Partscaster Resistor & Cap Questions

[Charvel1975]

Hello I have a Partscaster with a Squier Strat body and a Jackson Style Maple Neck & fretboard 22 fret with .009 - .042 nickel wounds strings and a bridge Seymour Duncan TB-4 JB Trembucker wired to an Alpha push/pull volume pot, 500K I'm pretty sure. Haven't been playing it because it's really bright and ice picky and I think the pot is bad because the sound cuts in and out when rolling the volume knob up or down whether it's pushed in or pulled out. I bought a Mojo Tone CTS Push-pull Potentiometer - Short Shaft - 250k online @ Sweetwater a while back and I need to have it installed. I don't think there is anything wrong with the wiring but then again, I'm no guitar tech. Someone was saying on a 250k pot for the JB to add a 333k resistor from the hot lead to ground. What does this do sound-wise? Also any suggestions for capacitors what would work good with the guitar?

[ArtieToo]

If you have a 250k pot, I wouldn't add the resistor. (At least, not 'til you hear it.) You might want to add the 333k resistor to a 500k pot. But then again, after you hear it. Adding the resistor is dirt simple.

The 250k, with 333k, in parallel, will give you about a 147k load. That will stifle a bunch of treble.

[Mincer]

Yeah, just install the 250k pot..the wiring is the same as what you have now.

[freefrog]

What Artie said regarding the 333k resistor.

For tone caps, not yet evoked in the answers above: they make a difference but not necessarly significant (nor even perceptible in some situations) as long as the pot won't be set @ 3/10 or less.
Choose their value according to the effect desired when the pot is totally rolled off: 100nF= vintage Strats values = super dark tones @ 0/10. 22nF or less = the most used, way less darkness. 47nF and 33nF are other values often mounted and sonically in between. Lowering to 10nF or less will bring in a cocked wah tone with tone pot rolled off. A winder that I know recommends as low as 3.3nF for a tone pot keeping the hi-mids intact and trimming only the high range.


BTW, a very low value capacitor from hot to ground might be another way than resistance to solve the problem evoked here.

https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/swd/can-i-add-capacitors-to-a-coil-to-change-the-tone-of-my-pickup

Or just "tune" the capacitive load of the whole guitar wiring / cable from guitar to amp in order to decouple / disalign insistant frequencies from the JB and those promoted by the cab(s) used...

Useful explanations here (ignore the advertising, what counts is the technical info):

http://zerocapcable.com/?page_id=209

[marcello252]

Yeah, just install the 250k pot..the wiring is the same as what you have now.

this

[eclecticsynergy]

IME in most cases the JB loves a 250K volume. There are exceptions but for me they've been quite rare.
If it's too bright with your present 500K, I think you'll probably like it much better with the 250K.
And if that's still icepicky, you can add a small cap to ground as mentioned above.

[ehdwuld]

Bright and ice picky
is too close to the strings
Lower it to 1/8 inch or 3mm below the strings

[Clint 55]

Who is this foo of foos who told you that a 250k pot needs a resistor added by default? 250k is already the lower of the traditional values. 500k is high, 1 meg is mega high. If you add resistors to a 250k pot you get into mega low values. That's stuff that almost nobody uses. I only use stuff below 250k for jazz neck applications. You theoretically could do that, but it would be if you wanted it really warm.

Just replace the 500k pot with the 250k pot only.