Alternative tone pot configurations of HSS? Stacked pots?

IMENATOR

Well-known member
I currently have JB bridge, SSL-1 middle, STK-S10 neck. Also have two 250k tone pots and 1 250k SD Liberator for volume. I want to move to a mix of pots, 250k for single coils and 500k pots since I have always read each kind of pickup works best with those values respectevely. So I am planing on keeping the liberator and 1 of the 250k pots for 1 volume and 1 tone for neck and middle singel coils.

The challenge now is the pickguard would only have 1 hole left for one final pot, the thing is that I really want to have both 500k volume and tone for the humbucker. I am currently very interested on trying to explore the tonal versatility of changing volume and tone while playing and that applies to both single coils and humbuckers.

So how would you approach this? So far the only idea I have I have come up to is to try to get a stacked pot.


Have you tried any of these brands? Are they just some bad cheapo stuff or does it make the job? Any other brand you may suggest?


http://www.warmoth.com/Concentric-Pot-500k-By-CTS-P720.aspx

http://www.guitarelectronics.com/product/CPCS55/CTS-Stacked-Dual-Concentric-Audio-Pot-500K500K.html

http://www.allparts.com/EP-4486-000-500K-500K-Stacked-Concentric-Pot_p_1442.html
 
Re: Alternative tone pot configurations of HSS? Stacked pots?

CTS sounds the same, whether stacked or not, as long as the resistance values are nearly identical. I've done several of my guitars with stacked and regular CTS pots with the same pickups and the sound didn't change, as long as the resistance values are nearly identical. What you have to watch out for is the tolerance. If your normal pot in there now measures high like 525kohm and you put in a stacked pot that measures lower like 465kohm/473kohm, you will notice a difference.
 
Re: Alternative tone pot configurations of HSS? Stacked pots?

That's another option and it can work. But keep in mind on a stacked pot, the smaller knob will be slighter harder to turn because you can't get as much leverage as you can with the outer/bigger knob. On those odd 250k/500k pots, you can't choose which is the back pot and which is the front pot. It doesn't say in that listing which one is which. So you'll either have an easier time doing swells on either the hum or the single, but not both.
 
Re: Alternative tone pot configurations of HSS? Stacked pots?

You are rigth and because of that I think I want regular pots for volume.
 
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