Sharp volume drop off with new potentiometers

[Chistopher]

Normal people don't play with their volume on 3

[Gtrjunior]

Normal people don't play with their volume on 3

Haha!! I don’t normally use it on 3. I just wanted to covey that a tone was available at that setting.
I typically find that around 5 (+\-) is about as low as I would go to clean up an overdriven tone.

[Gtrjunior]

50's style has an effect on the volume. They interact. As you roll your tone, you might hear your volume change a bit. I don't think it changes the taper?, but it does interact.

I watched a YouTube where a guy was explaining how they interact. It’s actually very interesting.
But I believe you are correct in that the taper is the taper. It is what it is IOW.

[marcello252]

Just curious about this thread, I've always used audio pot for volume, so I experimented rewiring my tele with a 250K linear: it doesn't work at all for me there's a drop I can't manage

[Chistopher]

I just bought a vintage taper pot to experiment with. It is both specwise and in practice perfectly inbetween a linear and audio taper.

I don't know what I think of it yet, I've only used it at home so far.

[Clint 55]

^ Sounds cool.

Just curious about this thread, I've always used audio pot for volume, so I experimented rewiring my tele with a 250K linear: it doesn't work at all for me there's a drop I can't manage

People will not stop with the hearsay on this topic lol. There's no drop with linear. Linear is linear. Audio has an abrupt drop when you turn down.

[marcello252]

People will not stop with the hearsay on this topic lol. There's no drop with linear. Linear is linear. Audio has an abrupt drop when you turn down.

what hearsay ? I actually wired it

EDIT: ok I got it, english is not my language, I said drop, but it's not drop, I rephrase it, "there's a volume level curve I can't manage" , anyway, a bit rude comment

[Gtrjunior]

I just bought a vintage taper pot to experiment with. It is both specwise and in practice perfectly inbetween a linear and audio taper.

I don't know what I think of it yet, I've only used it at home so far.

When you get a chance to live with it for a while, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.

[marcello252]

nice demo with linear and audio pot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CutFQWGGJ4w

[Gtrjunior]

nice demo with linear and audio pot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CutFQWGGJ4w

Interesting.
I found with the B pots there didn’t seem to be much difference between say, 2-8 whereas with the A pots I noticed a difference on all settings.

[marcello252]

Interesting.
I found with the B pots there didn’t seem to be much difference between say, 2-8 whereas with the A pots I noticed a difference on all settings.

that's the kind of thing I've found with my experiments btw

[Chistopher]

When you get a chance to live with it for a while, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.

Yeah I'll let you know, one thing I'll mention before hand is I think there's a range in tolerance. I bought two from CTS and one of them reads 60k (24%) and one of them reads 45k (18%) at 5. Wheras a normal logarithmic taper would read 25k and a linear would read 125k.

I put the 45k in because I think I would like it better.

[Ewizard]

There is some confusion about pots in general. First, we need to know what we are working with.

Logarithmic = A If you see 250k A it means 250k Audio Taper, which is a Logarithmic taper. This is used for Volume controls.
Linear = B. If you see 250k B it means 250k Linear Taper, which is linear in its taper. This is used for Tone controls.

Logarithmic taper pots have a taper that is logarithmic, and this taper makes it so that the sweep from one stop to the other sounds what we perceive as linear. When I say perceive as linear, I mean that we hear it as being a linear, smooth, and even change that seems to represent the sweep of the pot.

Linear works best for tone controls. Linear pots sound logarithmic in their sweep when used as volume controls. I.E. What we hear is an abrupt change initially, but the middle of the range ( sweep if you will ) is very broad and large, and then subtly fades out. Keep in mind though, that the initial change is abrupt, some like this, some don't.

logarithmic pots are almost universally used as volume pots, and when used for tone controls, they work pretty much as a liner pot does for volume control. The way that tone circuits work is different, and we perceive it differently, which is suited well for linear pots, where the sweep from change to no change becomes large. When you use a type A, logarithmic pot for tone controls, the change is little or nothing for most of the sweep and then all of sudden, it goes from all to nothing in the last 1/4 of a turn. This is how we perceive linear pots for volume controls. At first, the change is abrupt, and then it does nothing or very little for the last 3/4 of the pot travel.

And then we get into the varying taper options for each type ( A or B ). There is J taper, there is reverse taper, there is standard, and on and on. Each manufacturer has a different idea of the ideal taper for each description. J taper is usually used for Logarithmic pots and makes it sort of be a hybrid between A and B tapers. Reverse tapers do what is on the label, it reverses the way we perceive the effect of the pot.

I prefer Bourns and Alpha brand pots for guitar controls, and I prefer CTS brand pots for amplifier controls. The different manufacturers do something different with their tapers that work better for me in different applications. I don't like using J and reverse taper pots because you will never find the same taper in 20 years, so I prefer standard taper pots, this way I know that the odds of finding a replacement that works the way I expect it to in 20 years will be likely.

I tell people to avoid getting these " special " taper pots because it will likely do something you like, and when it wears out ( and it will ), you will have a hell of a time replacing it with the modern equivalent. It WILL NOT be the same. Either find a different brand, or find a taper that a brand has offered since the beginning of time. Case in point. Ernie Ball used to sell several Bourns made " special taper " pots for guitars, I liked them, but you can't get them anymore. And this is less than 10-15 years ago they sold them. Today, Ernie ball pots are twice the price of what you could get from CTS, and Ernie Ball pots are made by CTS....

I hope that clears some things up. I prefer Linear, B taper pots for my volume control in guitars. It gets the majority of the volume change done in 1/4 of the sweep and then it is really smooth for the middle of the sweep, where I will likely be anyway if I need to turn the guitar down. That is not to say that some log A pots don't meet my needs. Some just have a better taper that works really well and as expected for guitars. As for why I choose CTS for my amp builds, well it comes down to that last 1/8th turn. CTS has that part figured out. Works great in amps, not in guitars.