250k or 500k Pots for...

[HealthyNormal]

I know, I know, another one of those potentiometer threads Okay, so I've just recently decided to put a Hot Rails into the neck position of my Strat along with a Cool Rails in the middle. I have a JB in the bridge along with all 250k pots at the moment. I'm thinking that the 250k pots will work well with the JB and Cool Rails, but... I don't know whether I should replace the volume pot and/or neck tone pot to 500k to better compensate for the Hot Rails. Will I be better off only changing the neck tone pot to a 500k or will it be a wasted effort because of the lower volume pot value? Any advice is welcomed

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: 250k or 500k Pots for...

probably be cheaper just to try a different capacitor

try a .022 instead of the .047

caps are bout a buck

while pots cost as much as $2.50

get a $9 pushpull and try both

down for one up for the other

could also do the concentric pots that are of different values one 250k one 500k

with another push pull to swap back and forth

okay getting too complicated

try a different cap

its cheaper

 

[bluesbend]

Re: 250k or 500k Pots for...

probably be cheaper just to try a different capacitor

try a .022 instead of the .047

caps are bout a buck

while pots cost as much as $2.50

$2.50! That's a quality pot! :eyecrazy:

 

[bluesbend]

Re: 250k or 500k Pots for...

Just go with 500k pots and a .22 cap.






Oh, and welcome to the forum!

 

[ACH91332]

Re: 250k or 500k Pots for...

If you want to open up a pickup try a 500K volume. If you want it darker go with 250K volume.

 

[DMyers77]

Re: 250k or 500k Pots for...

Do you like the sound of the JB with your current 250k pots? Is it also wired to a tone control?

 

[HealthyNormal]

Re: 250k or 500k Pots for...

Sorry for not replying back in awhile, I got distracted for a long time *dang you guitar!* Back to what everyone's suggesting, I guess I should go with a 500k tone pot for the Hot Rails to open it up more, but I'm confused about the capacitor part. I know there's a capacitor on one of the pots already in the cavity, but I can't recall on which tone pot it's located or what value it is. I'm guessing that the .47 is the standard, but I'm not sure I'm following this correctly because I don't know what effect the changing of capacitors will be.. Plus, is there a such thing a push/pull pot that can switch from 250k to 500k when pulled? Sounds crazy, but would be useful to me :scratchch

Okay, so this is what my guitar looks like now:

- Single Coil (Neck) w/ 250k tone pot
- Single Coil (Middle) w/ 250k tone pot
- JB (Bridge) w/ no tone pot
- 250k volume pot

Theoretically it will look like this if I'm following correctly:

- Hot Rails (Neck) w/ 500k tone pot
- Cool Rails (Middle) w/ 250k tone pot
- JB (Bridge) w/ no tone pot
- 250k volume pot?

Do I swap out the resistor wherever it's located (stock position, never replaced pots) with a .22 then I'm done?

Do you like the sound of the JB with your current 250k pots? Is it also wired to a tone control?

Oh and to answer your question, yes I like my JB in my Strat with the 250k volume pot, but I've never been brave enough to try wiring the neck tone pot to work for both the neck and bridge pickup to see how that sounds.

 

[Stef]

Re: 250k or 500k Pots for...

500K master Vol
500K master Tone
.47uf

 

[DMyers77]

Re: 250k or 500k Pots for...

Why not just install the pickups and see how it sounds? If the Hot Rails is too dark, then you can worry about tweaking it.

I've used Hot Rails in strats, and the 250k pots always worked fine.

Sorry for not replying back in awhile, I got distracted for a long time *dang you guitar!* Back to what everyone's suggesting, I guess I should go with a 500k tone pot for the Hot Rails to open it up more, but I'm confused about the capacitor part. I know there's a capacitor on one of the pots already in the cavity, but I can't recall on which tone pot it's located or what value it is. I'm guessing that the .47 is the standard, but I'm not sure I'm following this correctly because I don't know what effect the changing of capacitors will be.. Plus, is there a such thing a push/pull pot that can switch from 250k to 500k when pulled? Sounds crazy, but would be useful to me :scratchch

Okay, so this is what my guitar looks like now:

- Single Coil (Neck) w/ 250k tone pot
- Single Coil (Middle) w/ 250k tone pot
- JB (Bridge) w/ no tone pot
- 250k volume pot

Theoretically it will look like this if I'm following correctly:

- Hot Rails (Neck) w/ 500k tone pot
- Cool Rails (Middle) w/ 250k tone pot
- JB (Bridge) w/ no tone pot
- 250k volume pot?

Do I swap out the resistor wherever it's located (stock position, never replaced pots) with a .22 then I'm done?



Oh and to answer your question, yes I like my JB in my Strat with the 250k volume pot, but I've never been brave enough to try wiring the neck tone pot to work for both the neck and bridge pickup to see how that sounds.

 

[HealthyNormal]

Re: 250k or 500k Pots for...

Why not just install the pickups and see how it sounds? If the Hot Rails is too dark, then you can worry about tweaking it.

I've used Hot Rails in strats, and the 250k pots always worked fine.

Alright, I'll just keep in mind what everyone's said here and just tweak it later if it doesn't suit me right. Thanks!

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: 250k or 500k Pots for...

I used a neck hot rail with both 250K and a 500K, it really needs a 500K if you ask me, I don't even like bright pickups. I don't know how you would want to do it with 3 knobs though. Master Tone, 250K Bridge Vol, 500K Mid/Neck Vol maybe?

 

[DMyers77]

Re: 250k or 500k Pots for...

I used a neck hot rail with both 250K and a 500K, it really needs a 500K if you ask me, I don't even like bright pickups. I don't know how you would want to do it with 3 knobs though. Master Tone, 250K Bridge Vol, 500K Mid/Neck Vol maybe?

You could always use a 1 Meg tone for the neck pickup, and leave the other pots at 250k. I saw this recommended in a DiMarzio instruction insert, but have never tried it. With the tone control on 10, it's supposed to be similar to having no tone control at all.

Another option would be to use no-load tone controls.

Or you could do like Yngwie and just disconnect the tone pots.