250K or 500K for Cool Rails?

jammertom

jammertom

Member
I recently wired a set of Cool Rails into a Fender Lead II. I used 500K volume and tone pots. It sounds very good--especially the front pup. But, I notice that if I dial back both pots just a smidge, the tone is much smoother and more musical overall. Should I have used 250K instead? I've read here in the forums that Seymour often voices pickups with a certain pot value in mind. Any thoughts or experiences?
 
Re: 250K or 500K for Cool Rails?

i use the cool rails with a 500k pot and a .022 cap. sounds pretty good to my ears
 
Re: 250K or 500K for Cool Rails?

I prefer 500k pots with the SD single sized humbuckers.

You can try 250k pots. Thats the only way to know which pots you prefer with those pickups.
 
Re: 250K or 500K for Cool Rails?

I've tried both... and I have a Cool Rails neck and bridge in a Music Man Silhouette Special right now. All they're running through is a 5-way switch and a 500K volume pot. I prefer the 500K's for the top end and the extended tonal range. Without 500K's I don't feel like i'm getting all I could out of the SD Strat-buckers.
 
Re: 250K or 500K for Cool Rails?

Depends on the wood, and it's warmth, or lack of it. I almost always use 250K's on my bridge PU's (unless they have a dark magnet like an A2). My approach is to have the PU's in balance to each other EQ-wise with the tone pot(s) set on 10. I adjust my amp EQ to the room, and don't want to also adjust each PU's EQ every time I play. There's enough other stuff to fool with when you're on stage.

500K's make most bridge PU's too bright for me. Besides, I've never played thru an amp that didn't have plenty of treble left. I go the warmth route with bridges, and can always make it brighter if I need it. But then, I'm not playing metal or using massive amounts of distortion and effects.
 
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