marty_the_westie
New member
Hi. Does anyone know what pots your supposed to use for the phat cats? Are they 500k like humbuckers, or 250k ike singles?
pots for phat cats
- Thread starter marty_the_westie
- Start date
theboatcandream
dreamonologist
Re: pots for phat cats
I'd imagine that 300k would work best... given that 250k are used for single coils, 500k for humbuckers... though gibson has used 300k or 500k in their humbucker equipped guitars.
I'd imagine that 300k would work best... given that 250k are used for single coils, 500k for humbuckers... though gibson has used 300k or 500k in their humbucker equipped guitars.
theboatcandream
dreamonologist
Re: pots for phat cats
I know what the difference is with tone pots, but what's the difference between having 500k and 250k volume pots?
I know what the difference is with tone pots, but what's the difference between having 500k and 250k volume pots?
Artie
Peaveyologist
Re: pots for phat cats
A guitar pickup is a small AC generator. The value of the volume pot controls how much "work" you're asking that AC generator to do. If it were an "ideal" AC voltage source, the amount of current, and the subsequent strength of the magnetic field, would increase as you lowered the volume pot resistance - or "load". In other words, your pickup would drive more current through a 250k pot, than it would through a 500k pot.
But . . . and it's a big but, the p'up is far from ideal. It has a practical limit on how much current it can push. So, you have a delicate balancing act between adjusting the load, (volume pot value), against the amount of current, (magnetic field strength), that the p'up can handle to find that right "tone". A 500k pot will give a humbucker a nice voltage swing, with a certain amount of treble. A 250k pot will "load-down" the p'up a bit more, and decrease the treble slightly. This can actually have a "smoothing", or nice effect, that you may desire.
Experimentation is the ultimate way to find the right value, but since it is difficult to keep changing pot values, relying on conventional wisdom works too.
I'll post a simple diagram showing how to build a simple pot "evaluator" in a few moments. (Dinner is ready.) :laugh2:
theboatcandream said:
A guitar pickup is a small AC generator. The value of the volume pot controls how much "work" you're asking that AC generator to do. If it were an "ideal" AC voltage source, the amount of current, and the subsequent strength of the magnetic field, would increase as you lowered the volume pot resistance - or "load". In other words, your pickup would drive more current through a 250k pot, than it would through a 500k pot.
But . . . and it's a big but, the p'up is far from ideal. It has a practical limit on how much current it can push. So, you have a delicate balancing act between adjusting the load, (volume pot value), against the amount of current, (magnetic field strength), that the p'up can handle to find that right "tone". A 500k pot will give a humbucker a nice voltage swing, with a certain amount of treble. A 250k pot will "load-down" the p'up a bit more, and decrease the treble slightly. This can actually have a "smoothing", or nice effect, that you may desire.
Experimentation is the ultimate way to find the right value, but since it is difficult to keep changing pot values, relying on conventional wisdom works too.
I'll post a simple diagram showing how to build a simple pot "evaluator" in a few moments. (Dinner is ready.) :laugh2:
Artie
Peaveyologist
Re: pots for phat cats
Here it is:
You don't even need to remove the other components from the guitar.
Just wire up a pot, with a series resistor, across the pup. Play with the "level" until you find that "sweet spot". Then, carefully, without moving the knob, cut one of the wires to the pot, and measure its resistance with a meter.
That will be the value of pot that you want. Obviously, you'll need to round the figure to commonly available pots.
The series resistor isn't absolutely necessary. It just prevents you going all the way to "zero". The values I show above allow you to "load" the pup with anything from 1.1 meg to 100k. That should cover any range that you'ld need. You can certainly skip the 100k resistor if you want, in order to make the circuit a bit easier. Just remember that you can go to far.
Won't hurt a thing - it'll just give you values lower than are usable. Might actually be interesting to see what your pup sounds like with a 25k load - or lower.
Here it is:
You don't even need to remove the other components from the guitar.
Just wire up a pot, with a series resistor, across the pup. Play with the "level" until you find that "sweet spot". Then, carefully, without moving the knob, cut one of the wires to the pot, and measure its resistance with a meter.
That will be the value of pot that you want. Obviously, you'll need to round the figure to commonly available pots.
The series resistor isn't absolutely necessary. It just prevents you going all the way to "zero". The values I show above allow you to "load" the pup with anything from 1.1 meg to 100k. That should cover any range that you'ld need. You can certainly skip the 100k resistor if you want, in order to make the circuit a bit easier. Just remember that you can go to far.
Won't hurt a thing - it'll just give you values lower than are usable. Might actually be interesting to see what your pup sounds like with a 25k load - or lower.
