potentiometers

robrecht · December 24th, 2005, 07:14 AM

hi
i'm having a SD Hot Rails installed on my London City telecaster. The neck pickup stays the stock single coil pickup. The pots on the guitar are now 250 K A&B, but due to the humbucker, i have to install 500K's. The problem is: for the moment I only have a 500K B pot, which works for volume. The other pot will be shipped in a few weeks, but i really don't want to wait that long.

Now my question is: is it wise to install the 500K B and leave the 250K A in the guitar? or is it better to cope for a while with two 250K's and wait for the 500K to come?

greets!

Jim.Collins · December 24th, 2005, 12:07 PM

Why do you think you have to install a 500K volume pot? The Hot Rails may be a humbucking pickup, but it does not require 500K pots. Install the new pickup with the existing pots, and see if you like it. If you don't, then change the pots.

robrecht · December 26th, 2005, 11:22 AM

will there be significant changes soundwise if i install a 500k?

Jim.Collins · December 26th, 2005, 12:34 PM

Possibly. With a higher value volume pot, the tone will be brighter when the volume is full on, but a significant portion of the highs will be lost as soon as you back off on the volume, just a little. Full humbuckers can usually withstand this quite well, but with single coils, the difference is quite noticeable. That is why you frequently see a treble bypass cap on a guitar with single coils and a 500K or 1Meg volume pot.

With a 250K volume pot, the tone will not be as bright with the volume full on, and it won't lose many highs as you back off on the volume. This is usually the value used for single coils, but full-sized humbuckers can live with a 250K volume pot quite nicely. In fact, Gibson has been using 300K volume pots in their production guitars for years. Other makers, such as Gene Baker, have used 250K volume pots with humbuckers. It gives things a bit fatter tone.

Normally, those single coil sized humbuckers, such as the Hot Rails, are built to be drop-in replacements for their single coil cousins, with no electronics changes required. I'm suggesting that, since your guitar already has 250K pots, why not install the new bridge pickup, first, without changing pots, and see how you like it. You might like it, just fine. If you still think you need to bump up the value of the pots, that is an easy change to make, and it does not require you to remove the bridge.

December 24th, 2005, 07:14 AM	#1 (permalink)
robrecht Tele-Meister Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: aarschot, belgium Posts: 206	potentiometers hi i'm having a SD Hot Rails installed on my London City telecaster. The neck pickup stays the stock single coil pickup. The pots on the guitar are now 250 K A&B, but due to the humbucker, i have to install 500K's. The problem is: for the moment I only have a 500K B pot, which works for volume. The other pot will be shipped in a few weeks, but i really don't want to wait that long. Now my question is: is it wise to install the 500K B and leave the 250K A in the guitar? or is it better to cope for a while with two 250K's and wait for the 500K to come? greets! __________________ Lyrics, wasted time between solos. (yeah)

December 26th, 2005, 11:22 AM	#3 (permalink)
robrecht Tele-Meister Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: aarschot, belgium Posts: 206	will there be significant changes soundwise if i install a 500k? __________________ Lyrics, wasted time between solos. (yeah)

December 24th, 2005, 12:07 PM	#2 (permalink)
Jim.Collins Tele-Meister Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Pleasanton, CA Age: 54 Posts: 464	Why do you think you have to install a 500K volume pot? The Hot Rails may be a humbucking pickup, but it does not require 500K pots. Install the new pickup with the existing pots, and see if you like it. If you don't, then change the pots.

December 26th, 2005, 12:34 PM	#4 (permalink)
Jim.Collins Tele-Meister Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Pleasanton, CA Age: 54 Posts: 464	Possibly. With a higher value volume pot, the tone will be brighter when the volume is full on, but a significant portion of the highs will be lost as soon as you back off on the volume, just a little. Full humbuckers can usually withstand this quite well, but with single coils, the difference is quite noticeable. That is why you frequently see a treble bypass cap on a guitar with single coils and a 500K or 1Meg volume pot. With a 250K volume pot, the tone will not be as bright with the volume full on, and it won't lose many highs as you back off on the volume. This is usually the value used for single coils, but full-sized humbuckers can live with a 250K volume pot quite nicely. In fact, Gibson has been using 300K volume pots in their production guitars for years. Other makers, such as Gene Baker, have used 250K volume pots with humbuckers. It gives things a bit fatter tone. Normally, those single coil sized humbuckers, such as the Hot Rails, are built to be drop-in replacements for their single coil cousins, with no electronics changes required. I'm suggesting that, since your guitar already has 250K pots, why not install the new bridge pickup, first, without changing pots, and see how you like it. You might like it, just fine. If you still think you need to bump up the value of the pots, that is an easy change to make, and it does not require you to remove the bridge.