will never fall below 250k and never exceed 300k resistance! We chose CTS’s old-school heavy carbon resistance path instead of the inferior silk-screening currently used by many other makers and more important, we custom designed the taper specifically for electric guitar volume controls. Our custom taper gives smooth even response throughout the range of motion. You will not experience any steep drop-offs or uneven taper. Together these features represent what is without doubt the ultimate potentiometer for electric guitar applications. These new pots are available in both split and solid shaft to cover most any guitar application where a 250k pot is suitable.