500k or 250k poti whats better and why?

[Honkytonk]

Hello maybe somebody can give me an answer? I listen that 250k potentiometer for pickups makes a warmer tone than a 500k poti. But i think the 500k can adjust from 0-500k so it must be included the 250k range as well. Iam not shure is that right or not. Is it for a warmer vintage tone important to use 250k potentiometer. and is it possible to combine different potis? Thanks for an answer!

 

[guitarded]

Re: 500k or 250k poti whats better and why?

It sounds different.... I had 500K in a strat with a JBJr... Hated it.....Soldered some resisters in to make it a 250K pot.... A little better but not quite there... Installed an actual 250K pot and much better..... This question is so subjective... Cause when I was doing this stuff I was posting clips on this board and some people liked the tone I hated with the 500K pots... So unfortunately.... It is really a "what's better for you and your application" question rather than what's better.. The JBJr wiring instructions recommend 250K pots and for good reason according to my experience. But then again in another Strat I have a JB junior with TBX tone pots and it sounds fantastic so go figure.

 

[Frazer Stockton]

Re: 500k or 250k poti whats better and why?

Typically a 500k pot gives you a brighter tone as opposed to a 250k, as guitarded pointed certain models don't sound as good with a 500k. It depends on your taste, personally i quite like a 500k JB but everyone is different. Mess about til you find what you like.

 

[blueman335]

Re: 500k or 250k poti whats better and why?

Typically a 500k pot gives you a brighter tone as opposed to a 250k.

+1. For Fender single coils, 250K's are almost always used. For HB's & P-90's, 500K's are typically used, but some of us think that makes the bridge too thin & bright, so we use 250K's on the bridge, with 500K's for the neck. Rather than make a sweeping generalization and use one kind of pot for every HB, we select the pot value based on the PU position, and the type of magnet used.

I EQ my bridge & neck PU's in relation to each other, with both tone knobs on '10.' I use magnets and/or pots to do that. I can't stand the 'tinny bridge/muffled neck syndrome.'

 

[Honkytonk]

Re: 500k or 250k poti whats better and why?

thanks for information. The Humbucker on my guitar is in Bridge position. When i like to make him warmer i have to change the volume pot to 250K ?

 

[blueman335]

Re: 500k or 250k poti whats better and why?

thanks for information. The Humbucker on my guitar is in Bridge position. When i like to make him warmer i have to change the volume pot to 250K ?

I use 250K's pot on both my bridge volume & tone, which takes off the worst of the treble and shifts the EQ more to the middle. In the neck, I want the treble 500K's let thru, but it's usually too much for the bridge.

 

[ACH91332]

Re: 500k or 250k poti whats better and why?

Depends on style and taste. If you are trying to run a lot of gain or get harmonics as simply as possible 250K wouldn't be the way to go most likely if its a humbucker. 250K pots are darker and using them with a bridge humbucker might smoothen it out for you but if you plan on piling gain it might be muddy too. Most of the time though if you are going to use enough gain to make it muddy its because you're using enough gain to round off the EQ as well which would make the 250K pot redundant in the first place.

General rule of thumb is 500K for humbuckers because the brighter pot balances the warmer pickup and 250K for single coils because the darker pot balances the brighter pickup. It's just an effort to balance things out but it isn't a law so its a matter of taste. A lot of Gibsons come out of the shop with 300K pots.

If you are wondering if you would like a 250K or not I'd recommend to try running your 500K volume pot at 5 for awhile. It won't sound exactly like a 250K but it will give you an idea. When I was running a bucker on my Les Paul at 5 for awhile I got a 250K pot eventually so that I had a better tapering effect.

 

[Studio91]

Re: 500k or 250k poti whats better and why?

I always just accepted the 500k pots for humbuckers theory and recently couldn't live with the shrillness of my bridge Antiquity compared to the mellow neck Ant. I had some linear pots that measured under 300k and thought I'd check it out. Well it really helped the bridge. My thinking is that hotter humbuckers might benefit from 500k pots, but something low output and brighter, might like 250-300k pots. I have single coils in my strat that are higher output than the Antiquity Humbucker if you only consider DC resistance and those are happy with 250k pots.

I also find the taper very different going from 500k to 250k pots... audio pots, not linear. I think every guitar/humbucker/amp combination deserves some experimentation with pots if needed.

 

[blueman335]

Re: 500k or 250k poti whats better and why?

My thinking is that hotter humbuckers might benefit from 500k pots, but something low output and brighter, might like 250-300k pots. I have single coils in my strat that are higher output than the Antiquity Humbucker if you only consider DC resistance and those are happy with 250k pots.

+1. For some of us, 250K's are mandatory for a bridge PAF and anything else that bright. Single coils don't have the midrange focus of an HB, so they usually sound better with 250K's to tame the treble. I always use 250K's on my bridge P-90's.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: 500k or 250k poti whats better and why?

A while ago I followed blueman's advice on 250K pots on the bridge pos. '59, in a LP. Perfect for bringing the bridge pickup into balance with the neck. They should just come stock that way!
An a8 magnet in it didn't seem so great with the 250k's. Not enough brightness. Went back to a5 and have been satisfied since.

 

[Studio91]

Re: 500k or 250k poti whats better and why?

If you are wondering if you would like a 250K or not I'd recommend to try running your 500K volume pot at 5 for awhile. It won't sound exactly like a 250K but it will give you an idea.

I was told this once and found it to be misleading. Most 500k audio pots acting as volume control for a humbucker will hit 250k resistance before you turn the knob down to 7. Worse part of it being how much treble leaks to ground. A 500k pot on 5 won't sound anything like a 250k pot on 10 due to the way volume pots work. In an ideal world where pots had a consistent taper, we could know what the resistance was at each spot on the dial, and there was even frequency leak to ground, then this test would work.

 

[shredhed]

Re: 500k or 250k poti whats better and why?

thanks for information. The Humbucker on my guitar is in Bridge position. When i like to make him warmer i have to change the volume pot to 250K ?

Just remember on a 1 volume knob ax that a change in value of the pot is a global change. The change effects all the other pickups too, not just the Bridge. If you like the sound of the other pups, then changing to a 250 might not sound good on the others.

Just experiment. Find out what works for you.

 

[Diocletian]

Re: 500k or 250k poti whats better and why?

500K is the best and that's about all there is to it.

 

[ACH91332]

Re: 500k or 250k poti whats better and why?

Well I said it wouldn't sound exactly like one but it would give you an idea. If you have linear pots then it will sound close but if you have a logarithmic pot it might hit 250K early. I use linear volume pots which led me using the 500K on 5 a lot and thinking of getting a 250K.

 

[Studio91]

Re: 500k or 250k poti whats better and why?

Agreed. My current linear pots measure about 266k and 303k. I'm only using them as a test to see if I should hunt down some 250k long shaft log taper pots. If I find some 250k pots with a decent taper I'll just make my own. It's easy to pull pots apart and swap the guts. I think the taper of a 250k log pot is superior to that of a 500k log pot.... less abrupt drop between 7 -8 on the the dial. I care more about pot taper than the minute improvement in highs a 500k pot gives.

 

[ACH91332]

Re: 500k or 250k poti whats better and why?

I don't really use my volume knobs a lot. Just if I'm too lazy to walk over and hit the clean channel or if I want a dry and smooth tone ill roll it down a bit. Volume pots are used more for tone by me not for volume really.