Questions regarding 250K pots and 500K pots!

[rudygeorge]

I have decided that I want a JB in the bridge and Cool Rails in the neck and middle position of my strat. Now I can't decide whether to keep the 250k pots in my strat or replace it with 500k pots. Here are my questions.

1. What are the advanatages and disadvantages of using 500K pots with humbucker

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using 250K pots with a humbucker?

3. Can I use both value of pots in my strat?

4. Are pots expensive?

Rudy D.

[Chi3f]

Re: Questions regarding 250K pots and 500K pots!

1) With a JB Personally i like the 250k gets rid of the extreme brights and makes it sound like i want. Some people feel the same way i do, some people like how the JB sounds with the 500k. All depends on preference, and type of wood the body is made out of

2)I wouldn't say there is a dissadvantage either way. you lose a little output the lower the resistance is but i didn't notice it.

3)Yea you can use whatever pot value you want. It's not gonna melt down or anything

4)pots are around $4-7 so really cheap. Push/pull pots are from $10-12

[ArtieToo]

Re: Questions regarding 250K pots and 500K pots!

The value of the pot can be fairly important to the sound you end up with. Here's a real simple tester you can build to help you pick a volume control value:



Just mount a 1 meg pot inside a small box with a guitar jack input and output. Wire the pickup in your guitar direct to the output jack. (Temporarily.) Plug the guitar into one end of the tester, and another from the output to your amp. (It doesn't matter which jack you use for input/output.) Dial the pot while you play and find the best "tone" that you want. Then, without moving the knob, unplug one cable from the box, the other from either the guitar or the amp. (Doesn't matter which.) And measure the resistance on the end of the plug.

Select a pot that's closest to a standard value from the reading. If you want to get fancy, you could even make a special cable with a guitar plug, (1/4") on one end, and the meter "banana plugs" on the other. Then just plug the meter into one jack and read the value.

You could also do something like this, if you only wanted to hear what standard pot values would sound like:

[rudygeorge]

Re: Questions regarding 250K pots and 500K pots!

Will the JB have less output when hooked up to 250K pots? Will the JB lose the harmonics with lower value pots?

Rudy D.

[ArtieToo]

Re: Questions regarding 250K pots and 500K pots!

Will the JB have less output when hooked up to 250K pots?

Yes, just a little less. But not straight across the board. The output will tend to be "mellowed" a bit.

Will the JB lose the harmonics with lower value pots?

Rudy D.

That ones hard to say. It may actually gain some, by virtue of its "smoother" sound.

Think of the pot value like the flywheel weight on a car engine. The heavier the flywheel, the smoother the engine will run, with a subsequent loss of acceleration. Race cars use lightweight flywheels for faster acceleration, and they don't care about smoothness.

A lower resistance pot is heavier "load" - smoother operation, with a slight loss of output.

[sanrafael]

Re: Questions regarding 250K pots and 500K pots!

That's a good analogy Artietoo. Here's another car analogy. Suppose the shock on one wheel fails. If you push down above the wheel and let go, the car bounces (at some frequency, the resonant frequency) instead of rising smoothly and stopping. Bouncing is bad in a car, but not so bad in a pickup. The resonant frequency is usually set near the top of the frequency range, the frequency response rises as you approach the frequency of the resonance from below. Adjusting the resistance of the pot controls how much bounce, and thus is a convenient way of getting the sound you want with the equipment you have. A significant rise at the higher frequencies is normal. This is just the way it is done, and you want your guitar work with standard equipment. On the other hand, microphones for vocal are generally designed to hava a flat frequency response, or almost so by comparison. Guitars are different; it probably has to do with what one could do with the equipment available when electric guitars were first invented.

[papersoul]

Re: Questions regarding 250K pots and 500K pots!

Do you guys find that high value pots make a pickup or guitar sound bigger and fuller or just brighter?

[ArtieToo]

Re: Questions regarding 250K pots and 500K pots!

I imagine that that would be very dependent on the pickup. Imagine using a 250k pot with a Vintage Rails. Its only about 2.5k to begin with. The 250k pot might subdue it into obscurity. Now imagine a 250k pot on a Dimebucker or an Invader, both at over 16k. They might transform into whole new p'ups.

Edit: To answer the question more directly, on the pups that I've tried both 250 and 500's on, it was more than just "brightness" that was added. It was like they opened up in all aspects. More chime, more harmonics, just better.

[mjsever]

Re: Questions regarding 250K pots and 500K pots!

The best descriptions of how it will change your sound can be found here (scroll to the bottom):

http://www.seymourduncan.com/website/support/techtips.shtml

Based on this info I changed my pots from 500k to 250k, and the documentation here was spot on- more even tonal response, and a little less output. I found that the JB has plenty of output, so even if it's diminished a bit by the volume pot there's no way you'll mistake it for a vintage pickup (like my old 70's Gibson Marauder- nice sounding guitar, but weak pickups!).

I'd recommend sticking with the 250k pots you have, and see how it sounds. If you want it brighter, then change to the 500k.

[papersoul]

Re: Questions regarding 250K pots and 500K pots!

The best descriptions of how it will change your sound can be found here (scroll to the bottom):

http://www.seymourduncan.com/website/support/techtips.shtml

Based on this info I changed my pots from 500k to 250k, and the documentation here was spot on- more even tonal response, and a little less output. I found that the JB has plenty of output, so even if it's diminished a bit by the volume pot there's no way you'll mistake it for a vintage pickup (like my old 70's Gibson Marauder- nice sounding guitar, but weak pickups!).

I'd recommend sticking with the 250k pots you have, and see how it sounds. If you want it brighter, then change to the 500k.

Interesting, but keep in mind I play a lot of heavy music and people seem to recommend 500ks for this style. I also hear that 500ks will open up the tone and make the pickups actually sound bigger/fuller? I have yet to play or jam with anyone since I went back tothe stock 300ks so I can't really decide how I feel. My band broke up and I haven't had a chance to test this with the band.

I guess a lot of this depends on the pickups also. I have the stock low output burstbucker pros at the moment, but have a C-5 and Rio BBq in the house.

[psychodave]

Re: Questions regarding 250K pots and 500K pots!

Do you guys find that high value pots make a pickup or guitar sound bigger and fuller or just brighter?

I find them to be clearer and cleaner.

I use a myrad of pots. I scrape the tracks to get different values. I tend to favor 300k. But I also use 500k and 750k. I dont really like 1 meg.